{"id":453692,"date":"2026-02-10T21:56:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/453692\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T21:56:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:56:27","slug":"wild-at-the-olympics-a-punchable-face-hanging-with-snoop-dogg-and-a-chance-at-a-pile-of-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/453692\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild at the Olympics: A punchable face, hanging with Snoop Dogg and a chance at a pile of medals"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILAN \u2014 Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson was being peppered by questions from a Swedish reporter Monday, on everything from ICE\u2019s presence in Minneapolis to what it\u2019s like to be representing his country between the pipes alongside Wild teammate Jesper Wallstedt during these Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n

As an American reporter from Minnesota started to zone out, not understanding much of what was being said in Swedish, it came as a surprise when the words \u201cpunchable face\u201d came from the Swedish reporter\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n

Realizing that Gustavsson must have been asked about Wild and Team Sweden teammate Joel Eriksson Ek, the American reporter perked up, and Gustavsson looked at him and burst out laughing: \u201cPunchable face is the same in English and Swedish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gustavsson has been in good spirits all week as he prepares for the dream come true of wearing Sweden\u2019s Three Crowns on the Olympic stage.<\/p>\n

Sweden coach Sam Hallam will announce on Wednesday whether Gustavsson, Jacob Markstrom or Wallstedt will start Sweden\u2019s opener against Italy. Still, Gustavsson said he\u2019s just happy to be here and will be ready throughout the tournament if his number is called.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny role they need,\u201d Gustavsson said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Filip Gustavsson is ready to play \u201cany role\u201d needed for Sweden in the Olympics. (Michael Russo \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n

Hallam said Tuesday that he\u2019s comfortable with any of the three.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut of course, we have made our decision,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big decision. I mean, do you go on form? Do you go on how many games and what you have under your belt? It\u2019s different. But I feel confident in all three. They look good, and hopefully we make the right decision there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallstedt is one of four Wild players representing Sweden, along with Gustavsson, Eriksson Ek, and Marcus Johansson, who replaced injured Leo Carlsson on the same day it was announced that injured Wild teammate Jonas Brodin would have to bow out. The 23-year-old rookie goaltender said he never envisioned coming into this season that he\u2019d have a shot at making the Olympic team.<\/p>\n

However, a strong start to his Wild season, especially during a stellar November, earned him a call from Hallam just after Christmas.<\/p>\n

Wallstedt\u2019s earliest Olympic memories were the 2014 Sochi Olympics \u2014 maybe Vancouver in 2010.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not entirely sure, but he does recall watching it back home at school in Sweden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d have like our normal lessons and then Sweden would play, and we\u2019d pause the class to watch the games,\u201d Wallstedt said. \u201cThat was the first memory I have. As a goalie nerd, I remember (Henrik) Lundqvist\u2019s pads in Sochi, the first one with his new technology, where it was just one layer or sheet on the outside of the pad where you could put whatever you want on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eriksson Ek, wearing his Wild skate guards Monday as he talked to the media after being first on the ice for Sweden\u2019s practice, said he\u2019s excited to kick off the men\u2019s tournament and proud that he\u2019ll get to experience this with his Wild Swedish teammates as well as the United States\u2019 Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber and Germany\u2019s Nico Sturm.<\/p>\n

Wild minor-leaguers David Spacek (Czech Republic) and Samuel Hlavaj (Slovakia) were also selected to represent their countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust humbling to be one of them,\u201d said Eriksson Ek, who played a tremendous tournament for Sweden at last February\u2019s 4 Nations Face-Off. \u201cIt was a fast tournament, best on best. A great tournament, and it was fun, and this one will be something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Joel Eriksson-Ek was a standout for Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off. (Michael Russo \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n

Germany wasn\u2019t part of the 4 Nations, but Sturm was captivated and said he can\u2019t wait to suit up on a team with Leon Draisaitl when Germany opens Thursday against Denmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 4 Nations, people thought maybe guys would maybe dog it a bit, and I even said I wasn\u2019t going to watch those games,\u201d Sturm said. \u201cI was in Puerto Vallarta for the break, and I was sitting at the bar every night watching every game. It was insane hockey. Best hockey we\u2019ve seen in a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a little appetizer of what the games are going to be like in Milano. Very exciting for fans. It\u2019ll be 2 \u00bd very exciting weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faber\u2019s parents, two sisters and girlfriend will be crossing the pond for the tournament. It\u2019s the second Olympics for the 23-year-old defenseman, who, along with Boldy, Hughes and other American Olympians, hung out with Snoop Dogg in the Olympic Village on Tuesday. The previous one, in Beijing, was during the pandemic, so there were no fans, and it wasn\u2019t best-on-best because the NHL pulled out due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Yet, he\u2019s an Olympic vet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy to think,\u201d said Faber, who will be paired with Jaccob Slavin when the U.S. opens Thursday against Latvia. \u201cObviously, it was much different. It\u2019ll be new for me as much as it is for those guys. But it\u2019s cool, yeah, to say you\u2019re a two-time Olympian. It\u2019s something I\u2019ll never take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faber is rooming with his college teammate LaCombe in Milan, while Boldy\u2019s with Jake Sanderson and Quinn Hughes is with his brother, Jack. Eriksson Ek is rooming with Johansson, and the goalies get their own rooms.<\/p>\n

Boldy, who leads American Olympians with 32 goals in the NHL this season, looked like he\u2019ll start the tournament on a star-studded line with Jake Guentzel and Auston Matthews.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came here to win gold,\u201d said Boldy. \u201cThat simple. It\u2019s an honor to be part of this group, and now we have to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chances are that with 10 players from the Wild organization in Milan, as well as U.S. general manager Bill Guerin, assistant coach John Hynes, director of player personnel Chris Kelleher, athletic trainers John Worley and Travis Green, and team doctor Joel Boyd,\u00a0some or many will be returning with shiny medals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really is neat having so many of us here,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cIt says a lot about our team and maybe why we\u2019ve been so good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN \u2014 Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson was being peppered by questions from a Swedish reporter Monday, on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5118],"tags":[5,54125,161,38,5280,4,2602,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-453692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-mens-olympic-ice-hockey","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-wild","12":"tag-minnesotawild","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-olympics","15":"tag-wild"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116048573059632233","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}