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Tickets from ticket master
Bill Muckalt filed into a back room Sunday at Parade Ice Garden to learn he was being demoted to the minor leagues for the first time in his five NHL seasons.
But he left his meeting with Wild general manager Doug Risebrough sounding like
a man who had just been offered a fresh start instead of his walking papers.
After missing almost all of last season with a shoulder injury, Muckalt is trying
to stay relevant in an organization flush with forwards.
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"I'm just looking forward to playing hockey, staying healthy and working my way back here," Muckalt said. Ticketmaster
Muckalt was squeezed out at right wing by a rookie and reclamation project.
He was one of three players assigned to the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey
League as the Wild drew the curtain on training camp and set their 23-man roster.
It was an expensive move. Muckalt is on a one-way contract, meaning he will
draw from his $800,000 salary while in Houston.
Stephane Veilleux and Matt Foy, also sent to Houston, rounded out the final
cuts.
Barring 11th-hour settlements with holdout wingers Marian Gaborik and Pascal
Dupuis, the Wild will open their fourth season Wednesday at Chicago with five
new faces. Ticketmaster
First-round draft choice Brent Burns, 18, will start with Minnesota. So will
former No. 1 overall pick Alexandre Daigle, the last-chance tryout who secured
a spot on his sixth NHL team.
But the biggest surprise might have been left wing Christoph Brandner, the 6-foot-4
European import who emerged to become the first Austrian-born skater to play
in the NHL. He follows goalie Reinhard Divis, an Austrian who has played three
games for the St. Louis Blues.
Despite being the German elite league's reigning player of the year, Brandner
wondered aloud if he could adjust fast enough to the smaller ice surfaces and
to the intensity of the North American game, not to mention the Wild's disciplined
system. But his hockey sense, powerful skating and booming shot convinced management.
Brandner, who moved to Minnesota with his wife and infant daughter to chase
his NHL dream, was thrilled. Ticketmaster
"Self-confidence is not my biggest strength, so I still can't believe it,"
Brandner said. "There are so many good players in this league. But I'm
really happy, and I'm going to do everything I can to improve my game so I can
stay here."
With Burns, the Wild are following the precedent they set in developing first-round
picks Marian Gaborik and Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the NHL. Burns will play in
selected games, absorb the professional lifestyle and practice under the tutelage
of the league's best coach, Jacques Lemaire.
"I've learned so much in the last three weeks," Burns said. "Jacques
makes the game so simple. Everyone knows what they're supposed to do. It's like
a machine out there."
A year ago, Muckalt was a cog in that machine, especially during the Wild's
roaring start. With five goals and eight points in his first six games, he made
his 70-game scoring drought with Ottawa the previous season seem like a hiccup
instead of a chronic disease. Ticketmaster
Then came the check into the boards from Calgary defenseman Denis Gauthier and
the dislocated shoulder. He had surgery, then rehab and an ineffective return
during the playoffs. More surgery followed in August, then a quiet training
camp, a roster crunch and a plane ticket to Texas.
"He needs to get some ice time and some confidence," Risebrough said.
"It's hard to believe, but even players who play six or seven years, confidence
is still a factor for them. Staying here, he was destined to be in and out of
the lineup, and that's not going to get him anywhere."
Muckalt gulped it all down.
"It's not the situation I wanted to be in," he said. "I know
when I'm healthy and playing the way I'm capable of, I can play in the NHL and
contribute. I missed a lot of hockey last year, and I was just starting to get
back to feeling healthy. I just need to get some confidence back in my game,
and I know everything will take care of itself."
Briefly: The Wild will continue rotating captains as they have in each of their
first three seasons. The coaches named Jim Dowd and Andrew Brunette alternate
captains for October. Lemaire said he would name a captain today or Tuesday
in Chicago.