NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dave Stramel wasn’t your typical hockey dad.
He was a former lineman at the University of Nebraska, a “gentle giant” who didn’t really get into hockey until he moved to Minnesota.
He had no choice.
“He was automatically a Wild fan,” his wife, Gretchen, said Wednesday.
Same for their son Charlie. The 6-foot-3 center grew up in the St. Paul area, starred at Rosemont High and idolized Zach Parise. The family went to a few Wild games a year, with Charlie never forgetting Mikael Granlund’s series-saving goal against Colorado in 2014.
So when the Wild picked Stramel in the first round (No. 21) in Wednesday’s NHL Draft, it wasn’t just a storybook moment.
It was a sentimental one.
Dave Stramel died March 19, 2021, at age 46, so he wasn’t at Bridgestone Arena for his son’s milestone moment. But Charlie’s father’s presence was felt, and not just because the player out of the University of Wisconsin has a tribute tattoo on his left thigh with the date 3-19-21 on it.
“The only professional game they probably have ever seen together was a Wild game,” said Gretchen, her eyes welling. “Everything that he knew was Minnesota Wild.”
Gretchen can see a lot of her late husband in Charlie. The determination. The work ethic. How he views the world. How…
