The second day of Minnesota Wild training camp was a bit quieter than the first. Off the ice, all of the first-day excitement had worn off, and it was back to business as usual. However, on the ice, the physicality was ramped up, and it was clear the players were becoming more comfortable with their surroundings. There were also a couple of injuries added as both Zeev Buium and Nico Sturm didn’t take the ice, but head coach John Hynes anticipated it was nothing serious.
Even professionals need a couple of days to get their bearings, but that doesn’t mean the intensity stops. Hynes was once again running a tight ship, and the players were ready to go. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few key takeaways from the second day of training camp, starting with a youngster finding his way.
Öhgren Finding His Way
Liam Öhgren is another young player looking to not only make the roster but also establish himself in a permanent spot. He has gotten some games in over the past couple of seasons, but nothing stuck because other players came back from injury. Each season, he’s found a way to improve, and if he wants to earn that permanent spot, he has to set himself apart from the others.
He has some strong competition with other young players, but he should have a slight advantage with his experience he already has, and he’s shown he’s stronger and quicker this season. He’s also getting some icetime in with Joel Eriksson Ek and Vladimir Tarasenko, which can only help improve his game even more.
“A little bit of both. I’m obviously very excited, and I’m very happy that I get the opportunity to play with those guys, and it’s a great opportunity and chance for me to show what I can do in that spot, but of course I need to play good with those guys, to stay there, so a little bit nervous, but it’s fun. It’s hockey and I love it,” said Öhgren about his chance to play with Eriksson Ek and Tarasenko.
Eriksson Ek Talks Injuries
Joel Eriksson Ek is easily one of the Wild’s best players when he’s healthy. The keyword is healthy. He’s struggled almost every season with injuries, and the closest he’s come to playing a full season was 78 games back during the 2022-23 season. Last season was by far his worst, with just 46 games played, but he did make it back in time for the postseason just barely.
“Just getting stronger and letting the body heal. First of all, just taking a couple weeks, let everything settle down and then just try to build back up again. I just try to move around as much as I could when I worked out to get used to what a season is like,” said Eriksson Ek about his recovery during the offseason to get himself ready for this coming season.
“Well, I think he’s special in the sense that he’s such a strong two-way player. He can skate, he’s got great size, he’s unbelievable competitor, so whether it’s from an offense perspective, he can forecheck really well, he’s strong on the puck, he’s great at the net front, he can shoot the puck and…. he can make some plays. I think he reads, if he’s playing with say Boldy and Kirill (Kaprizov) and those guys are rolling around Ekky. Where’s Ekky? Net front right? So I think he can adapt and understand who he’s playing with, but his game doesn’t necessarily change, and I think he’s a guy that drags people into the fight….” said Hynes about why Eriksson Ek can play with anyone.
Wild Showing Sportsmanship Always
While there’s plenty of big things going on, there have been some smaller less noticeable details that have gone on that deserve some attention. Brock Faber showed everyone just another reason why he’s a great player to have on a team. While his group was warming up for the intersquad scrimmage, he took time out of his warm-ups to skate over and acknowledge the referees who were on the ice for their scrimmage.
He went up to each referee and gave them a fistbump as well as a greeting. It may seem like a small, not important gesture to most, but it is important because kids watch every move these players make. That simple action shows it’s integral to display good sportsmanship no matter what the situation. He could have easily ignored the referees, and no one would’ve noticed or thought anything of it, but instead, he went out of his way to acknowledge them and added just another example of why he’s a great player on and off the ice.
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After the scrimmage, it was time for Faber’s group to practice, and he kept the good spirits going there, too. While they were all working hard and appeared pretty serious, during a drill, when Faber’s line scored a goal, he acted like it was a goal in the regular season as he banged his stick along the glass trying to pump up his teammates. It was great to see that even though it’s training camp, these players still try to pump each other up over a small practice goal.
The second day of camp went by pretty quickly, and although there was some more injury news added, it was a strong day. It’ll be interesting to see how day three goes, and hopefully, no more injuries will be added.
