Wild insider: Russo and Smith on Foligno’s reset, Eriksson Ek’s timeline, Mr. TNT controversy and more
DALLAS — It was supposed to be a secret and a surprise, so Marcus Foligno and his wife, Natascia, were blown away a few weeks ago when their youngest daughter, Camila, asked four days before Easter if Nordy, the Wild’s mascot and resident Easter bunny, would be coming over to go Easter egg hunting again.
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“It was really weird,” the Wild’s hard-hitting but soft-hearted winger said. “She’s only 2 1/2. We have no idea how she remembered he came last year. She knows what she wants, that’s for sure.”
Sure enough, at 10 a.m. on Easter, Nordy knocked on the Folignos’ front door. Camila and her 5-year-old sister, Olivia, answered excitedly, and Nordy took them Easter egg hunting.
“Some of the neighborhood kids came also, so we got about eight kids who got to see Nordy, and he brought them all little presents,” Foligno said. “Then we had a nice brunch after.”
For Foligno, it was just nice to get his mind off hockey for a few hours heading into the final week of the season and in advance of the playoffs, which begin for the Wild on Monday night in Dallas.
The rugged 31-year-old hasn’t hidden the fact he wasn’t exactly pleased with his season. One year after scoring a career-high 23 goals and 42 points and leading the league with a shooting percentage of 23.5 percent, Foligno scored seven goals and 21 points in 65 games while shooting 8.4 percent.
Foligno’s value is hardly about his offensive production, but that hasn’t made the dip any easier.
Plus, Foligno’s had a bit of an identity crisis. A longtime fixture on the Wild’s ballyhooed GREEF line, Foligno now skates on a line without Jordan Greenway (traded to Buffalo) and Joel Eriksson Ek (elevated to center for Marcus Johansson and Matt Boldy before he was hurt).
Throughout his tough season, Foligno has leaned on his older brother, 35-year-old Bruin Nick Foligno.
“Nick went through a really tough last year, didn’t put up a lot of points and found himself injury riddled a little bit,” Foligno said. “Granted, he’s on a team now that’s been great, and you look at his year this year, it’s been great. A leader on that team, he’s found himself. So I’m lucky to have a brother like that, that’s gone through things like this. And he keeps reminding me that even if you’re not contributing on a nightly basis on the score sheets or aren’t that guy that you once were, there’s some things you just have to go back to the drawing board and your basics and play your style of game. Whether it’s just being physical, I need to just find something that I can be effective with.
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“Obviously, the way that this year has been, it’s been a little bit frustrating for myself. And that’s not in a pouting manner, but (the GREEF line has) been a line that’s contributed a lot and was such a factor and I was such a factor. And it’s not there this year.
“So we’re not that ultimate shutdown line anymore. But if I can find myself, I think that will rub off on the guys who I’m playing with, whether it’s (Sam) Steel and (Gus) Nyquist or (Freddy) Gaudreau.”
It pains Wild general manager Bill Guerin to think that Foligno’s been so down on himself.
“That’s what’s great about the playoffs is that you can wipe all that away, but I don’t feel that way about Marcus’ year,” Guerin said. “I think last year was just such an anomaly with all of our players having these career years that went crazy, and it was amazing. But Marcus has got an impact on the team, whether he’s scoring or not. For me, Marcus’ game is all about making the right decisions with the puck.
“He just brings so much other stuff. I know he wants to score 20 goals again. I know he wants to produce, and when you’re not doing that, you don’t feel like you’re helping. But he is, he always is. … And I told him that: ‘Just keep playing hard and do the right things.’ He does that, he will make a huge impact on our success this postseason.”
Teammate Ryan Reaves agrees that the playoffs could be a perfect reset.
“If you get into a seven-game series, big Moose coming down on you shift after shift is not fun,” Reaves said. “I think when he’s on the ice … D-men are going to be taking a peek over their shoulder. It has an effect on the series.”
Could ‘week to week’ mean 11 days?
The definition of “week to week” is subjective, especially in the playoffs when NHLers have played on sprained knees, broken feet and wrists, and other serious ailments.
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So maybe it shouldn’t come as a shock that Eriksson Ek, the Wild’s best center, who was injured April 6, has gone from “week to week” to being perhaps on the verge of a return.
He skated hard for a second straight day with skating and skills coach Andy Ness before the Wild flew to Dallas on Sunday, and Eriksson Ek was along for the ride.
Guerin had been saying that Eriksson Ek could return in the series if it goes long, but now one wonders if we could even see him return in game 1 or 2.
“Always a chance,” coach Dean Evason said.
Generally, the Wild’s process is players returning from injury skate with Ness first, then progress into practice. Eriksson Ek has yet to practice, but if anybody’s going to be the exception to the team’s guideline, it’s him.
“It’s the time of year and certainly he’s the type of person and player that if the doctors and he says, ‘I’m ready to go,’ then he’s in our lineup,” Evason said. “Eriksson Ek plays through a lot. Gets a lot of abuse throughout the season and just keeps moving forward. If anybody can come back sooner it would be him.”
In other injury news, John Klingberg, who looked like he was going to play his off side to the left of Brock Faber in Game 1, missed practice Sunday with a lower-body injury. Jon Merrill skated to the left of Faber on Sunday.
Mr. TNT controversy
Reaves was must-see TV every time he did TNT pregame or intermission interviews on broadcasts this season. Often, he did it “tarps off” (with no shirt).
So it was surprising when Reaves was runner-up for the inaugural “Mr. TNT” award, which was given to the Bruins’ Brad Marchand. Reaves appeared on the show Wednesday — in a bow tie but no shirt — to hear he was the fans’ vote.
“It’s a joke,” Reaves said, smiling. “It’s an absolute joke. I had a better acceptance outfit. Tarps off. Nobody else did that. I thought my Wednesdays were a lot better than most other guys on TNT. I don’t know who gave it to him because the fans didn’t vote for him. This might be a Trump-Biden kind of recount there. We’ll see. Maybe some collusion.”
Reavo dressed for the occasion to accept his win in the Mr TNT fan vote 🔥🏆
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 13, 2023
By now, you’ve likely seen many a Wild player doing intermission or postgame interviews “tarps off.” Defenseman Jake Middleton has, too.
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“I used to do it back in the day,” Reaves said. “Some GMs didn’t particularly enjoy it. Billy seems to like it a little bit more over here. I don’t know. Middsy does it a lot. It just kind of caught on.”
Not everyone can pull it off, though.
“It’s a good look,” Reaves said. “You’ve got to sell the game, and that’s how you do it. Some guys should keep them on.”
When Filip Gustavsson decided to pull a fast one on Marc-Andre Fleury, he knew he had to be ready for retaliation.
Gustavsson, who sewed Fleury’s socks together after a game a few weeks ago, said he planned to “sleep with one eye open” afterward.
And before Saturday’s practice, it appeared Fleury returned the favor. In one of the nets at TRIA Rink was what appeared to be Gustavsson’s clothes (shirt, pants, shoes, with a gold helmet and stick). It was almost like a scarecrow. During practice, it was hung on the glass behind the bench.
Looks like Marc-Andre Fleury got Filip Gustavsson back for sewing his socks together. “I’ll have to check the security cameras,” Gustavsson said, smiling. Some background on their dynamic in this Gustavsson profile #mnwild
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 15, 2023
We asked if Fleury got him and Gustavsson quipped, “I’ll have to get a look at the security camera footage.”
Ryan Carter’s nose gets in way of Jonas Brodin’s stick
Broadcasting between the benches can be dangerous, something Bally Sports North analyst Ryan Carter learned Tuesday when two former teammates teamed up to clunk him on the target in the middle of his face.
Winnipeg’s Nino Niederreiter checked Jonas Brodin, and the blade of Brodin’s stick caught Carter on the bridge of his nose.
That's hockey baby#mnwild x #GritFirst
— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 12, 2023
“It hurt,” Carter said. “I’m just glad I didn’t drop an F-bomb on the air.”
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Between periods and after the game, Carter went to the Wild trainer’s room to get the cut repaired. He felt guilty because he was in there while Johansson was making sure his ribs weren’t broken and a sick Steel was getting an IV.
Late at night, Brodin texted Carter to ask if he’d clipped him. Carter didn’t want to make the defenseman feel bad, so he told him no.
In an unscientific poll on the @russohockey Twitter account, fans were asked whose fault it was: Brodin, Niederreiter or Carter’s nose.
Carter’s schnoz won in a landslide.
Ya think it’s broken?
— Ryan Carter 👃 (@Ryan_Carter22) April 12, 2023
Teammates again
Faber and Sammy Walker, former University of Minnesota teammates, were all smiles before the season finale in Nashville.
They never could have envisioned after Walker’s college career ended that they’d play together again, let alone in an NHL lineup.
“It’s crazy even skating out there today,” Walker said. “I don’t know, it’s incredible. Even looking at him makes me smile.”
(Top photo: Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)
