Wild think Christian Folin found his game in Iowa

Published 6:55 am Thursday, December 4, 2014

By Chad Graff, The St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL — Christian Folin was enjoying lunch at a restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa, when he got a phone call telling him he was needed in Minnesota.

“It was a nice surprise,” Folin said.

Email newsletter signup

After struggling to recover from a bout with the mumps earlier this season, Folin was sent to the minor league AHL for the first time in his young career — and regained the game the Wild were hoping to see.

“We wanted to make sure he was very aggressive and assertive in how he played the game,” coach Mike Yeo said. “I felt that at the time, when we sent him down (his game had slipped). It happens. There was a roster decision that was looming, and I think that was in the back of his mind.”

Folin was slated to play with fellow Swede Jonas Brodin in Wednesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens at Xcel Energy Center.

“I think with that he got a little on the safe side, and there’s no question that he has to be reliable and defensively responsible,” Yeo said. “But that said, we also have to be aggressive and assertive as far as taking away time and space (for opponents), being tight with our gap, moving the puck quickly and being physical. These are the things that we know he’s been doing with Iowa.”

Folin is playing his first professional season after signing last spring as a highly-touted college free agent from UMass-Lowell. He scored his first pro goal in the AHL and racked up four points in eight games after zero points in eight NHL games.

“It was nice just being on the ice more,” he said. “When you do good things from the back end, I think the points just come naturally. It’s not like I’m a defenseman that’s going to get a lot of points, but I like to shoot the puck, and it was fun when the puck went in finally.”