Wild at the Olympics: At least 8 players headed to Milan, with a Swedish surprise — and snub
Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt on making the cut for Sweden: “Now I can say I'm an Olympic athlete. So that's pretty cool at 23 years old."
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jesper Wallstedt can sure keep a secret.
Not only did the rookie goalie find out on Christmas Day that he’ll join Minnesota Wild tag-team partner Filip Gustavsson at the Olympics in Milan as a member of Team Sweden, but Wallstedt also kept it from his mom, Helena Kedborn, dad, Jonas, and girlfriend, Erika Eliasson, for two days — and from his Wild teammates until the big reveal Friday morning.
“Now I can say I’m an Olympic athlete. So that’s pretty cool at 23 years old,” Wallstedt said after getting off the ice Friday morning at Honda Center. “I think I joked with my dad, like two or three years ago maybe, where I said, ‘Is it weird to have Olympics as a goal in a couple of years?’ And for an 18-year-old or a 19-year-old to say that, maybe it was a little weird or funny.
“But I remember after my first or second year in the AHL, where I was like, ‘OK, maybe I’m gonna try to make a push for this.’ Then, obviously, last year didn’t go as planned. And then after that, you’re kind of, ‘OK, there’s no chance I’m making it.’ I told my girlfriend that we’re gonna try to book to go to Hawaii or something (during the Olympic break). And then, obviously, that’s not happening now.”
Wallstedt earned it.
There was no chance he was on Sweden’s radar last summer after a rough season with AHL Iowa. But this season in Minnesota, Wallstedt has gotten off to an 11-2-3 start with a league-best .928 save percentage, a league-most four shutouts and the fourth-best goals-against average in the league (2.21). Since Nov. 7, he’s 10-2-1 with a 1.90 goals-against average and .941 save percentage, so he’ll take the spot anticipated for the Ottawa Senators’ Linus Ullmark, a former Vezina Trophy winner.
Wallstedt joins the New Jersey Devils’ Jacob Markstrom in Sweden’s net, and, of course, Gustavsson, who enters Friday night’s start against the Ducks on a 6-0-1 run since Dec. 8 (1.71 goals-against average and .931 save percentage) and 9-1-2 in his past 12 starts.
“Double trouble,” said Gustavsson, who was told he made the team two weeks ago. “We just go, both of us, and keep doing what we’re doing here.”
Sweden hockey coach Sam Hallam said Friday that Wallstedt just kept rising.
“We were interested to see what would happen after his early success, and I think he’s been continuing to play very well,” Hallam said. “Feels good to have a goalie tandem from Minnesota. They know each other well, so if they’re the two goalies we’re going to have dressed, they have a routine. Jesper’s been a goalie who delivered ever since he was 14 to 15. We’ve just waited for this breakthrough.”
Minnesota teammates Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin were also named to the team.
The Wild will be well represented in Milan overall. Besides the four Swedes, Nico Sturm was named to Germany’s roster last June, as was Quinn Hughes for the United States. On Friday morning, Matt Boldy, who leads NHL Americans in goal-scoring with 25 and is second with 47 points, and Brock Faber joined Hughes in being named to the U.S. team. That gives the Wild at least eight Olympians and possibly up to 11. Wild minor leaguers Samuel Hlavaj (Slovakia) and David Spacek and David Jiricek (Czechia) have strong shots to make the Olympics when their countries announce their rosters in the coming days.