Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes’ summer was longer than he would have liked, but he kept busy.
While his NHL team missed the playoffs, Hynes was the head coach for Team USA in the World Championship in Czechia in late May. He spent time with his wife, Sarah, and their three daughters in their offseason home in Nashville. The family will stay in Tennessee this season as the middle daughter, Julia, finishes her senior year in high school.
Hynes now feels more at home in St. Paul, Minn., though, than when he took over in late November. He said joining a team in-season provided challenges in making major adjustments on the fly. But with a full training camp, opening Thursday at TRIA, there’s room for Hynes to put his fingerprints on this team.
“It’s a fresh start,” Hynes said.
Hynes’ staff has been tweaked, with veteran NHL coach Jack Capuano replacing long-time Wild assistant Darby Hendrickson, who took a job with the Nashville Predators after being let go. And after getting to know most of his players through the final five months of the season, from one-on-one talks on the plane through summer check-ins, Hynes has a game plan for how to attack the next month. The good news is that everybody is healthy entering camp, Hynes said, including captain Jared Spurgeon and
