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TJSweens -> RE: Wild 2019/2020 Season (9/26/2019 9:27:06 AM)
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Here is an article showing some appreciation for Nick Seeler. I've liked this about him from the start. He's one guy who will always stand up for his teammates without fail.
Wild players know blueliner Nick Seeler has their back
By DANE MIZUTANI | dmizutani@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: September 24, 2019 at 1:59 pm | UPDATED: September 24, 2019 at 2:00 pm
Watching Wild defenseman Nick Seeler spark his teammates with haymaker after haymaker to poor Avalanche defenseman Dan Renouf in a recent preseason game, it’s hard to imagine that he once was an undersized kid almost ready to give up on his NHL dreams.
Long before Seeler emerged as a mainstay on the Wild blue line — part of his job is to take on some of the toughest guys in the league — the 6-foot-2, 198-pound 26-year-old was a teenager at Eden Prairie High School who couldn’t make the varsity roster.
“I just wasn’t growing and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue with it,” Seeler said before quickly pausing to correct himself. “Well, I guess wouldn’t say that. It was just difficult to stay motivated sometimes.”
Those doubts eventually started to fade away for Seeler.
Once he hit a growth spurt that allowed him to develop into a star on the blue line, he helped lead Eden Prairie to a pair of Class 2A state championships before moving on to the next level.
It was around that time that he also developed quite the mean streak, something that followed him to Nebraska-Omaha, where he played for a couple of seasons, and back home again when he transferred to finish his collegiate career with the Gophers.
After turning pro, Seeler played more than 100 games in the American Hockey League before cracking the NHL, and despite leaning into his role as an enforcer on the back end, doubt started to creep in again.
Was he ever going to accomplish his goal of reaching the NHL?
“There were definitely times I wondered,” Seeler said. “Just dealing with that type of adversity has made me continue to work and improve my game. It’s been a great journey so far.”
And it looks like it might just be getting started.
Not only has Seeler found niche on the blue line, he has developed into a heart-and-soul kind of player, willing to stick up for his teammates whenever the situation calls for it.
“Just compared to where I was a few seasons ago, it’s almost night and day,” he said. “There’s definitely more comfort. That said, I have a mindset where I’m never going to get comfortable. Just have to come in and earn my spot every day and continue to work on it.”
That’s something Seeler has had to do yet again this training camp, competing with fellow blueliners Greg Pateryn and Brad Hunt for a spot in the lineup.
With Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin holding down the top pairings, that leaves just a couple of spots up for grabs on the backend.
“It’s healthy competition between teammates,” Seeler said. “There’s always going to be competition for those spots. You just have to go out and earn it. I definitely put the hard work in this summer. Just need to continue to play my game.”
Which for Seeler means continuing to answer the bell whenever the situation calls for it.
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