One Minnesota Wild player had to brave the harsh Canadian elements to make it to his team’s game against the Calgary Flames on time.
It was an afternoon game on Saturday, and Travis Boyd had recently been called up from the AHL’s Iowa Wild. That prevented him from being with the team, as they probably would have had a bus take them to the rink well in advance of the game.
That caused Boyd to get stuck in Calgary traffic as drivers dealt with a recent dump of snow in the city. Rather than staying in the vehicle and risking being late, Boyd took a proactive choice and got out, hockey bag and all, to walk the rest of the way.
According to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, Boyd got to the rink just 20 minutes before warmups—quite a way to make your debut with a new team.
@br_openice NHLers: they’re just like us when they have to run through the snow to the rink 🤣 (via russohockey/X, patrick_2421/X) #hockey #hockeytok #hockeyplayer #nhl ♬ original sound – BR_OpenIce
Boyd, a Minnesota native himself, should have plenty of experience hauling his equipment through frigid winter conditions. Thought it would be a lot different than the conditions he would have experienced in the three previous seasons that he spent with the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes.
Boyd isn’t the only NHL player who was forced to walk to a game this weekend. Members of the Utah Hockey Club had to resort to walking to the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto due to terrible traffic.
While it wound up being the right decision for Boyd, who did suit up for the game against the Flames, it wasn’t enough to bring a victory for the Wild. Calgary wound up winning the game 4-3 in a shootout.