The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Sports

Related Photos

  • Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Coyle (right) sits next to Matt Kassian as both sign autographs in Mankato Wednesday. Josh Birr (left) and his dad, Scott, were pleased to get the signatures. John Cross

    wild 6-27.jpg

June 27, 2012

Wild caravan makes Mankato stop

By Jim Rueda Free Press Sports Editor

MANKATO — The toughest thing about Wednesday’s Minnesota Wild traveling caravan stop in Mankato was trying to figure out who was having more fun — the kids and their parents who came to get autographs or the representatives of the NHL franchise doing the signing?

“This is not a necessary evil at all, it’s a necessary good,” said current Wild player Matt Kassian between autographs. “It’s fun to get out and meet the kids and the fans and talk hockey with them.

“Some of these people outside the Twin Cities may only get up to one or two games a year. This is a chance for them to see us more up close and interact with us a little bit.

“I was the same way when I was a kid. You can’t put a value on something like this.”

The four Wild representatives — Kassian, prospect Charlie Coyle, TV broadcaster Mike Greenlay and former player Antti Laaksonen from Finland — were each signing team-supplied photos of themselves as well as just about anything the fans would put in front of them.

Kassian had fun doodling on some of the photos during gaps in the line, giving himself a mustache and beard or horn-rimmed glasses, or long earrings, or just about anything else that struck his fancy. When kids came by and looked at them, he described the altered photos as part of his “collectors” edition. Some fans took them and some passed.

As one boy surveyed Kassian’s handiwork and seemed to be on the fence, Kassian made his pitch: “This one I call my Harry Potter look,” he said. Within seconds the boy had snatched up the photo.

“I guess that’s the magic name,” Kassian said.

Wednesday’s tour stopped at the new Wells Fargo bank on Bassett Drive (adjacent to Kohl’s). Officials were able to find an overhang to set up tables and line up autograph seekers out of the sun.

“Thank goodness we were able to find this shady area next to the building,” said Wells Fargo Marketing Program Manager Sue Walker, who accompanies the tour. “Otherwise we’d have to move it inside or set up some tents.

“The players have really embraced these tour stops. They were hockey fans before they were NHL players so they remember what its like to meet the pros.”

Kassian, who was called up from the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League in mid-January and played just about every game the rest of the season, believes the Wild are not far from being a club that can make a deep playoff run.

“We’re pretty close,” he said. “With the core group of players we have coming back and the new talent coming in I think we can be very competitive.

“If you can get to the playoffs and then get hot, a lot of good things can happen. Look at what the L.A. Kings did this year. They went into the playoffs as the eighth seed and got hot at the right time.”

Greenlay, who gets a chance to see just about every NHL team play as a broadcaster, agrees with Kassian:

“There really seems to be parity in the NHL now. Over the last nine years nine teams have won the Stanley Cup without any repeats.

“The days of the dynasties are over. Each year its seems like every team is maybe one or two players away.

“If you have the right chemistry and good health you can do a lot of positive things.”

Text Only | Photo Reprints