Chuck Fletcher can watch playoff hockey again. The emotions of a challenging regular season were still too fresh during the earliest rounds to appreciate the hockey being played by his rivals. This season, the Minnesota Wild jumped out to one of the NHL's most surprising starts and in December looked like a lock to be playing beyond 82 games. Then injuries crushed the optimism. It was a painful reminder of how little depth the organization had accumulated at this point in the rebuild under Fletcher. It won't be a problem much longer.
After a couple of trips to Europe and some time to heal the disappointment, Fletcher is tuning in to playoff hockey again.
"Now, we're six or seven weeks into our offseason," Fletcher said when we chatted late Wednesday afternoon. "You're able to appreciate the hockey. I've really enjoyed it."
On Wednesday, the Wild seized some of the spotlight from the final four remaining playoff teams with their announcement that prized prospect Mikael Granlund had finally signed an entry level deal. Mike Russo of the StarTribune broke down the deal in detail on his blog. The announcement is huge news in Granlund's native Finland, where his agent, Todd Diamond, compared his popularity to that of the Beatles.
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- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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