Meet the 2016 Wild: Fun facts about your favorite players
The regular season is upon us and soon enough you'll be hearing all about goals, assists, saves and other statistics.
Since you'll be getting enough hockey stats about the Minnesota Wild to fill any void you might have, we thought we'd take a look at the lighter side of things.
We scoured through the Wild media guide and came up with some different and interesting facts about a number of players. While your friends are dishing out the number of Zach Parise 30-goal seasons, you can enlighten them on which player has more than 20 tattoos, who has played guitar since he was 9, whose dad played American football overseas and much more.
Read on, enjoy and be prepared to dazzle your buddies with your inside knowledge of Wild players (plus a tidbit about the team, the owner and a coach).
Minnesota Wild: The team's official colors aren't just red, green, gold and white. They're known by the team as Iron Range Red, Forest Green, Harvest Gold and Minnesota Wheat.
Owner Craig Leipold: Helped create the Nashville Predators, who played their first NHL game in 1998.
Player development coach Richard Park: The second Korean-born player in NHL history, Park is also an assistant coach for the Korean men's Olympic team.
Defenseman Jonas Brodin: Has played tennis since childhood.
Forward Charlie Coyle: Ranks first in franchise history in playoff hits. Also is the cousin of former NHL player Tony Amonte
Center Zac Dalpe: An avid musician, and has played the guitar for nine years.
Goaltender Devan Dubnyk: Hopped a red-eye flight to Buffalo, N.Y., after being traded to the Wild then stopped 18 shots that night in a shutout win.
Defenseman Matt Dumba: Has more than 20 tattoos.
Defenseman Chrisitan Folin: After being denied a hockey scholarship by Bemidji State, Folin's North American career began in the NAHL. He waited at a North Dakota gas station for the Austin Bruins to be pick him up after his rights were sold by the USHL's Fargo Force.
Center Mikael Granlund: The first car he drove was a smart car.
Forward Erik Haula: Father played American Football in his native Finland. Tomi Haula played and coached in the semi-pro Vaahteraliiga, playing defensive back, kicker and wide receiver.
Center Mikko Koivu: Is a supporter of English soccer club Manchester United.
Goalie Darcy Kuemper: The franchise rookie record-holder for consecutive starts (16), wins (12) and shutouts (2).
Forward Nino Niederreiter: Met countryman and tennis star Roger Federer in 2015, when he attended the French Open and Wimbledon.
Left wing Zach Parise: Led Team USA to its first-ever World Junior Championship gold medal in 2004.
Right wing Jason Pominville: First three-goal game in the NHL was a natural hat-trick, meaning all three goals were scored back-to-back-to-back.
Defenseman Mike Reilly: Would choose invisibility as his superpower.
Defenseman Marco Scandella: The nephew of former NHL player Sergio Momesso.
Center Eric Staal: His charity hosts a Canadian PGA Tour event: The Staal Foundation Open in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
