The Minnesota Wild’s third day of training camp can be a really tough day head coach John Hynes discussed after the day ended. They’d done a lot of skating the past two days and a lot of drills, so day three is a day that could go either quite well or not so well, depending on how the players feel at that point.
Despite it being bitterly cold in the arena and a somewhat cloudy, rainy day outside, the Wild had a strong day of training camp. They did have another player leave, Stevie Leskovar, after a collision, but there was no update to his condition by the end of the session. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few notes from the day, starting with how the overall day went.
Wild Continue to Progress
The Wild have found ways to continue to progress in the right direction as camp has gone into its third day. It was easy to see some of the fatigue from the past two days of skating, but the players kept pushing, and it’s clear the mentality is there that they have to continue to work hard and push. The passes continued to get better, the speed was there, and some of the players who looked like they maybe weren’t 100 percent comfortable in previous days showed great improvement.
“I was really impressed with today. I thought the guys were focused, and I thought the effort and intensity level was good. I thought that was probably the best scrimmage of the week, so that was encouraging to see. We talked to our guys about, it was going to be difficult and demanding, but we all gotta be bought into it. Today could’ve been a day where I think you’re right, you come in it’s the third day, but I thought that it was probably one of our better days from an intensity standpoint, detail standpoint, and as I said I thought the scrimmage was really intense….” said Hynes in regards to how he felt about the effort of the day.
Wild Have Been Down That Road
After last season’s never-ending injury list that almost derailed their postseason hopes and dampened quite a few points totals, the Wild figured out how to handle injuries. They had a “next man up” mentality, and it looks like they’re sticking with that when they have to face injuries again this season They’ve already had a handful so far with Mats Zuccarello, Zeev Buium, Jonas Brodin, Nico Sturm, and now Leskovar all dealing with different things. Sturm did make his return and is on the mend; Brodin is skating, hopefully, the same can be said about Leskovar as well, but Zuccarello may need time, and Buium will hopefully be participating in full practices sooner rather than later, according to Hynes.
That mentality is good to have during training camp because that allows the younger players a chance to learn and understand the idea, as they may be the “next man up” when injuries arise during the regular season. Even if they don’t make the roster opening night, having that mentality and being on the same page will help them be prepared when they have to fill in.
“I don’t know if it’s pressure, we dealt with so much last year that it’s…we’ve said it before but that plug and play with our systems and everything that we have going on as an organization, everyone’s ready to be put in different positions and just kind of make the most of it,” Jake Middleton said regarding any pressure due to injuries and he continued, “Yeah, we’re used to it right and that as professional athletes, that’s how I got a break in this league, it could happen to another guy. It’s unfortunate, you hate to see teammates go down, but it gives opportunity for other guys to make a bang.”
“I think you have to, right? Because we can’t control the injuries, we’ve had a lot of practice. At least my time together with the guys we’ve had a lot of practice at dealing with injuries so as you said, you focus on what you can control and I think early in camp guys are, I do, I think they’re focused on what they need to do individually, and getting themselves up and running, than once camp starts, than cut down, and moves on than I think we’ll have a little bit better feel from that standpoint as well,” said Hynes about dealing with the injuries.
Wallstedt Leaning on Experience
Jesper Wallstedt has quite a bit more pressure on his shoulders now that he is expected to be the main backup goaltender. Last season, he spent minimal time with the Wild because Marc-André Fleury was still playing, but now that he’s retired, it’s Wallstedt’s turn to prove he can be capable in the net when the team needs him most.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Day 2 of Minnesota Wild Training Camp
“Just trying to get a little lighter, get a little faster, work on my explosiveness, work on speed, but otherwise it was more about thinking through last year. Get through it, analyze it, put it behind and not think about it anymore. Look forward with excitement in the season coming up, and I feel like head and body’s in very good spot,” said Wallstedt about his offseason training.
Wild’s First Preseason Game
The Wild’s fourth day of training camp will be a bit different as part of the team will practice and the others will head on the road to play in the team’s first preseason game of the season. They’ll face the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 21, and hopefully the young kids in the lineup will be able to get some good work in and possibly snag a win for morale.
