A selection: 'So Hartman, 30, tried to give his wife some peace and quiet. Hartman put Keyes in the car seat and took him on a drive, hoping it would settle him down and put him to sleep. They started in their Edina neighborhood and popped by a Starbucks.
Hartman typically puts on some music on these rides with Keyes — sometimes it’s Beethoven, as he read somewhere it helps with brain development. “Just trying to give him an edge,” he said.
Hartman knew teammate Marcus Foligno, who has three young daughters, lived in the area and was up early, so he texted him to see if he could pop by. They caught up in the driveway around 7 a.m., with Foligno’s girls coming out to meet the newest member of the Wild family.
The late summer birth gave Hartman some quality time with Keyes before training camp started. They bonded over these drives and bedtime stories and watching football. The kid already has more Chicago Bears gear than he’ll ever need.
The experience has clearly changed Hartman, known for his edge and toughness on the ice. Will it soften him a bit?
“No,” he said, smiling. “I think it’ll give me some dad strength.”
Of the Wild's two Athletic guys, I think Russo is the better reporter, and Joe Smith is the better writer. He's really good at putting it together so it feels tied up with a bow at the end.
As far as Hartman goes, I can handle 20-20-40 if we get good defense, hard-nosed play, and a reduction in mistakes. Him on the third line gives the team a lot more flexibility to deal with injuries as he can easily move up.
by PaxDragoon
4 Comments
That Foligno-Hartman-Trenin line could be really really difficult for teams if they play with an edge but stay disciplined.
Hartman always gets the raw end for some reason. He’ll play anywhere, do anything, and is pretty good at everything.
He’s streaky offensively, yet still a pain in the ass defensively, but on a cap hit that makes that ok. I can think of many other reasons the Wild struggle.
Good to see the other side of the guy who’s “kind of a piece of shit out there”.
IIRC Hartman was one of the guys Russo talked about Hynes’s fitness concerns last spring. And now he’s lost 10-12 pounds over the summer.
“There’s always a balance of things you go through in your career,” he said. “The last few years, I tried to put on some muscle to be stronger on the puck. I had the 30-goal season and planned to stay with what I did. But I started playing more minutes and I think being lighter might help.”
I find it fascinating the whole diet, training, fitness thing these athletes do to make their bodies suit the role they want to play.