Five years before he was the first coach of an expansion team that they named the Minnesota Wild, Jacques Lemaire changed NHL hockey with a frustrating style of defense that came to be known as the neutral zone trap.

With players such as Minnesota Mr. Hockey winner Tom Chorske, current Wild general manager Bill Guerin and Minnesota hockey legend Neal Broten trained in the art of clogging up the space between the blue lines —and frustrating opposing offenses — Lemaire’s 1995 New Jersey Devils frustrated and flummoxed an offensively talented Detroit Red Wings team to win the Stanley Cup in a four-game sweep.

By the early 2000s, the “soccer on ice” habits of teams trying to emulate the boring but winning habits of Lemaire’s Devils (and to a certain extent, his early Wild teams) had gotten so bad that the NHL instituted rules changes in a successful attempt to create more scoring opportunities and more goals.

You hear less about the trap these days, but teams still know that a sure-fire way to keep your opponent from scoring is to keep them from getting to the offensive zone with possession.

After being frustrated by Ottawa defenders on several rushes up the ice in their 3-1 loss on Sunday, Wild coach John Hynes said one point of emphasis with his players, after re-watching the Senators game, is to find ways to keep possession and avoid turning the puck over even when the middle is muddled.

“Particularly, when we don’t have ice to play on coming through the neutral zone, not forcing plays and putting our team in vulnerable situations for rush attacks or having to play in your D-zone coverage tired,” Hynes said following the team’s final morning skate of 2024 at TRIA Rink. “I think that was a big part. Attention to detail on faceoffs is another important area. Those are a couple of areas that we’ve addressed.”

No news on 97 just yet

The Wild played their without star forward Kirill Kaprizov on Tuesday night against Nashville as he is still dealing with a lower body injury.

The left wing last played on Dec. 23 in a 4-3 win over Chicago, during which he scored his team-best 23rd goal.

On Tuesday morning, Hynes said that Kaprizov has not been skating just yet, and the coach did not know whether Kaprizov would accompany the Wild on their upcoming trip which includes visits to the Capitals and Hurricanes.

Guerin has assured media members covering the Wild that there will be updates offered as soon as there is new information, good or bad, about Kaprizov’s injury, which Hynes has classified as day-to-day.