Wild Back-Up Goalies Aim To Stay Sharp Without Playing Time
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- They have experience and track records, and they probably won't play a significant minute the rest of the season or in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That's because the two Minnesota Wild goal tenders are behind Devan Dubnyk, and as Mike Max explains, all they can do is prepare and wait.
He has been the savior to the season. Dubnyk is the main reason the Wild have are all but in the playoffs and looking to make a run once they get there. But what if something happened to him before the end of the regular season? How are the Wild set up?
Well, they have two goalies with playoff experience who right now, are just biting time.
Darcy Kuemper proved last year he can play, but what if he was asked after this delayed break in the action?
"Part of it is staying ready and part of it is building on your game and trying to get better every day," Kuemper said. "I think doing that, the staying ready part, comes a little bit easier because you're making sure you're sharp in practice."
Niklas Backstrom is a veteran, so is he buoyed by experience or rusty because game nights have been spent watching on the bench?
"It feels good in practice but when it comes down to it, it's different in practice than in games," Backstrom said. "So it's hard to say, but you do everything every day as well as you can."
Kuemper is playing for tomorrow, so to speak. He's young and knows his future could be here or could be somewhere else. The present is a bit more difficult to deal with.
"It's tough in the sense that you want to be out there helping your team but when the team is doing as well as they are right now it makes it a little bit easier to accept the role and just be positive and work hard," Kuemper said.
