A tribute to Wild moms: On raising an NHL family and life beyond hockey
It’s the day before Mother’s Day and, fittingly, there’s another Minnesota Wild baby on the way.
At a Twin Cities-area hospital Saturday, a certain member of the Wild organization beamed as he and his wife — who had just been induced — looked forward to the birth of their latest child.
This author was there too because, fittingly, shortly after finishing up this very story on Wild moms earlier in the day, I also needed to get to the hospital for the delivery of my own child.
Advertisement
So there I was, interviewing Nate Prosser in the hospital hallway. Don’t worry, Iowa Wild fans, he plans to be back with the team for Monday’s Game 6 in their best-of-seven first-round series against the Chicago Wolves.
It was a chance encounter, but it shouldn’t be all that surprising to bump into someone from the Wild in the maternity ward in what’s been a busy stretch of babies in the Wild family. Everyone from Jason Zucker to Zach Parise to Devan Dubnyk to Jared Spurgeon to Marcus Foligno and more have welcomed new additions in the past two years as the club’s total number of little ones has shot up to 39.
So in honor of Mother’s Day, The Athletic caught up with four Wild mothers — Natascia Foligno (mom of one), Tanya Staal (mom of three), Jenn Dubnyk (mom of three) and Danielle Spurgeon (mom of four) — and their hockey-playing husbands about being a mom in an NHL family.
“It’s a true testament of the person she is. She does a lot. She takes care of everything. When you come back home from the rink, everything’s taken care of. I owe a lot to her for the success in my career, and she’s been a big part of it. Just seeing her as a mom for this first year, it’s pretty special. It’s been great. I would be pretty much lost if I didn’t have her.” — Marcus Foligno, on Natascia
Making it work in-season
Natascia Foligno eyed the 2018 Stanley Cup playoff calendar with more anxiety than even the most devoted Wild fan.
She and her husband, Marcus, were expecting their first child right in the middle of the first round. Depending on how the schedule fell, it could’ve presented a major dilemma. But their little one hadn’t yet arrived when the Wild ultimately succumbed to the Winnipeg Jets, 5-0, in Game 5 on April 20, ending their season.
Baby Foligno must’ve taken it as a cue.
Natascia’s water broke at 5 a.m. on April 21, just a little more than one hour after dad arrived home from Winnipeg after the team charter was delayed with technical difficulties. Their daughter, Olivia, was born six hours later.
Advertisement
“It’s as if she knew, ‘Oh, dad’s home now and hockey is done,” Natascia said with a laugh. “The timing of it was just funny, you couldn’t even make it up.”
With the birth, the Folignos became part of the parents’ club in the Wild locker room that’s seen so many new children added in recent years. While Marcus and Natascia are newcomers, the Spurgeons have had plenty of experience enduring the challenges brought on by a burgeoning hockey career.
At 19, Danielle Spurgeon and husband Jared welcomed their first son, Zach (now 9). With Jared playing junior hockey in Spokane, Washington, and Danielle finishing up her degree in education in their hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, their already long-distance relationship became long-distance parenting, too.
“We were together for 3 1/2 years and then we had Zach, which threw a wrench in things,” recalled Danielle, who has since added daughter Colbie (5), and sons Jayce (2) and Meyer (3 months) to the bunch. “It was something we didn’t plan to happen, but it happened. I finished up my degree and he played in Spokane for 2 1/2 more years before we were able to live together.
“We would Skype or go see Jared when he played in Edmonton, and I had the help of my parents and his parents, but it was hard those few years for sure.”
Jared credits Danielle for her ability to persevere through it all.
“She was doing so much with me not being there and her being responsible and finishing school at the same time, it was really amazing to witness,” he said. “She never made me feel guilty about being away, and she was really supportive in letting me chase my dream at the same time. When you can do that by yourself at such a young age and finish your university degree, it speaks volumes about how strong of a person you are and how great of a mom she is.”
Danielle and the rest of the moms have learned and adapted to operating their households without the 24/7 help of dad. It’s a scene familiar to any parent: Large over-sized calendars filled to the brim with everything from music and art classes to hockey and gymnastics fill their kitchens. Organization, they all insist, is the key to making the entire ship run efficiently.
Advertisement
“We basically call it survival mode during the season,” explained Jenn Dubnyk, mom to boys Nate (5), Parker (3) and Dawson (1). “It’s a lot of running them to activities, feeding them, keeping them busy. It’s fun, but at the end of the day, you’re so tired.”
“I’ve never been a planner,” added Danielle. “I am a very last-minute, procrastinating type of person, so being as organized as I have to be is really throwing me for a loop. I have a planner, I get ready well before I know I need to be out of the house, all of that. It’s the only way you will make it work.”
“You have such an appreciation for her. When we’re home, we all try to help out as much as possible, but I think when you see what they have to go through and how often we are gone, I think you can realize that they deserve all the credit they get. They hold the house down and they make it easy on us, and they definitely make the kids’ life easy. When we’re home, you add another kid to the group because we have to have our naps on game days and all that stuff, so she’s keeping them quiet and running them around and you’re a 30-year-old taking a nap in the middle of the day. She’s a great mom and I couldn’t be prouder of her.” — Jared Spurgeon, on Danielle
Dealing with a trade
As every professional hockey family knows, trades come with the territory. Former Wild forward Mikael Granlund found out how hard that can be earlier this season with his trade to the Predators coming the day before his first child was born.
When Devan Dubnyk was traded from Edmonton for a brief two-game stint in Nashville in 2014, he had a two-bedroom condo, big enough for Jenn and Nate, who was five months old at the time, to join him.
But neither Devan or Jenn accounted for the railroad track next to Nate’s room, making an already difficult newborn sleeping schedule tougher.
“He lived in the master bathroom,” Devan said with a chuckle. “This train would roll by at 5 a.m. every day and blow its horn and wake him up so we had to move him, and he spent a good month in our bathroom, tucked away where it was dark and he could sleep. It was tough.”
But Devan said even the constant moving of that season — which included Jenn and Nate heading back to Edmonton once Devan was traded to Montreal and subsequently sent down to Hamilton — didn’t compare to making the call to Jenn in 2015 to let her know he was traded from Arizona to Minnesota.
Advertisement
“That was a pretty tough call to make to her,” he said. “From a hockey perspective, it was exciting, but we had settled into Arizona and to have to make that call to her and tell her we were doing it all over again, that was hard. I had to pack up and leave the same day while she had to get everything else together. She’s been through it all with me, and I love her more for it.”
“It’s definitely not easy,” Jenn added. “It’s obviously stressful. That being said, at the end of the day, you have your boys at home, so there’s not much time to dwell on that stuff. You do what’s best for your family and you know that’s a part of it, so you figure it out.”
Tanya Staal and her husband Eric had firm roots planted in Carolina, spending 12 years with the Hurricanes before getting shipped to the New York Rangers at the 2015-16 trade deadline. Eric signed with Minnesota as a free agent that summer and this February inked a two-year contract to stay — despite the trade rumors that heavily swirled about moving the centerman.
“It brings up anxiety, and it’s probably because we love it here and feel so settled,” said Tanya, mom to sons Parker (9), Levi (7) and Finley (4). “I look at it from the kids’ point of view, and I think of them and how it would be for them. At the end of the day, we know it’s the job and we would make it work. As long as we’re together, everything would be fine, but it’s never fun to go.”
“It’s hard to even put into words how much she does. If anyone knows anything about professional sports, especially hockey, the schedule we’re given throughout the year makes us pretty non-existent. She has to plan for me not being around, and if I am it’s just a bonus. She holds everything together. That’s the reality of it. She’s definitely our rock in our family and for me to do what I do, I am very grateful to have found someone like her.” — Eric Staal, on Tanya
Beyond motherhood
There’s more to these women than just being mom — a full-time job in itself. Danielle volunteers at Secondhand Hounds — a nonprofit animal rescue center in Minnesota — and plans to invest more time in that as her kids get older.
Tanya puts her education degree to use, helping out at the boys’ schools. Natascia enjoys cooking — “It’s the Italian in me” — and hopes to reverse the working/parent role when Marcus’ playing career is over, looking to utilize her business degree someday down the road.
Jenn, who is currently in school taking a nutrition course, majored in marketing and was working for Loreal before moving to the U.S. and would eventually like to also look at reigniting that career once Devan retires.
Advertisement
Having such a large family presence on the teams lends itself to a great support group as well. Home game nights give moms a chance to get out of the house and the kids a chance to play together with their mini -ticks in the family room and around the locker room.
“This life can get stressful and crazy,” said Natascia. “I’m lucky to live it, but it’s definitely hard, too. The season gets long and I think that’s where I’ve learned it’s important to take time for yourself. That’s going to make you a better mom and can help get through those long road stretches when you’re alone. Anyone filling that double parent role can understand that.”
“We are all just normal moms who deal with the same mom challenges everyone else deals with,” added Tanya. “It’s not even as glamorous as everyone thinks. It’s just us being moms and getting to watch out husbands live out their dreams, which is amazing and exciting to be a part of too. At the end of the day, we’re the same as everyone else, and doing what is best for our families. We know this life is short-lived and we just try to enjoy it while it lasts.”
“She is just always in straight mom mode. She supports me and is following the hockey and caring about it and what not, but to see her with the kids and having her 24/7 just focused on their health and making sure they’re at their programs, it’s amazing. I spend a day at home with all three of them and it’s complete madness, just the ages they’re at and all the things they’re doing. And to know that she does this every single day, it’s pretty amazing to see her do it.” — Devan Dubnyk, on Jenn
(Top photo: Danielle, Jared and a young Zach Spurgeon, now one of the older Wild children. Courtesy the Spurgeon family)
