from Joe Smith of The Athletic,
Jesper Wallstedt wrapped up a local TV interview at Wells Fargo Arena last week and left the rink for the day.
The Minnesota Wild’s touted goalie prospect was asked during the segment about how the American Hockey League could also be called the “Always Hungry League,” and he had no disagreements.
“It really is,” he said.
It’s hard for every decision Wallstedt makes not to be about the next level right now. The 21-year-old Swede has rethought and rewatched his mid-January NHL debut countless times; a 7-2 loss will tend to stick with you. He was disappointed but not deterred. More so, he’s determined, especially after the pep talk he received from coach John Hynes on a plane ride home during a brief NHL stint this year.
Spend an afternoon with Wallstedt, and you’ll see the determination everywhere. Even his car: a humongous white Dodge Ram 4×4. He used to drive an Audi but notes that this will be better for inclement weather in the Twin Cities.
“Perfect in a snowstorm,” Wallstedt said.
“I’ll take anything to get up there.”
It shouldn’t be long.
Wallstedt has been steady in the AHL for two years while it took Cossa until this year to get his footing in the Always Hungry League. But now they're pretty much on an equal footing statistically. Wallstedt is 2.65 and .912 in 42 games, and Cossa is 2.55 and .910 in 34 games. The difference is the Griffins are a better overall team than the Iowa Wild this year.
However long it takes these two to make it to the NHL, it'll be interesting to watch how they perform there. It's just too bad there won't be more head-to-head matchups between the two given the controversy over the Wings picking Cossa instead of Wallstedt.
I always wondered if the Wings went Cossa over Wallstedt because they have not had any luck turning promising Swedish goaltenders into viable starters and were a little scared off by their past failures here.
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