Matt Kassian, the former Wild enforcer who does radio for the Edmonton Oilers, loved playing for John Torchetti for parts of two seasons with the old Houston Aeros.
"He played me more than any other coach ever had. I mean, I was playing 13, 14, 15 minutes a night for him, which for me was a ton," said Kassian, 29, now retired and finishing his college degree in Alberta. "He's a fiery guy. He gets fired up. Just wait 'til he gets mad. I'm sure he hasn't gotten mad yet. That's when he really starts laying on that Boston accent thick."
Torchetti has had no reason to get mad yet.
Taking over as coach for Mike Yeo with the Wild mired in an eight-game losing streak, Torchetti has the Midas touch. A team that seemed broken down, and couldn't score or defend, has been mended.
In less than a week, Torchetti guided the Wild to four victories in four games. Twenty-one goals have been scored by 13 different players, but more importantly, the Wild is playing with renewed pace and energy. The next test of self confidence comes Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center, where the Wild hasn't won since Dec. 28. After Sunday's outdoor whipping of the Chicago Blackhawks, the Wild plays the New York Islanders in St. Paul before again heading out on the road.
"It's been a roller coaster for sure from losing to Boston to Yeozy getting let go, to Torch coming in and us winning three on the road and then coming home and having this big stage," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "I like where we're at right now. … We need to build this thing and get this thing going again at home. We've had a lot of success on the road. And we're used to having success at home. So we just [have to] hit the reset button at home."
In four games, Torchetti has been able to roll four lines. He has dictated the matchups he has wanted in all four games, including three on the road, which is impressive.
Offensively, Torchetti has players skating with a noticeably different attack-the-net mentality. Sunday, the Wild lived at the Blackhawks net. In all four games, Wild players have made opponents, even the defending Stanley Cup champs, look confused in their own zone because they are outnumbering opponents down low and supporting each other impeccably.
"It's up to them. It's not me," Torchetti said. "Once you make a commitment as a teammate and your other teammates see you play at that level, then it's up to myself and then the other players to hold everyone else accountable to that style of play."
Torchetti allows players the freedom to pressure offensively as long as they're not reckless about it.
Take Erik Haula. Oozing with confidence, Haula took a lot of ribbing from teammates after Sunday's victory. Thomas Vanek joked that nobody should tell Haula how great he's playing "or his head won't even fit in there." Ryan Carter cracked that "nobody knows Haulzy's stats better than Haulzy."
But the third-line center, who has been playing between Nino Niederreiter and red-hot Jason Pominville, was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday after scoring seven points in four games, including a career-high three against the Blackhawks.
Torchetti met with Haula 1-on-1 last Monday for a pep talk, telling him how good a player he can be and how much he will be relied upon not to just create, but to shut down opposing top players.
"He's got great speed," Torchetti said. "You want him to use those wheels. He should be able to recover on any situation. I think holding onto the puck a little bit more and building confidence moving forward is big.
"Take what is given. Don't try to force plays. I'll let you know when it's a good chance. But we've got to read numbers. If it's 3-on-2, make your play. If it's 3-on-3, let's try to get it to the net so we're all going the same way.
"You build that continuity as players in a line and you know you're going to be attacking the net, and then you keep your cycles alive. But if you're trying these level plays, meaning trying to make passes through sticks and they turn it over, now you have to play another 150-foot game back the other way. It's easy to play from top of the circles to the net. And it's a lot more fun."
Fun, a concept not felt around the Wild the past six weeks.
"There's an extra bit of energy there, too, because everybody's contributing," said Carter, who scored a goal and an assist Sunday. "Everybody's feeling good. And right now we're rolling with it."
