ST. LOUIS — When Wild rookie defenseman Zeev Buium arrived at the Enterprise Center on Thursday, there was natural excitement for his first regular season game in the NHL. And there was the sting of familiar surroundings as memories of disappointment from his last trip to St. Louis hit him.
Buium was on the ice for a quartet of NHL playoff games last spring, but Thursday’s meeting with the Blues was his first regular season game, and it just happened to be played in the same place where his college career ended, six months ago.
In early April, Buium was the catalyst for the University of Denver’s most recent run to the NCAA Frozen Four, held in St. Louis. On Thursday, the Wild’s locker room was literally across the hall from the place where the Pioneers dressed before and packed up after their 3-2 double overtime loss to eventual national champion Western Michigan in the tournament’s semifinals.
“We were in that locker room, right there,” Buium said, glancing at the room across the hall. “I walked in there and got some flashbacks. But one chapter ends and the next one begins. It’s kind of crazy how it all works out.”
A day after Denver’s season suffered a sudden death, before leaving St. Louis and eventually signing with the Wild, Buium took one more setback at the college level. At a downtown theater he was one of two runners-up for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey’s top player, which went instead to Michigan State forward Isaac Howard, now with the Edmonton Oilers.
“I’m excited to hopefully come back here and get a win instead of a loss,” Buium said following Thursday’s morning skate.
New start for Snuggerud
With the Minnesota Gophers’ 2024-25 season ending two weeks earlier than Denver’s, Jimmy Snuggerud played seven regular season games after signing with the Blues, and seven more in the playoffs as St. Louis fell to the Winnipeg Jets in round one.
The Chaska native was all smiles inside the home locker room on Thursday, preparing for a spot on the Blues’ top line for his first home opener. And he acknowledged that the Hockey Gods have an interesting sense of humor, with his first full season starting versus the Wild.
“I was in Minnesota most of the summer, hanging out and training with (Matthew) Knies and (Jackson) LaCombe and those guys,” said Snuggerud, whose father – former Gophers star and Olympian Dave Snuggerud – was in attendance on Thursday night. “It was a fun summer, training and getting better and hanging out with them a lot.”
With a full NHL training camp under his belt now, the Blues coach acknowledged that expectations are high for Snuggerud, who St. Louis picked 23rd overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, but the rookie is also still learning.
“I see at times a guy that looks like he played really well in the playoffs and has a lot of NHL experience, and at times I see a real rookie, coming into his first training camp and there’s a lot to think about with training camp,” said St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery. “He’s used to one week of practices and then you start playing games in college, so that’s not the way. So he’s just adjusting to a full regular season and being an NHL player.”
After leading the Gophers in goals (24), assists (27) and points (51) in 40 games last season, Snuggerud had a goal and three assists in his seven regular season games, plus two goals and two assists in seven playoff games.
Brodin not quite ready
He’s no longer wearing the “limited contact” jersey in practice, and has looked closer and closer to a return, but veteran defenseman Jonas Brodin was not quite good to go for the season opener, but his coach expects Brodin back soon.
“It’s imminent. It was close today, but it’s not today,” Wild coach John Hynes said, saying that Brodin is officially day to day, but could make his season debut in Saturday’s home opener versus Columbus.
Brodin, 32, had surgery in the off season after missing 32 regular season games in 2024-25. He played all six playoff games.
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