Latest news with #ErikssonEk
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Wild Goaltender Named Vezina Trophy Finalist
Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-Imagn Images. The NHL announced the three finalists for the 2024-25 Vezina Trophy today. The trophy is awarded to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position. Former Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper was named one of the three finalists. Advertisement Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning are the other two. Kuemper, 34, went 31-11-7 with the Los Angeles Kings this year with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. He ranked second in the NHL in both goals-against average and save percentage. The 6-foot-5 goaltender was originally drafted by the Wild in 2009. He played in five seasons for the Wild where he went 41-34-14 in 89 games. He had a 2.60 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage in his Wild career. Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. Wild News (4-28-25) Minnesota Wild Practice Update: Eriksson Ek, Ohgren, Johansson, Merrill (4-28-25) Minnesota Wild Practice Update: Eriksson Ek, Ohgren, Johansson, Merrill ST. PAUL, Minn - The Advertisement Minnesota Wild practiced on Monday morning before going to Vegas for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday. Here are a few notes. Wild Drop Game 4 With A 4-3 Overtime Loss To Vegas Wild Drop Game 4 With A 4-3 Overtime Loss To Vegas ST. PAUL - For the fifth time in franchise history, the Minnesota Wild have failed to turn a 2-1 series lead into a 3-1 series lead. In 2022, the Wild had a 2-1 series lead over the St. Louis Blues. In 2023, the Wild had a 2-1 series lead over the Dallas Stars.
New York Times
20-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Could the Wild's season-long resilience help them upset Vegas? ‘We have nothing to lose'
SUMMERLIN, Nev. — Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold said it's 'very unusual' for him to address the team, regular season finale or not. Leipold made an exception after Tuesday night's season-saving, heart-thumping overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks. 'I felt like I had to go down there,' he said. 'Games like that don't happen very often.' Advertisement Joel Eriksson Ek's goal with 22 seconds left forced overtime and officially clinched the playoff spot, and Marc-Andre Fleury's relief appearance will forever live in Wild lore. As it turns out, if Eriksson Ek didn't score, the Wild would not have made the playoffs. When it was Leipold's turn to talk postgame in the dressing room, one line stuck out to some players. 'If only people on the outside knew the kind of character we have on the inside,' Leipold told them. The Wild, following their season-long theme of 'choose your hard,' didn't take the easy route here. It looked good when they were at the top of the league standings in mid-December, but an array of injuries (especially to top players Kirill Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek) threatened to derail their season. The team's ability to withstand the adversity helped them develop the confidence that they can handle anything. 'It's been up and down like crazy,' defenseman Jake Middleton said. 'There were times we thought the world was ending. There were times we thought we'd already won the league.' Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper has said that his championship teams had 'characters with character,' and that term could apply to this year's Wild, as Leipold brought up. Now that doesn't guarantee anything, but perhaps Minnesota gathered enough scar-tissue through its adversity and comebacks this season (they had seven comebacks wins from two-goal deficits) to give a boost going into this first round series against the Golden Knights, which starts Sunday night in Las Vegas. The lack of resilience and mental toughness was an issue in the Wild missing the playoffs last season, as Marcus Foligno and other veterans brought up in their exit interviews. That hasn't been a problem this season, giving them hope they can end their decade-long streak of not getting out of the first round. Advertisement 'You're going to need character to get to the Stanley Cup finals,' Foligno said. 'There's no team that hasn't been tested to get there, and we feel like we're battle-tested. I think the way we're coming into the playoffs is special this time of year. That's something I'm looking at as a character team right now — that we've got good guys that care and are ready for a push for getting a Round 1 win.' The Golden Knights are heavy favorites in this series for a reason, with the Pacific Division champions boasting 17 players who have won the Stanley Cup together. Like the Wild, they're heading into the playoffs healthy. The fact that Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek returned for the last couple weeks of the season should provide a big boost. And adding their top prospect, defenseman Zeev Buium, to the lineup for Game 1 should be an interesting new wrinkle. Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon remembered that when the Wild were in Vegas Dec. 15 , Kaprizov scored twice and was neck and neck with Leon Draisaitl for the NHL goal-scoring lead: 'I think the team we're preparing for is probably going to be a lot more like the team that we faced in the first half of the season,' McCrimmon said. At least one wild-card team has advanced out of the first round in six of the nine years under the format, including four times in 2018-19. While no wild-card team has won the Stanley Cup, two have advanced to the final (the Florida Panthers in 2023 and the Nashville Predators in 2017). The Wild held a lead in each of their last four playoff series, including going up 2-1 on Dallas two years ago. Minnesota feels like it has been playing playoff games for the last several weeks, as it had to fight for its spot down the stretch as the hard-charging Calgary Flames nearly caught them — and would have, had Eriksson Ek not scored to force overtime against the Ducks. Advertisement 'I think that's what makes us a dangerous team,' said Fleury, a three-time Cup champion. 'I think we're comfortable playing close games. We've done it for the past two months almost. And guys kept going, kept playing until the end. I feel like we always have a chance to win games, so that's fun.' Zach Bogosian, who won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020, said handling adversity during the season helps teams in the playoffs because you need everyone to contribute in the postseason. And, the 'good' part about injuries is that they thrust players into different, and bigger, roles. Matt Boldy stepped up in the final month with Kaprizov out, finishing the season with 10 game-winning goals — tied for third in the NHL. Foligno spent some time on the top line. Marcus Johansson played his best hockey in the final few weeks, including setting up the OT winner on Tuesday. 'We've got to find a different gear,' Mats Zuccarello said. 'We need everyone to play up to their standards, and maybe even more to be able to beat a team like that. We all believe in the group that we can do it, but we need everyone.' There are a lot of on-the-ice factors that will play a big role in the series, not just good vibes of a resilient team. Vegas boasts one of the league's biggest, and best, blue lines, so getting to the inside will be critical for the Wild. Minnesota's struggles in the faceoff circle will be a challenge and something that must be remedied, coach John Hynes said. Vegas' second-ranked power play could give the Wild fits. Filip Gustavsson, one of the team's top players down the stretch, needs to win the goaltending battle against Adin Hill. Wild vs. Golden Knights: 5 burning questions for the first-round playoff series By @JoeSmithNHL, @JesseGranger_ and me — Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 19, 2025 BetMGM has set the series odds for the Wild at +200, making them tied for the second-biggest underdogs in the first round with Montreal (vs Washington). The Devils have the longest odds, at + 230 to beat Carolina. The pressure is clearly on Vegas, so Minnesota can approach it as if they're playing with house money. Advertisement 'We're coming in and it's just got to be a team that has no doubt, really,' Foligno said. 'We're playing against a really good Vegas team and we have nothing to lose. We just leave it all out there and at the end of the day, we've got to (put) our best hockey in a seven-game series and just be ready for it, be emotionally involved in these games and be smart, learn from past experiences.' Foligno brought up the Wild's playoff series against Vegas in 2021, when Minnesota fell behind 3-1 and forced a Game 7. 'It was the same kind of matchup, where they were highly touted and we came in and pushed them to Game 7,' Foligno said. 'We've done it the hard way all year — and 20 seconds left in the season is when you do it the hard way,' Zuccarello said. 'That's been our season. So hopefully we can do it the hard way this series and get a win.'
New York Times
19-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Wild walking taller with the prospect of a healthy Kirill Kaprizov ‘excited to do some damage'
LAS VEGAS – This is the Minnesota Wild. They usually don't have players in the Hart Trophy conversation. When Kirill Kaprizov shattered franchise records in 2021-22 with 47 goals and 108 points, his seventh-place finish for the Hart was by far the highest in franchise history. That's why so many folks around the Wild, not to mention the fan base, were so excited when Kaprizov was considered the Hart Trophy favorite in December, when he had scored 23 goals and 50 points in his first 34 games for a team that was atop the NHL standings. Advertisement Then, he disappeared, and so did his chances to win the coveted hardware. Does such a lost opportunity bother the Wild star? 'No,' Kaprizov said quickly followed by a hearty laugh. 'It was just 35 games. It was good for you guys. You can talk — the media and stuff, but I don't care. Because it was just 40 games, 35 games.' In other words, Kaprizov offered a reality check, a reminder, that there's 82 games in a season and he had a long way to go to prove he was the NHL's most valuable player to his team. And considering he had to stop playing after Christmas and missed more than three months — beyond a three-game trial in late January to convince himself that it was time to get his injury surgically repaired — he pretty much proved that MVP talk before midseason is a wee bit premature and basically fodder for, yes, the press. 'I mean, it's fun, it's nice,' Kaprizov said of all the early-season accolades. 'I can hear about it from the boys in the locker room or from Sicky (Wild media relations director Aaron Sickman) or you guys texting me, but I usually don't (listen) to all this stuff and just play my game. Sometimes you can focus on this and it's not a help to you in your game. For me, I don't care now because I know how I need to be like. But sometimes young guys like 20 years old, 22 years old, I think it's hard to read and listen to everything. You have (a) good game, you read and think, 'Oh, I'm so good.' Then, bad game and he reads and now thinks, 'I'm not great.' 'So I don't read.' Ever? 'No,' Kaprizov said. Wait, what? 'Oh, you guys, yes, only you guys,' Kaprizov said, sarcastically. Boy, oh boy, it's good to have Kaprizov and his bubbly personality back in the room and, more importantly for the Wild heading into this first-round playoff series that starts Sunday night with the Vegas Golden Knights, on the ice. Advertisement As all Wild fans know — and especially Kaprizov's teammates during this grind of an injury-riddled season — the last four months have been a chore. But the Wild enter the playoffs with four wins in their final five regular-season games, three with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek back in the lineup. Eriksson Ek scored five goals, including a season-saving goal with 22 seconds left in the finale against Anaheim to put the Wild in the postseason for the 11th time in the past 13 years. Kaprizov scored two goals, including the overtime winner in his return against San Jose, and two assists, including one on Mats Zuccarello's overtime winner in the penultimate game at Vancouver. Kirill. Kaprizov. — Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) April 10, 2025 Kaprizov has high standards for himself, so as much as his presence has made the Wild look more dangerous and certainly more exciting, he has admitted that he's still trying to scrape off the rust. In Calgary last week, he struggled to get into the fight — as did the team. He called his game in that one-sided defeat, 'eh.' In Vancouver, in a come-from-behind victory, he called his game 'a little better.' 'You can see,' Kaprizov said. 'When I feel good, my legs are working better and I skate better and everything. (In Vancouver), it was a little better, I feel. When you start pushing more, it's easy to create chances.' Kaprizov also won't say that he's 100 percent. Him at 50, 60 or 70 percent is still better than most NHLers, but he's unwilling to say if he's still feeling the effects of the significant surgery he underwent on Jan. 31. He's just glad he got four regular-season games in, because after missing a month in late 2023 and being held out of two of the final four games, Kaprizov said he couldn't find his game in the Dallas playoff series last year, and he never scored again after a series-opening goal. 'I don't know,' Kaprizov said when asked how he's feeling. 'We'll see in playoffs. I don't like say something good or bad or think about injury. Hopefully (it's not an issue) game to game and I play with good team structure. And just try not to think about it. Just try be myself. That's it.' KIRILL KAPRIZOV — Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) April 10, 2025 This had been a long three months for Kaprizov. After complaining about the injury before Christmas, he finally had to stop playing, and he hoped rest and treatments would allow him to return and get through the season non-surgically. He sought advice from specialists in and out of Minnesota. After three games, he underwent surgery in New York. But even he never envisioned that his surgeon would put such a conservative two-month timetable on his return. He thought, as Bill Guerin told the media in advance of Kaprizov's surgery, that it would be a 'minimum of four weeks.' Advertisement 'It's brutal,' Kaprizov said, laughing, as he repeated the word used by a reporter who said 'it had to be brutal.' 'It's not fun. It's so boring,' he said. 'I never had a season like this. I've never not played 40 games, three months. You just came here (to TRIA Rink) sometimes when team on the road and just do your stuff every day. You don't do skating, you just go in the gym, you do same things all the time. It's just so boring. But you need to do it. You want to come back faster, but sometimes you can't do this because your body don't let you. Just a boring time.' So what did Kaprizov do to bide time? 'I just was here usually from the morning to daytime, then usually go to nap after, to home. Then take walk, do dinner somewhere. Play a little computer.' But then Kaprizov again laughed: 'But not too much, because it was boring, too, already. Usually after road, you come back home and you can't wait to play computer. It's, 'OK, just play a little.' But when always home, you just don't want to play sometimes. So I watched hockey on TV, other teams and our team, how the guys play. That's it.' As he reiterated, boring. The Wild are huge underdogs heading into this series with the 2023 Stanley Cup champs, but for the first time since November, the Wild have their full lineup available. Eriksson Ek looks like he really took advantage of his rest during his six weeks off, while Kaprizov continues to try to find his game. Teammates are happy to have him back and are walking a little taller now that their star is suiting up again. 'Obviously, time is going to tell,' veteran Marcus Foligno said. 'But I just think with that type of player, being rested and being mentally rested, too, I think is good for Kirill. I think he's excited to play and continue to play. The stuff that he went through has been bothering him for a bit longer than people probably think. And I think it's just gonna benefit us even more having a guy like that who's excited, eager and hungry to contribute again, like he did in the start of the season where, he was a Hart candidate in my eyes. The fact he's still probably not 100 percent is pretty scary. So if we can get this guy 100 percent and excited to do some damage, then that's good for us.' Advertisement Told that Kaprizov isn't bothered by his Hart chances being blown as much as his teammates, Foligno joked self-deprecatingly that's because his '35 games were my career though. I don't know what he's talking about.' 'I feel like it reflected kind of in our season, right?' Foligno said. 'Like, it was a good start and you've got to go without your best player for a long time. But all of us want to see Kirill ay the top and being talked about, because he deserves it and the type of person he is off the ice, too. So, yeah, it's frustrating when you see a guy having a career season, and it gets cut short. What the best thing about this is it happened earlier rather than later, and we get him back.' Kirill Kaprizov ties for 4th in latest NHLPA player poll for "Best Overall Forward" — AJ Fredrickson (@AJ_FREDRICKSON) April 15, 2025 Kaprizov being back and on top of his game would be the biggest game-changer heading into this series. In his playoff debut against Vegas in 2021, he got better and better as the series moved along. The Wild rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to force Game 7, scoring goals in games 5 and 7. But he only had 10 shots in the series as Vegas did a terrific job against him. Coach John Hynes says, 'You need big-time players to be big-time players at the most intense time of the year.' The Wild are confident Kaprizov can get back to that early-season Kaprizov. and the version that was so good against St. Louis in 2022, when he scored seven goals in six games, including the only playoff hat trick in Wild history. And as Kaprizov says, he has never missed half a season, so looking at the bright side, he's a lot more rested than many of the Vegas opponents that will be tasked with neutralizing him. 'That's a benefit, probably for Ekky and Kirill, just that they were off for a long period of time,' Hynes said. 'Now, that time isn't easy. They had their own issues that they had to deal with. But I think the rigors of the season and the miles that get put on as a you go through 82 games, hopefully that can help those guys in the series.'
Associated Press
10-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Wild stars Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek sure know how to make an entrance and brighten a playoff picture
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The scoring punch the Minnesota Wild have been sorely lacking made a timely and triumphant appearance, following the long-awaited return of vital forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov from their long-term injuries. Those goals that were stranded with them in the trainer's room emerged with abundance, suddenly putting the Wild's bid for the NHL playoffs in much better shape than it was just five days ago. Eriksson Ek scored a career-high four times in the 8-7 thriller over San Jose on Wednesday befitting of the Wild's ambiguous nickname. Kaprizov scored twice, including the overtime winner. 'If you take any team's two best players away, that's a huge difference and such an impact that those guys have in every aspect of us playing well,' said Matt Boldy, whose 26 goals and 45 assists lead the club. 'For them to work as hard as they did throughout these weeks they've been out, and then to come back and perform like that, it speaks a lot to them and their character.' Minnesota (43-29-7) would clinch a spot in the postseason by winning on Friday at Calgary (37-27-14), the only team below the eight-team cut in the Western Conference that's still alive. What's more, the Wild have regained control from St. Louis (43-30-7) of the first of the two wild-card berths after a recent 12-game winning streak by the Blues had pushed the Wild to the brink. Already a team built this season around grit more than goals, the dual absence of Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov was particularly and predictably pressing on a forward group that lacks depth in light of the Wild's salary cap constraints of the last two years. Kaprizov, who was playing like an MVP award candidate, with 23 goals and 27 assists in his first 34 games, missed 40 of 43 games with his unspecified lower-body injury, which required surgery in late January. Eriksson Ek, the first-line center whose net-front presence and two-way contributions were just as irreplaceable, was sidelined for 21 games with his injury. A handful of other key players were in and out during that stretch, too. 'Our team stuck together, grinded, grinded, trying to get points along the way, and everybody's stepping in trying their best,' goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. 'But it's definitely nice to get those guys back and seeing what they can do. Kirill's shot is so good, and Ekky is always such a big presence in front of the net.' The Wild are just 26th in the league in goals per game (2.75) this season, but since Dec. 27 — the date of Kaprizov's first missed game — they're the third-worst (2.59), according to Sportradar data. All Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov could do was watch — and work on their rehab. 'Some days you get frustrated. You want to be out there. You want to help the team. So you have your ups and downs,' Eriksson Ek said. 'I think emotionally it was really good to have someone to talk to. For him, too, I think he felt — or hopefully it was — pretty nice to have someone kind of on the same timeline and just doing the same.' As evidenced by the seven goals allowed to the Sharks, who are third-to-last in the NHL in goals per game this season, the Wild are far from fixed. Their penalty kill is 30th in the league with a 72.7% success rate. But having Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov back in the lineup changes the whole dynamic. 'Those guys are workhorses,' coach John Hynes said. 'When they said that they're going to be ready to play, you knew that they were going to be ready to play the way that they need to play.'
Axios
10-04-2025
- Sport
- Axios
Injuries make Wild sweat to hold their playoff spot
Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek returned to the Minnesota Wild lineup Wednesday night — just in time for a fight to hold onto the team's playoff spot in the regular season's final week. Why it matters: The Wild have endured more injuries to high-impact players than almost any other NHL franchise this season, sinking a team that once vied for the Western Conference lead into a wild card spot. The return of the franchise's most prolific scorer ever (Kaprizov) and its veteran center (Eriksson Ek) are exactly the medicine this team needs. State of play: Eriksson Ek had four goals and Kaprizov scored the overtime winner in the Wild's messy 8-7 victory over San Jose on Wednesday night. What's next: The Wild hit the road Friday to face the team trying to knock them out of the postseason picture: the Calgary Flames. The Flames lost Wednesday and now sit five points behind Minnesota. Catch up quick: The first injury omen came in November, when a teammate's errant shot hurt winger Mats Zuccarello. He missed the next month — and for the team, a grim revolving door of injuries started spinning. Since Thanksgiving, the Wild have been without some combination of Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, captain Jared Spurgeon, the smooth-skating Jonas Brodin and sturdy defender Jake Middleton. During that stretch, all of those players missed at least nine games; Eriksson Ek missed more than 30 and Kaprizov missed 40. What they're saying:"You get frustrated. You want to be out there. You want to help the team," Eriksson Ek told reporters of his recovery Wednesday night, saying he leaned on Kaprizov for emotional support as the players healed. "I'm just happy now to come back with the team and start playing again," Kaprizov said. Stunning stat: Only three other teams have paid more salary to injured players than the Wild this season, according to data from NHL Injury Viz. The intrigue: In a way, the data downplays the depth of the Wild's injury problems. The Wild entered the season without major health concerns, but climbed this list as injuries piled up. By contrast, San Jose, St. Louis and Colorado 's totals are all arguably inflated by players with severe injuries who were expected to play little, if at all, this season. Reality check: Injuries haven't kept the Dallas Stars from competing for a division title. Their injury totals measured by player pay ranked No. 6, just behind the Wild. What we're watching: Whether Kaprizov is returning to the lineup in top form.
