HAVING A BALL
Minnesota Wild’s Darcy Kuemper, right, and James Wright of the Winnipeg Jets, left, have fun playing street hockey with the King George school’s Kinsmen Hockey League team Thursday. For the full story and photo see
Minnesota Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper believes his performance during the Stanley Cup playoffs is a sign of things to come.
A pending restricted free agent, Kuemper hopes the NHL team is aligned with that thinking come negotiation time.
“I proved to myself that I could handle being the No. 1 guy. I’m hoping in their eyes that they see me the same way,” he said.
“Right now I have to wait and train hard in the summer and prepare myself for next season to try to continue the opportunity that I’ve been given and continue moving forward.”
Kuemper visited King George School on Thursday with fellow Saskatoon-born NHLers Eric Gryba and James Wright for a game of road hockey with members of the school’s Kinsmen Hockey League team.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind,” he said of his playoff experience. “I didn’t really get a chance to take it all in until after the season was over.
“I just tried to take advantage of it the best I could.”
The 24-year-old started the NHL post-season as the Wild’s No. 1 goaltender, helping them reach Game 7 of their first round series against Colorado.
However, he sustained an upper-body injury, reportedly a concussion, which eventually forced him to leave the game. Kuemper wasn’t able to return to the lineup until the last game of their secondround series against Chicago, where he backed up Ilya Bryzgalov.
“I tried to play through it that last game,” he said.
“It was something that unfortunately I wasn’t able to play with. It was tough sitting back and watching, but I tried to get better as quick as I could.”
Kuemper posted a 12-8-4 record with two shutouts, a 2.43 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage during the regular season.
In the post-season, he went 3-2 (2.03, .913) and had one shutout.
General manager Chuck Fletcher told the Pioneer Press last month that there is a “realistic chance” the Wild will start the 2014-15 NHL season with three goalies — Kuemper, Niklas Backstrom and Regina’s Josh Harding.
Backstrom, 36, was lim- ited to just 21 games due to injuries.
Harding, 30, missed the second half of the season due to complications from a change in his multiple sclerosis treatment.
Kuemper, who played midget for the Contacts and Blazers and was the WHL’s goaltender of the year in 2011 while playing for the Red Deer Rebels, believes the starter’s role in Minnesota could be his for the taking.
While he’s had some fun so far this off-season, most notably playing golf with his roommate Wright, he’s already started skating.
“It was a good opportunity this year,” Kuemper said.
“I’ve just got to prepare myself under the assumption that I’ll get a similar opportunity this season. Hopefully maybe even a bit more.
“I’ll just try to put myself in a position where I can succeed if I get that chance.”