Wild’s Belief In Each Other Continues to Get Them Through Adversity – The Hockey Writers Minnesota Wild Latest News, Analysis & More

Every team in the NHL occasionally deals with injuries, but the Minnesota Wild have been hit nonstop since the beginning of the season. It continued in their game against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Just when things were starting to look up as they got Jake Middleton back, they lost another defenseman in Brock Faber. 

This team is also missing Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon, and Jakub Lauko. At different points throughout the season, they’ve also been without Jonas Brodin, Filip Gustavsson, Joel Eriksson Ek, and others along the way. They’ve still managed to put together wins along the way no matter how much they’ve faced, and in this article, we’ll look at how they’ve been able to do so, starting with believing in themselves. 

Wild Have Belief in Every Player 

The Wild have had to bring in different players from the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League to fill in for those injuries. While some teams have to bring up players who may not be ready for the NHL but are the closest when injuries arise, the Wild have been ready. Every player they’ve brought up has been chosen for their readiness and ability to play at the high levels. 

It isn’t just the coaching staff and upper management who believe this; every player on the Wild also believes it. This team truly acts as a team rather than individuals put together to make a team. When the players are asked about their performances, they often deflect and talk about how good their teammates were and how the team played a team game regardless of it being a full-time NHL player or an AHL player fill-in.

“I think we have a good mixture of guys that can play any style, really, even the guys that put up a lot of points for us can play defense, and you know, vice versa. It’s a fun d-corps to be a part of no matter who you’re jumping over the boards with, it’s pretty easy to find chemistry, factor in there’s a bunch of fun guys back there. I like to think defensemen are the best guys on the team, but yeah, it’s fun, it’s fun right now, we’re playing a fun brand of hockey, and it took a team to do that,” said Zach Bogosian on how he thinks the defense has stepped up and how the d-corps is built. 

Wild Step Up When Needed

Besides believing in all of the players who put on the Wild jersey, they also know when more is expected of them. While every player does their best to play at the top level, some do so better than others, and in some situations, some can find that next level. Someone like Brodin always plays at the top of his game but found a way to dig even deeper the other night when he played a career-high 33 minutes when Faber was injured. 

Whenever a player has gone out of the lineup this season, someone else has come in to fill the void and stepped up to either produce points or contribute behind the scenes. Regardless of who they’ve brought up into the lineup, every player finds a way to step up, and that’s how the Wild have been able to win games without their top players. 

“Yeah, the D-corps really stepped up going down a man early again, but we’ve kind of continued to do that throughout the year, so it’s nothing new for us,” said Middleton about the defense having to push through more adversity when they lost Faber. 

Wild Know Who They Are

This team has shown that in nearly every situation, they can find a way through, and while they have dropped some games here and there, it hasn’t stopped them from knowing they can win games. They believe in each other and in themselves as a team, and that’s what makes the difference in the end. Every team loses games and goes through a hard spot, but how they respond to that makes the difference. 

When they get into tough situations, some teams start pointing the finger at who isn’t doing enough or how they have a lot of injuries in the lineup. While injuries can be an excuse if a team loses their top players, the Wild haven’t allowed that to be a reason to lose games. They truly believe in themselves as a team, know they can win games no matter who steps on the ice, and don’t allow themselves to think any other way. 

Related: Wild Can Get Through This Tough Time With Fun & Detailed Play

“I don’t know, we fight the panic, we’re all, like, we keep talking about that next man up mentality, but it’s true … whoever’s in the lineup they’re producing, they’re playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played, and it’s given us good outcomes at the end of the games,” Middleton continued when asked about how they’ve handled the adversity better than the previous year. 

Wild Are Solid

While the Wild have found ways to overcome adversity, they’ve also struggled at times, just like every team in the NHL. The difference is that they continue to push through and don’t allow their emotions to get too high or too low. The “business” attitude they started the season with has continued, and that’s greatly helped them win games.