Minnesota Wild

The NHL announced Monday's game between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues has been postponed after the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota:

A police officer shot and killed Wright, a Black man, during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb Sunday afternoon, via CNN. The police said he was initially pulled over due to an expired tag but they later learned of an outstanding warrant. He was shot while attempting to return to his vehicle.

Protests have taken place outside of the Brooklyn Center Police Department Monday and the state has mobilized the National Guard.

The fatal shooting took place about 10 miles away from the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged in the killing of George Floyd, who died in May 2020. Video showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes despite Floyd pleading that he could not breathe.

The Wild-Blues matchup was set to take place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The game will now take place on May 12, which will, as of now, serve as the final game of the regular season for both teams. Minnesota has an off day Tuesday but the team is scheduled to host the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.

The Minnesota Twins announced they would postpone their game against the Boston Red Sox Monday. The NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets was also postponed.

The Minnesota Wild will not play until at least Feb. 11 as they deal with issues related to COVID-19.

According to an NHL release, the Wild's games have been postponed through Tuesday, and the team's facilities are closed until further notice because of the addition of five players to the league's COVID Protocol Related Absence List.

Minnesota's next scheduled game is Feb. 11 against the St. Louis Blues.

According to The Athletic, Nick Bjugstad, Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon and Nick Bonino were moved to the list Wednesday after Marcus Foligno was added Sunday.

The additions to the list further deplete a Minnesota roster that was already missing Matt Dumba, Mats Zuccarello and Alex Stalock.

The Wild aren't the only team that has been affected by COVID-19 this season. On Tuesday, the Buffalo Sabres' fixtures were postponed through Feb. 8. The New Jersey Devils have postponed games through Saturday, and they had 17 players on the league's COVID-19 Protocol List as of Wednesday, per Shanna McCarriston of CBS Sports.

Earlier this season, the Dallas Stars were forced to delay the start of their campaign when 17 players tested positive for COVID-19 in training camp. The Carolina Hurricanes missed four games in January, and the Vegas Golden Knights returned to practice Wednesday after nearly a week out of action.

According to an analysis from TSN's Travis Yost, the many postponements have put the league's goal of completing a full season by the beginning of May in jeopardy since six teams already needed to play more than every other day to complete their schedules before the Wild's postponements.

The Minnesota Wild announced Monday Dean Evason has been named the team's full-time coach after serving on an interim basis since February. 

"I am very excited to announce that Dean Evason is our full-time head coach," general manager Bill Guerin said in the release. "Dean has done a fantastic job as our interim head coach and deserves this opportunity. I look forward to watching our team under his leadership going forward."

The Wild are among the 24 teams set to resume their season in August after the season was suspended in March. The No. 10 seed in the Western Conference will face the No. 7 Vancouver Canucks in a best-of-five qualifier series.  

Minnesota was in the midst of an up-and-down season under Bruce Boudreau with a 27-23-7 record to start 2019-20. Though Boudreau entered his tenure with high expectations, he led the organization to the playoffs just twice in four seasons and never got past the first round.

Evason took over and led the squad to an 8-4-0 record in 12 appearances. Though it was a limited sample size before the NHL season was paused, the front office trusted him enough to hand the coach an extension through 2021-22.

This is the first head coaching opportunity for Evason in the NHL after serving parts of two seasons as an assistant for the Wild and seven years as an assistant with the Washington Capitals from 2005-12. He has also spent time as a head coach in the AHL and WHL dating back to 1999.

The 55-year-old is perhaps best known for his playing career that spanned 13 seasons from 1983-96. Evason appeared for five different organizations, including his seven years with the Hartford Whalers, totaling 87 goals and 148 assists in 434 games.

Bruce Boudreau provided a candid reaction after being fired as head coach of the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

"It was funny because [general manager] Bill [Guerin] came in, and he shut the door, and as soon as he shut the door, I knew," Boudreau told Michael Russo of The Athletic. "You just know, right? And he says, 'I'm going to make a change,' and I instantly said, 'Are you firing me?!'—just like that. And he goes, 'Yes.' I said, 'Are you f--king kidding me?'"

Boudreau was in his fourth season with the Wild before being let go following a 27-23-7 start.

"It's not just one win, it's not just one loss," Guerin said in a release. "It's not one week. It's a series of things. In a decision like this it's never just one thing. I just felt like the timing was right."

Boudreau has spent 14 seasons as a head coach in the NHL, winning 567 games with the Wild, Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks. Though he was eventually fired in each of his three stops, the latest was the most surprising.

"I'll tell you what, I'm pretty sharp when it comes to these things," he said of being fired. "I may not be sharp in a lot of things, but with firings, I usually know. This one I didn't see coming."

The 65-year-old noted he kept his living situations temporary in Washington and Anaheim ahead of losing his jobs.

Of course, his family still expected to move on by the offseason.

"We knew [he'd be fired] at the end of the year, but at this point, we thought it would definitely be the end of the year," his wife, Crystal, said.

Boudreau was in the final year of his contract and didn't expect to be retained by Guerin, who joined the organization last August and would presumably hire his own coach. Assistant Dean Evason has been named the interim coach.

The Wild sit five points back for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 24 games remaining in the 2019-20 regular season.

The Minnesota Wild fired head coach Bruce Boudreau on Friday, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Michael Russo of The Athletic.

Russo also reported that Minnesota will name assistant coach Dean Evason the interim head coach until a long-term replacement is found.

Boudreau was head coach of the Wild for parts of four seasons. He went 158-110-35 overall and led them to the playoffs twice. Minnesota is 27-23-7 this season, which leaves it three points out of a playoff spot.

The 65-year-old Boudreau has been an NHL head coach since the Washington Capitals named him to the position in 2007-08. Boudreau went 201-88-40 in parts of five seasons with the Caps and then 208-104-40 in parts of five seasons with the Anaheim Ducks.

In 13 seasons as an NHL head coach, Boudreau is 567-302-115 (.635 points percentage) and he has led his team to the playoffs on 10 occasions.

The biggest knock against Boudreau is the fact that his teams have gotten ousted in the first round of the playoffs six times, and he has made it as far as the Conference Finals only once. Boudreau has never led a team to the Stanley Cup Final, either.

Despite his playoff shortcomings, TSN's Travis Yost is among those who believe Boudreau should land on his feet quickly:

With eight NHL head coaching changes already being made this season, however, TSN's Pierre LeBrun noted that Boudreau will have some competition when it comes to landing a new job:

While the Wild missed the playoffs last season and are out of playoff position currently, the timing of Boudreau's firing was somewhat surprising since Minnesota is 4-1-1 in its past six games.

Boudreau's last game as head coach of the Wild was Thursday night, which saw the New York Rangers beat the wild 4-3 in a shootout.

Friedman suggested that former NHL star Doug Weight could be a name to watch in the Wild's search for Boudreau's replacement. Weight was head coach of the New York Islanders for parts of two seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18. He went 59-49-14 and never managed to reach the playoffs.

Weight would be a logical fit in Minnesota since he and Wild general manager Bill Guerin were teammates many times during their NHL careers with the Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues and Islanders.

The NHL announced Wednesday that the 2021 Winter Classic will be hosted by the Minnesota Wild at the Minnesota Twins' Target Field in Minneapolis:

It will mark the 13th Winter Classic and the Wild's first appearance in the annual game.

The Wild did take part in an NHL Stadium Series game in 2016, however, as they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 in front of 50,000 people at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Aside from the playoffs, the Winter Classic has been the premier game on the NHL schedule every year since the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008.

While the date and visiting opponent for next year's Winter Classic have not yet been announced, the game has traditionally been played on New Year's Day, including the 2020 edition between the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

The Wild reached the playoffs in six straight seasons from 2012-13 through 2017-18 before missing out last season with just 83 points.

So far this season, the Wild are 19-17-5. With 43 points, they are fifth in the Western Conference's Central Division and find themselves just three points out of a playoff spot.

Minnesota is a veteran-laden team, as Eric Staal (35 years old), Ryan Suter (34 years old) and Zach Parise (35 years old) are three of its leading scorers this season.

The Wild may not be one of the NHL's top teams by the time next year's Winter Classic rolls around, but given Minnesota's status as one of the biggest hockey-loving states in America, it is a fine fit for such a major spectacle.

Minnesota Wild forward JT Brown was arrested Saturday and charged with public intoxication, according to TMZ Sports. 

According to the police report, officers were needed to intervene on two separate occasions Friday night at a bar in Dallas where he fought with employees. He was arrested early Saturday morning, the day his team was set to close the regular season against the Dallas Stars.

"I would like to apologize to the Minnesota Wild, my teammates, family, and fans for the poor decision I made," Brown said in a statement. "I went out the night before our last game in Dallas, put myself in a bad situation, and take full responsibility for my actions. I have learned from my mistake and will make sure it does not happen again."

He was held out of the team's game against the Stars, although his absence was officially listed as due to an illness.

"Brownie is ill. So he won't be in," coach Bruce Boudreau said before the game, per the team's official account.

The Wild suffered a 3-0 loss without the right wing, ending the season in last place in the Central division with 83 points in 82 games. With the squad falling short of the playoffs, Brown won't get a chance to return to the ice until the 2019-20 season.

The 28-year-old was in his first season with Minnesota after signing a two-year deal last offseason. He totaled three goals and five assists in 56 appearances.