Minnesota

Minnesota Wild Recalls Defenseman David Špaček From Iowa | Minnesota Wild

Published

3 months ago

January 14, 2026

Minnesota Wild Recalls Defenseman David Špaček From Iowa | Minnesota Wild

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled defenseman David Špaček (SPAH-chehk) from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Špaček, 22 (2/18/23), owns 19 points (3-16=19), 61 shots and 10 penalty minutes (PIM) in 35 games with Iowa this season, leading the team in assists (T-12th among AHL defensemen) and ranking second in points and shots. The 6-foot, 190-pound native of Columbus, Ohio, recorded 31 points (4-27=31), 31 PIM and 117 shots in 72 games with Iowa during the 2024-25 season, leading the team with 18 power play assists, ranking second in assists, and pacing team defensemen in scoring. For his career, Špaček owns 62 points (10-52=62), 62 PIM and 251 shots in 168 games over three AHL seasons (2023-26).

Špaček will represent Czechia at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic games and has previously represented Czechia at multiple international competitions, including the 2025 IIHF World Championship, where he recorded two assists in eight games, and the 2024 IIHF World Championship, where he posted five assists in 10 games to help Czechia secure gold. He also helped Czechia to a silver medal at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Tournament, recording eight points (3-5=8), 11 shots and a plus-7 rating in seven games.

Špaček was selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (No. 153 overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft and has yet to appear in an NHL game. He will wear sweater No. 82 with the Wild.

Minnesota will host the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. CT on FanDuel Sports Network and KFAN FM 100.3.

Minnesota Wild single-game tickets are on sale now at wild.com/tickets, ticketmaster.com and at the Grand Casino Arena Box Office. Flex, 11-Game, half and full season memberships are also available for purchase. Please visit tickets.wild.com or contact a Wild Ticket Sales Representative by calling or texting (651) 222-WILD (9453) for more information. Group reservations of eight or more tickets can contact [email protected] for more information. Single game suite rentals are also available, contact [email protected] for more information.

Follow @mnwildPR on X and visit www.wild.com/pressbox and for the latest news and information from the team including press releases, game notes, player interviews and daily statistics.

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Minnesota

Stamkos leads Predators past Wild 2-1, locking Minnesota into the West’s third seed

Published

12 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Stamkos leads Predators past Wild 2-1, locking Minnesota into the West’s third seed

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Steven Stamkos scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 victory over Minnesota on Saturday, locking the Wild into the third seed in the Western Conference for the playoffs.

Matthew Wood also scored and Justus Annunen made 21 saves for the Predators, 4-1-1 in their last six.

Minnesota will face the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs.

Michael McCarron scored and Jesper Wallstedt made 20 saves for the Wild, losers of two straight.

The Predators are now three points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the Western Conference’s second wild card. The Kings defeated the Edmonton Oilers earlier Saturday. Nashville has two games remaining and the Kings three.

Stamkos scored the game’s first goal with 4:59 remaining in the opening period on a wraparound tucked just inside the left post.

The goal was the 40th of the season for Stamkos, the eighth time in his career that he’s scored 40 or more.

Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) keeps Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) away from the net during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. Credit: AP/Mark Humphrey

Wood made it 2-0 at 6:34 of the second after Stamkos corralled the rebound of Nick Perbix’s shot and found Wood in the slot, where he beat Wallstedt with a wrist shot.

McCarron, traded by Nashville to Minnesota prior to this season’s trade deadline, scored at 6:54 of the third to avoid the Wild’s first shutout of the season. It was his second post-trade goal.

The Wild did not dress forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello or defenseman Jared Spurgeon for the game.

Nashville captain Roman Josi returned to the lineup after missing Thursday night’s game against the Utah Mammoth with an upper-body injury.

Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (30) blocks a shot by... — Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (30) blocks a shot by Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. Credit: AP/Mark Humphrey

Up next

Wild at St. Louis on Monday night.

Predators host San Jose on Monday night.

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Minnesota

Ahead of fishing opener, health officials update fish consumption guidelines

Published

24 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Ahead of fishing opener, health officials update fish consumption guidelines

The new fish consumption guidelines include warnings about eating too much fish caught in northeastern Minnesota lakes and rivers, where fish tend to have higher mercury levels. And the state warns against consuming fish from the Vermillion River, south of the Twin Cities, because of PFAS contamination.

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Minnesota

Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante wins men’s college hockey’s Hobey Baker Award

Published

2 days ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante wins men’s college hockey’s Hobey Baker Award

Minnesota Duluth sophomore forward Max Plante is the winner of the 2026 Hobey Baker Award as the top player in men’s college hockey.

He edged fellow finalists, T.J. Hughes, a senior forward from Michigan, and Eric Pohlkamp, a junior defenseman from the University of Denver.

Plante scored 25 goals and had 52 points in 40 games in his second season with the Bulldogs. The 2024 second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings finished third in NCAA Division I scoring behind Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach (59) and Hughes (57).

He’s the first Minnesota Duluth player to win the award since Scott Perunovich in 2020 and the seventh overall.

Plante’s father, former NHL player Derek Plante, also played for Minnesota Duluth and was a Hobey Baker top 10 finalist in 1993.

Michigan State’s Trey Augustine was named the top goaltender in the Friday, April 10 ceremony. He went 24-9-1 for the Spartans with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.

Wyttenbach was named college hockey’s rookie of the year.