Torchetti hopes days off will get Wild back on track
After struggling down the stretch despite overtaking the Colorado Avalanche for the final Western Conference playoff spot, interim head coach John Torchetti says that a few days off are helping the Minnesota Wild get back on track.
"I felt that the days off put everyone in a good mood," he said. "I saw some guys smile that I haven't seen smile in about a week."
After winning a Stanley Cup as an assistant coach under Chicago Blackhawks boss Joel Quenneville in 2010, Torchetti says that he's carrying some of those lessons with him as he prepares the Wild for their fourth straight playoff berth.
Rest, he says, can be a powerful tool.
"I learned a lot being in Chicago with Joel," he said. "Rest is a weapon."
That doesn't mean that Torchetti plans to give his top players the night off in Saturday's regular-season finale against the Calgary Flames.
"It's tough, because you don't want anything to happen during the game, but you want to be playing the right way," he said. "That's the tough thing."
NOTES
-- Leading scorer Zach Parise won't play on Saturday and is being held out for "maintenance."
-- Parise currently sits at 299 career goals, 105 of which have come during his time with the Wild. No. 300 will move him into a tie with Pierre-Marc Bouchard for fourth on the Wild's all-time list.
-- Torchetti says while we hasn't been scoreboard watching, he has been watching the Dallas Stars: "I watched them play a couple games here lately just for myself and their power play [is] pretty potent, so that's the No. 1 thing if we end up playing them, we've gotta make sure we're disciplined."
-- Saturday could be former Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom's final NHL game. The veteran turned 38 in February, and has allowed 12 goals on just 73 shots in three appearances for the Flames this season.
