Jared Spurgeon—the new Minnesota Wild Captain

When it was announced that the Wild were moving on and not re-signing Mikko Koivu (who signed a one year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets in October), the question arose on who was going to replace Koivu as captain. Koivu was the first, full-time captain of the Wild starting in 2010 (for the first nine seasons, the captaincy was rotated on a monthly basis).

That question was answered when the Wild opened training camp on January 4^th. The new (and second full time) captain of the Wild was announced to be Jared Spurgeon. As a Wild fan, I think Spurgeon was a good choice to be named captain.

The "Spurgeon General," Jared Spurgeon

Jake Jenson from minnyice.com stated this perfectly about Spurgeon and I couldn’t agree more:

 “Everybody loves Spurg! No matter where you go, I find it highly unlikely to ever come across a person that doesn’t enjoy being around Spurgeon. He’s just one of those guys that has an aura about him where he sheds light and positivity everywhere he goes. That’s someone you want to be the face of your franchise...Whether it’s coaches, teammates, player personnel… even opposing players, Spurgeon has the respect of absolutely everyone on the ice. Respect is a hugely important trait for a captain to have…You have to be liked to lead. And Spurgeon is absolutely adored in the Wild locker room. By everyone.”

Spurgeon is one of those guys in the locker room who goes out of their way to make new players feel welcome. He reached out to Kirill Kaprizov after he finally signed with the Wild through Instagram (along with Marcus Foligno). He is also one of those guys who plays and "leaves it all out on the ice." He doesn't have to say much, but you know he can be counted on.

Spurgeon’s going into his 11^th season with the Wild. For those who don’t know, Spurgeon was not drafted by the Wild. No, he was originally drafted back in 2008 by the New York Islanders (156^th pick overall). He was never signed by the Islanders and was invited to participate in the Wild’s training camp to start the 2010-11 season. Obviously, from there, the rest is history...and has made an immediate impact on the Wild. 

In his previous ten seasons with the Wild, Spurgeon has scored 82 goals and has 198 assists (280 points) while averaging about 22 minutes a game in 653 career games. 

Some may ask why didn't the captaincy go to Zach Parise--since he's a Minnesota native and has been an alternate captain since he joined the team back in 2012? I'm fine with Parise not being named captain, considering that there was speculation that he didn't want to be a part of any kind of rebuild the Wild may undertake. There was also a possibility that he could have been traded to the Islanders, but that deal never materialized. 

Jared Spurgeon being named captain makes sense because he's been with the team the longest (after Mikko Koivu finished his career with the Wild). He's a fan favorite. He's liked and respected by coaches, teammates, and opposing players.  

The "Spurgeon General" has been promoted...

Sources:

https://minnyice.com/why-jared-spurgeon-will-be-the-next-captain-of-the-wild/

Alex Stalock’s injury. What is going on? What does that mean for the goaltending situation for the Wild?

  

It was announced back on December 16, the Wild were signing goaltender Andrew Hammond to a two-way contract and Wild goalie Alex Stalock was going to be out indefinitely with what is being called an “upper-body” injury.

Alex Stalock

 With Stalock out, what does that mean for the   goaltender situation? For starters, the Wild had   the following goalies on the training camp   roster when training camp started on January   4^th at TRIA rink: Cam Talbot, Andrew   Hammond, Dereck Baribeau, Kaapo Kahkonen,   and Hunter Jones.

 What does that mean for goalies when the Wild   season starts on January 14^th? From what I   saw before the news of Stalock’s injury, Cam Talbot was going to be the starting goalie with Stalock being the back up. The plan was also going to include getting Kahkonen time in as the back up to get him some more games at the NHL level. There is the possibility that Kahkonen will be the #2 goalie behind Talbot. Now, with this 56-game season, the Wild are going to have a LOT of back-to-back games. Whomever the #2 goalie is going to be, they are going to get some NHL starts so that Talbot doesn’t get worn out. There are three other goalies right now vying for that #2 spot...

Kaapo Kahkonen 

If you don’t recall last season for Kahkonen with the Iowa Wild, he won 25 games (with 7 of those being shutouts) and posted a 2.07 GAA and .927 SV %. Those stats were good enough for him to be named the AHL goalie of the year. In the five career NHL games he has played in (all with the Minnesota Wild), he posted a 3-1 record with a 2.96 GAA and .913 SV%.

The big question is how long is Stalock going to be out for with this “upper-body” injury? Not much has been disclosed about the injury or how serious it is. Could he possibly miss the entire season as a result? The answer to that question remains to be seen.

Personally, I would like to see Kahkonen get some more time with the Minnesota Wild. I didn’t see him play at all when he did (partly because I was traveling for work last season). I would like to see what he can do in between the pipes for the Wild.