How a players-only meeting saved the Wild from themselves
TL;DR
Veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon organized a players-only meeting for the Minnesota Wild after a disappointing loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This initiative aimed to address team frustrations and improve morale following a tough month.
Key points
- Jared Spurgeon is the captain of the Minnesota Wild.
- The Wild had a 3-6-3 record in October 2023.
- Spurgeon organized a players-only meeting after a loss to the Penguins.
- His leadership style is soft-spoken and effective.
Mentioned in this story
A lead-by-example guy for most of his career, veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon leaned into being more vocal after he was named the captain of the Wild on Jan. 3, 2021.
That doesn’t mean the 36-year-old Wild lifer has taken to yelling and screaming in the locker room. He’s still soft spoken by nature.
His superpower as a leader has long been his innate ability to effectively get his point across without having to yell and scream. He knows exactly what his teammates need. He also knows exactly when his teammates need it.
Which explains why Spurgeon decided it would be best to let the emotions simmer down after the Wild suffered a frustrating 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 30, which rounded out a 3-6-3 month for Minnesota. There wasn’t going to be much value in trying to hash everything out while everybody was all wound up.
Instead, Spurgeon reached out to head coach John Hynes, letting him know that he wanted to have a players-only meeting before practice the following morning. After consulting with veteran winger Marcus Foligno on the side, Spurgeon sent a text message to the group chat to let everybody know the plan.
“Sometimes it helps to take a step back and look at the big picture,” Spurgeon said. “It was nice to come back the next day after sleeping on it and have everybody voice their opinion about what was going on. It was really good for us. We needed it.”
Was that the turning point for the Wild?
“The record says it was,” Foligno said. “I think it helped everybody take a deep breath,and we really haven’t looked back.”
It’s probably not a coincidence that the Wild immediately responded with a dominant 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks, which kicked off a dominant month of November in which the team went 11-1-2.
That massive turnaround put the Wild (46-24-12, 104 points) on a collision course with the Dallas Stars (50-20-12, 112 points) — a matchup that has been a couple of months in the making.
The first round playoff series between the Wild and the stars will start on Saturday afternoon at American Airlines Center with puck drop set for 4:30 p.m. CT.
“We knew what we had in here,” Spurgeon said. “We weren’t playing the way we needed to be playing. Unfortunately in the past we’ve had some tough starts where we’re fighting back from that and trying to claw our way back in the playoff race. We didn’t want it to get too far away from us.”
It was an open and honest conversation in the bowels of TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul. There were comments from Spurgeon, Foligno, superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov, veteran winger Mats Zuccarello and young defenseman Brock Faber, among a handful of others.
The general consensus was the Wild had gotten away from their identity of being a responsible bunch that prides itself on being hard to play against in all areas.
“We just had to get back to playing to our strengths,” veteran center Joel Eriksson Ek said. “That’s pretty much what we were talking about.”
The biggest problem for the Wild in the early stages was it seemed like everybody was trying to do too much. It resulted in missed opportunities in the offensive zone, reckless play in the neutral zone, and a lack of structure in the defensive zone.
“We have a lot of guys who care a lot,” Spurgeon said. “It almost goes the other way because of that.”
Perhaps some of that stemmed from the Wild pushing the Vegas Golden Knights to the brink in a first round playoff series last season. After waiting all summer to get back on the ice, the Wild were eager to prove they deserved a better fate this season.
“It was almost like we were living in the past there,” Foligno said. “We kind of got stuck in this, ‘Why isn’t it working?’ We just had to look ourselves in the mirror and go out there and play our game. Not worry about doing extra stuff.”
Though he obviously wasn’t a part of the players-only meeting, Hynes lauded Spurgeon for how he went about his business at the time. The decision to let cooler heads prevail before addressing the issues at hand made everything more productive.
“It had substance to it,” Hynes said. “It really had a purpose.”
It was similar tone from general manager Bill Guerin as he reflected on the players-only meeting that saved the Wild from themselves. He appreciated the maturity that was on display in the face of adversity.
“They realized that it has to come from within,” Guerin said. “I can say whatever I want and John can say whatever he wants. The real guts of it has to come from them. They have to be the drivers.”
The best part of the players-only meeting was everybody who wanted to speak up felt comfortable enough to speak up. That’s a hallmark of the culture Spurgeon has worked hard to build since he was named the captain of the Wild more than five years ago.
“There’s a lot of trust in here,” Spurgeon said. “That’s really important when it gets a little bit tough.”
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Q&A
What prompted Jared Spurgeon to call a players-only meeting for the Wild?
Jared Spurgeon called the meeting after the Wild's 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, aiming to let emotions settle and address team frustrations.
How did the Minnesota Wild perform in October 2023?
The Minnesota Wild had a challenging October, finishing the month with a record of 3-6-3.
Who is the captain of the Minnesota Wild?
Jared Spurgeon has been the captain of the Minnesota Wild since January 3, 2021.
What is Jared Spurgeon's leadership style?
Jared Spurgeon's leadership style is characterized by being soft-spoken and effective in communicating with teammates without yelling.
