A healthy Marian Gaborik might move to the front of the sports celebrity line in this town within another year or two. The Wild’s star forward missed 34 games last season with a groin injury but hockey sources remain enthusiastic about Gaborik and even rave about him.
Former Minnesota North Stars player and president Lou Nanne was asked if Gaborik can be included in a group of the NHL’s top half dozen forwards. “Oh, he is already, and he’s certainly the most exciting,” Nanne said.
The man Nanne refers to as a “remarkable talent,” draws special praise from Tom Reid, too. Reid, a former teammate of Nanne with the North Stars and now the Wild color commentator on radio, remembers many of hockey’s most exciting players like Bobby Hull, Jean Beliveau, Stan Mikita and Bill Goldsworthy but none of them literally gave him a rise like Gaborik. “He’s so explosive,” Reid said. “He’s the only player in the league that actually takes me right out of my seat (in anticipation).”
That kind of talk gets an amen from Wild general manager Doug Risebrough who has spent more than 30 years in the NHL as a player, coach and executive. “He’s probably the fastest player I’ve ever seen play,” Risebrough said. “Certainly the fastest player I’ve ever been associated with. The most explosive.”
At 25 Gaborik doesn’t figure to hit his peak for a few more years. In his six seasons with the Wild he’s shown ability to score and pass (in two of the seasons he had more goals than assists). He is the franchise leader in career points with 331 in 408 games. Despite missing all those games last season, he led the team with seven game winning goals. The Wild were 18-2-2 in games that he scored a goal and 33-9-6 in games he played. With 30 goals and 27 assists in 48 games, Gaborik was third on the team in scoring and reached the 30 goal level for the fourth time in five seasons.
Risebrough anticipates an even better Gaborik in the future. “I think he’s still trying to figure it out offensively,” Risebrough said. “He’s got a great shot but sometimes he wants to score the pretty goal at the right time. He’s a great passer. He can make great plays so he’s a pretty solid package offensively but he hasn’t fully gravitated to one of those things right now. That’s just maturing. …”
Gaborik has been bothered by groin injuries in past seasons but Nanne thinks Gaborik will avoid that problem in 2007-2008. “I think he’s taken precautions to make certain that he develops the leg muscles the way they possibly should be developed,” Nanne said. “He’s looked after himself and I think he’s going to be able to weather a season of playing without losing time for groin injuries.”
Risebrough talked about how injuries can hold a player back, even after physical healing. “In three years we’ve never really seen the whole thing, and even when he’s back playing after recovering from long injuries, it’s psychologically a little touchy for him,” Risebrough said. “So hopefully this year will be one of those years where not only does he stay healthy but he doesn’t have to think about his health.”