Fiala skating in Sweden, hopes Wild have chance to 'finish the job'

Kevin Fiala has been skating five days per week in Sweden and said he hopes the Minnesota Wild can continue the roll they were on before the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

The 23-year-old forward was one of the League's hottest players before play was halted, with 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) in 18 games since Feb. 4. It coincided with the Wild's surge; they were 20-20-6 on Jan. 14 but went 15-7-1 after that. Minnesota is 8-4-0 since Dean Evason replaced Bruce Boudreau as coach on Feb. 14.

The Wild trail the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

"We had some huge wins and we're just one point right now outside of the playoffs," Fiala said Wednesday. "Especially with that start we had, we want to get back. I want to get back as quickly as possible and finish the job."

Fiala, who leads the Wild with an NHL career-high 54 points (23 goals, 31 assists) in 64 games, remained in Minnesota for two weeks after the season was paused before traveling to his offseason home in Gothenburg. Although those in Sweden who are considered vulnerable, including the elderly and immune-compromised, are following similar social distancing and self-quarantine guidelines to those in North America, the restrictions are looser for others. Fiala said most of the restaurants are open, but places like nightclubs, where large crowds can gather, are closed.

"It's not normal here, even it looks like and seems like it," he said. "The restaurants are open, and everything is kind of normal, but everybody's scared of the virus and careful."

Fiala said he tries to stay home as much as possible other than going to the rink Monday through Friday, and the occasional trip to the grocery store. The opportunity to skate and work out in a full gym, which Fiala couldn't do in Minnesota, was among the reasons he decided to go to Sweden.

"I'm actually on the ice every day here, so it's a little different than in the U.S. and even in Switzerland, where you can't do anything it seems like. It's like a complete lockdown," said Fiala, a native of St. Gallen, Switzerland. "So in that way, it's a very positive thing for myself that I can go on the ice whenever I want to. We've got a small group here we practice with, so I'm actually staying in shape."

Fiala said two or three groups of players are skating each day in Gothenburg. Among those in his group include Boston Bruins forward Anton Blidh, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Pierre Engvall and Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg, who joined Tuesday.

They've been doing drills and informal scrimmaging, but the intensity has picked up recently with optimism that the NHL will be able to resume at some point.

"Right now, we're focusing on scrimmaging since the season is maybe going to continue, which we hope," Fiala said. "We want to stay active with scrimmages and have some fun and get a sweat going."

The No. 11 pick by the Nashville Predators in the 2014 NHL Draft, Fiala said he felt like everything finally clicked for him this season after battling through inconsistency and injuries, including a fractured left femur that ended his 2016-17 season after 54 games. After scoring 48 points (23 goals, 25 assists) in 80 games in 2017-18 with Nashville, he struggled last season, scoring 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in 64 games before being traded to Minnesota for forward Mikael Granlund on Feb. 25, 2019.

Like the Wild, Fiala started slowly this season; he had one assist in eight games in October but gradually found his confidence and contributed consistently in February; he scored at least one point in 10 of 14 games that month.

"It didn't come at the start of the season, but I didn't stop believing and didn't stop working hard and then at some point, thank God, it came," Fiala said. "It was a long road, but right now it can go back as well, and I don't want it to be just one season. I have a lot of work to do. I'm still a young player, my career is hopefully still long, so I have to do exactly what I do right now to stay that way."

If the season resumes, Fiala said he believes he and the other players skating in Sweden will have an advantage over those in countries who haven't been able to go on the ice during the pandemic. He said he hopes that will help him get back in game shape quickly so he can pick up where he left off.

"I feel in shape, but the game-type of situations are always (different)," Fiala said. "So I hope there's going to be maybe preseason games because I think it doesn't matter how much you play 3-on-3 or stuff like that in the practice. It's always different in the game with the hitting, with the battle, so I don't know how long, but for myself I don't think it's going to take so long."