Marc-Andre Fleury appears certain to retire as a member of the Minnesota Wild. It just won’t be after this season, as many had expected. That became official on Wednesday as Fleury signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract to return for a 21st NHL season and a third full one in Minnesota. Fleury assured reporters that will be it for him. “I’m grateful,” he said. “I’m grateful to keep doing what I love for one more season. I thought about it a lot this year, but still loving to compete, the intensity, the pursuit to be in the best league in the world also, and compete with young guys. I feel ve ..read more

The timing of Jesper Wallstedt’s first NHL start in goal could not have been worse. The Wild had won only one of their previous six games and were coming off a 4-0 shutout loss against Dallas in early January at Xcel Energy Center when Wallstedt was told he would be starting against the Stars in the back end of a home-and-home. The decision came for all the wrong reasons. Veteran Marc-Andre Fleury had been carrying the load with Filip Gustavsson injured, and Wallstedt was the next man up. It was encouraging that Wild trailed only 1-0 after the first period on Jan. 10 in Dallas, but things got ..read more

ST. PAUL — It was 90s Night for the Minnesota Wild game against the Ottawa Senators. The evening featured special 1990s-themed elements throughout the game at Xcel Energy Center, including a video montage and plenty of 90s Jock Jams throughout the night. Fifteen players on each active roster for the Wild and Senators were born in that decade, including two of the three Wild goal scorers. Those two scorers also came from the Wild’s productive fourth line in a 3-2 victory to secure two points as Minnesota is still technically not out of the playoff hunt. Defenseman Zach Bogosian set up left-wing ..read more

Will Marc-Andre Fleury retire? Could Mats Zuccarello return to Broadway? Will Jared Spurgeon ever be the same? The offfseason will be a busy one for Minnesota Wild decision-makers. Brandon Saad’s goal at 2 minutes, 5 seconds of overtime Saturday lifted the St. Louis Blues to a 5-4 victory that put another dagger into the Wild’s playoff hopes and caused Wild goalie Fleury to shatter his stick on the crossbar. Fleury’s immediate frustration was understandable given the Wild missed out on a key second point in the playoff race and put Fleury’s 17-year streak of being in the postseason in serious ..read more

The Minnesota Wild were in the midst of a 1-7-1 stretch in mid-January when general manager Bill Guerin gave a state-of-the-team press conference before a late afternoon start against the New York Islanders at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild had 39 points and carried a 17-20-5 record into the game, putting them well outside of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Nonetheless, Guerin wasn’t giving up hope. “There’s a lot of hockey to be played,” Guerin said. “So we’re definitely not ready to wave the white flag or anything like that. We just want to get healthy and move forward and see what w ..read more

Much is made among Minnesota professional sports fans about the lack of championships, or even championship appearances, for the state’s MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL teams. The Minnesota Wild have never been to a Stanley Cup Final in the 20-plus years as a franchise. But the North Stars were there in 1990-91. It’s a season and a story that Minnesota sports writer and author Kevin Allenspach thinks is worth documenting. So, he wrote his newly released book “Mirage of Destiny: The Story of the 1990-91 Minnesota North Stars.” The book includes very detailed accounts of the North Stars and their, as Alle ..read more

ST. PAUL — What in the Wild world of sports just happened? Some form of that question was likely uttered by anyone who witnessed one of the craziest, most improbable games – and third periods – in Minnesota Wild history. In a final score that looked more like a baseball or football game result, the Wild pulled off a 10-7 victory Monday afternoon over one of the NHL’s best squads this season, the Vancouver Canucks. The final score seemed improbable for many reasons, at many points during the game. But that was before a pair of hat tricks from Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov, plus a seven-g ..read more

This Friday will mark three weeks until the March 8 NHL trade deadline, and, ideally, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin would be in position to be a seller given how things have gone this season. But that isn’t likely to be the case, considering how often no-trade and no-move clauses are handed out to veteran players these days. The list of Wild players with at least some form of trade protection includes forwards Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman. All were signed to contract extensions during training camp. So who could Guerin look to move? The top Wild veterans who do ..read more

The Wild’s 11-3 run under new coach John Hynes was a distant memory when general manager Bill Guerin addressed the media before the Jan. 15 game against the New York Islanders at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild’s 5-10-4 start had gotten coach Dean Evason fired and now Minnesota was in a 1-7-1 slide that dropped it from being on the verge of a playoff spot to again looking like a team that could begin booking tee times for April. Guerin, though, claimed he wasn’t giving up hope. “If you look at our roster like when we are healthy,” he said, “I think it’s a good team. I want to keep the expectation ..read more

ST. PAUL — Seven was the number of the day. In the baseball world, Tuesday was the much-anticipated announcement of which former Major League Baseball players would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2024. For Minnesota Twins fans, that meant learning former catcher and St. Paul native, Joe Mauer, received a call for the Hall. Mauer is a first-ballot Hall of Fame player after the Twins already retired his No. 7 at Target Field back in 2019. A couple of hours after the announcement, another Minnesota native wearing a No. 7 jersey made sports history, too, on the Xcel E ..read more