After their prepared, public comments, both Leipold and Fletcher answered questions from the media, first publicly, then in media scrums. Here’s what they had to say.

Fletcher:

“To find a head coach is our first priority. Before heading into free agency and before knowing what kind of team we will put on the ice next season. What I’m looking for in a head coach are communication skills, leadership skills, somebody that shares my philosophy on style of play, somebody who is demanding, but fair. Experience is nice, but not necessary. I think it’s more about leadership and communication in today’s NHL. That’s a process I’ll begin this weekend and hope next week to begin interviewing and we’ll go from there. Ideally, I’d like to have someone in place by the draft. I have a list of some names and some names have become apparent in the last 24 hours. As soon as the media advisory of my hiring came out, I’ve been getting e-mails and texts. I want to speak with some people in the industry, do a little bit of homework first, but my goal is to get a short list of candidates, spend some time with each and make a decision.”

Leipold:

How much was style of play part of your decision? “Not a lot. We asked everybody. How Chuck explained his answer (on that topic) played very well into the thought process we were looking for. But, in terms of the decision making process in hiring Chuck, it didn’t play that big a role.”

Fletcher:

Regarding being tough to play against, “toughness has always been a part of hockey and is not always necessarily in terms of fighting. Hockey is a game of confrontation, it’s a game of one-on-one battles, it’s a game of how to impose your will on an opponent. Some of that toughness is mental, some of it is physical. The style of play we’re hoping to play and the type of player we’ll have playing that style will be hard to play against. If you look at all four teams in the playoffs, all four teams are tough to play against. I wouldn’t say they have the toughest fighters in the league, but they are tough teams to play against. They win battles, they try and impose their will upon the game.”

Regarding style of play: Are the Penguins the model? “Absolutely. We want to be a team that has the puck or is aggressively in pursuit of the puck. The coach will put the system in place, but we definitely want to be more aggressive up ice.”

Regarding Gaborik: “The head coach is the first priority. That’s gonna play a role in personnel decisions as we go forward. I also want to spend a lot of time with the hockey operations staff here. As of ten minutes ago, I was an outsider. Now I’m an insider. I have my opinions, but I think it would be important to spend some time with the people here to find out how they feel, what they know. I’ll reach out and introduce myself. He’s an impending unrestricted free agent. Marion is going to call the shots and decide what he wants to do whether he’s going to negotiate or wait until July 1. That’s his right, that’s his CBA right. I respect that. But having said that, Ill reach out to him and get a sense of where he’s at.”

Regarding Fletcher’s work with Florida, Anaheim and the Penguins and their success in getting to the Stanley Cup Finals, what is the blue print for getting there? “Quality goaltending, a defense corps that knows how to move the puck, depth in scoring up front (3-4 lines), and your best players are committed to the team and willing to pay the price physically. It doesn’t mean they’re fighting, but they’re getting to the net and the hard to get to areas. You want skill, you want speed, you want mobility on your back end and you want your best players to be committed.”

Regarding the trap, “Every team plays the trap. Every team has some form of the 1-2-2. It’s a matter of some teams being more aggressive. Every team plays the trap. Pittsburgh plays the trap. There’s just times you can’t forecheck.”

Regarding changing a team philosophy based on each year’s Stanley Cup champion and how they won it, “It’s good to know what your opponents are doing, but it’s difficult under a cap system to change who you are. It’s pretty hard to go out and recast your team every summer. Mobility, skill and your best players willing to pay the price is the key. It’s easy to say and hard to do. And team’s whose best players don’t pay the price, don’t win.”

Regarding his philosophy on how to play the game, “My philosophy is why back up and cede ice to your opponent when you can force the issue up the ice? You can’t always do that. There are times you want to pressure, there are times you want to dictate the pace of the play, you want to have the puck or you have to be aggressively getting it and there are times you can’t get the puck. The other side makes adjustments and you have to sit back. Some coaches are more conservative than others. Everybody’s different. Any system can work. I just believe the style of the game, the way the rules have changed since the new CBA, I think that’s the way to go.”

Again regarding Gaborik: How badly do you feel you need this fellow? “He’s a wonderful talent. We need to do some things off the ice with coaching and staff. The thing with the cap system is if you spend your money on certain players, then you don’t have the cap space. If you don’t spend your money on certain players, then you have cap space. It’s not a win-win. There’s always a price to pay. I think it’s important to get up to speed and listen to what everyone else has to say first, before we make any decisions.”

Regarding his philosophy on drafting, trading and free agency: “The best way to build your team is through drafting and development. If you’re drafting well and have good players coming through the system, you can make better trades because you have depth in which to make your trades and then you’re going into the free agency market to supplement your roster instead of to make your roster. Having said that, there’s a lot of turnover, so you want to find players that fit your team’s style of play, you want to find to players that play the way the coach likes to play, you want to find players with the attributes I spoke about: passion, hard work, and team first orientation. They sound like just words, but they’re not. There are a lot of players out there that don’t embody these qualities. But, the best way to build the club more consistently is through the draft and the use of undrafted free agents and those are areas we will continue to emphasize. Draft picks are like gold to me.”

Regarding this opportunity, “This has always been my dream ever since I learned I was a really bad hockey player. This is my way to the NHL. I don’t know how far I’ll hit the ball, but I guarantee I’ll get the bat off of my shoulder, so I’ll take a good swing. I feel I’m ready for it and it’s a challenge, but a great opportunity too and I think we can do great things here.”

Regarding the Wild’s cap space and ability to do some things this off-season, “There is absolutely some cap room. It depends on who you bring back and who the coach is. If you spend to the cap, it doesn’t mean you have to spend to the cap. I think it’s important to leave some cushion below the cap to prepare for the unexpected and to leave yourself so flexibility at the trade deadline and later on during the season. There is certainly cap flexibility and the ability for me and the staff to make a lot of decisions.”Leipold media scrum:

Regarding Fletcher’s philosophy, “I like the way he talks: up tempo, faster game. We think that’s something our fans would like to see. And frankly, it’s almost a new game. That’s what most of the teams are now playing. I do believe that his type of game and the type of coaches he’s talking about bringing in is one that’s really going to make the fans happy and make it a pretty exciting type of hockey.”

“I had no favorites going in. His name kept going up and up on the list. He was always top two on everyone’s list. He interviewed incredibly well. When I made the decision, there was no reservation at all.”

“12 guys made the cut for in-person interviews and only 1 guy made the call back for a 2nd interview.”

“I made it real clear to Chuck. He’s accountable for providing us a Stanley Cup quality team. He has the complete flexibility and independence to build his own organization. This is his organization and I’m not going to meddle in it. It’s his job.”

“The way to develop our players and his system and the way he is talking is exactly what we need at this time.”

(We think that Chuck can) “take this team to another level that maybe we didn’t think we could get to.”

“He likes our team as so many other candidates did. They loved our players. We need to get deeper in terms of 2nd and 3rd lines, but the core of our franchise from top center, good defensemen, great goaltending. We got that. Those are the types of things you just can’t go out and steal. You have to have that internally. We have that. He believes that we can go out and compliment those core players and have a Stanley Cup contender.”

Regarding Gaborik and Fletcher’s philosophy on how to play the game, “this is what the Gaborik’s of the world and other free agents are looking for I.e. this kind of system.”

Regarding the big name free agents, “we have everything to offer them here. I think the system in the past might have held them back. I believe Chuck feels that way. The people that came through felt that way. And so I think this may be the missing piece and they will look at us in a different light and will want to come play here.”

Leipold pointed out that Fletcher is GM and (Leipold) is president of the Wild.

Regarding players wanting to play in Minnesota, “you would think everyone would be knocking on our door to play here. Hopefully now the word gets out that this is a place to play up tempo and score goals.”

Regarding Minnesota players and/or American players, “we are going to get the best person available. Being from Minnesota and playing in Minnesota won’t be looked upon any longer as a negative.”

Regarding whether Leipold has put any reins on Fletcher, “He can manage to the cap. This team spends to the cap and we will do it again next season.”

On the hiring of Fletcher, “His experience level put him at the top. There was nothing he ever said or did to take himself out of the number 1 spot.”

Regarding making the playoffs, “it is very realistic that the Wild get back to the playoffs. Getting beyond the first round depends on a lot of playoff dynamics. It is my expectation that we get past the first round.”

Again on Gaborik, “We have the money to sign Gaborik and we have a better chance now than last week.”

On changes the owner wants to see made, “I don’t think we need to make a lot of changes. I think we need to get some more scorers in here and keep them healthy.”

Is Gaborik the type of person that fits into the model given last year’s discord? “I think that’s behind us and I think that Gaborik is the type of player/person that can fit in here.”

Leipold considers Gaborik a top 5 scorer in the league, not necessarily a top 5 player.

Fletcher Media Scrum:“This isn’t a run and gun style, we’re still strong defensively. There’s times when we’re passive. Coaches teach defense and offensive is sort of instinctive.”

“It’s important to hire a coach prior to free agency so he can articulate his vision.”

Regarding the Wild not hitting any “home runs” during free agency, “a lot of teams walk away feeling that way.”

“It’s not just a function of free agency. We’re dealing with a market, maybe for the first time this summer and maybe next year, where we could have a declining cap and I think you’re going to see the trade market way more active than in prior years due to the fact that teams will be looking to unload some salary or looking to create some cap flexibility so I don’t think we should just call it a free agent market. It’s a free agent and a trade market. And it’s a function of cap space and needs.”

“There is cap space here with expiring contracts coming off of the books. It depends who you re-sign and who you bring back. If you bring back the entire team, then you won’t have much flexibility, but you’ll have your entire team.”

“There are also opportunities during the year, specifically the trade deadline, not only to fine tune your team, but also to add some significant pieces to your team. I think there are different times of the year where if you have cap space, you can be active.”

Regarding his philosophy on style of play, “It’s not run and gun, it’s up tempo.”

His philosophy on draft day: “You have options (trade up, trade down, trade out completely and pick up a player, or just to stay where you’re at). I’m a big believer that if there’s a player you like, particularly in the first round, you should pursue him. If when it’s your turn in the draft and there’s 3 or 4 guys you like, then it’s wise to move back and take an extra pick or prospect. I do believe in actively moving up or down. When moving down, you can add extra picks and go for quantity.”

Regarding Gaborik, “he’s a dynamic game breaker and a dynamic offensive player. I think he’s shown he can score goals with the best of the goal scorers in the NHL.”

No mandates from Leipold other than to build a team that wins consistently and to make wise cap decisions on contracts longer than one year.

Regarding the job of hiring the next coach, “I don’t think experience is necessarily the most important factor. I want to get the right coach. I think we’ve seen veteran coaches be successful and rookie coaches be successful. I think that if you’re a good coach, you’re a good coach.”

“Getting the Wild into the playoffs is my personal expectation. But, 14 teams don’t make the playoffs every year. I have the expectation to be a competitive team every year.”

“I love physical hockey (up tempo, fore checking, on pucks, separating the defender from the puck). It doesn’t have to be fighting. I certainly believe fighting as a necessary element of a good club. Toughness to me is mental, it’s physical, it’s winning battles, it’s having your best players go to the net knowing they’re going to get cross checked. That’s toughness. Those are the type of players we want. You need a physical element and a mentally tough element. Pace of play, forcing play. Those are all elements of physical, up-tempo hockey.”

“Any team can play this style. You need skill and intelligence. We want an identity of being an up-tempo, hard working, difficult team that’s tough to play against.”

“I don’t like teams that get pushed around anywhere. You’re gonna get pushed around some nights, but that’s where the toughness element comes out and playing through it. You know you’re gonna get hit, you know you’re gonna pay a price physically and you do and that’s a big part of winning hockey teams.”

“The Penguins added 3 players that re-invented our forward group at the trade deadline.”

“It’s the power of persuasion. Coaches have to be strong leaders, strong teachers, strong communicators. You have to convince players that if they play a certain way, they will be successful as individuals and as a group. That is done through communication and strong leadership skills and a coach who has a very strong sense of who he is and where he wants to get to and that’s why I suggested that experience, while important, isn’t always necessary.”

“There will be times where there will be a conservative game plan (read “Lemaire-like”). I don’t think (our style next year) will be as radically different, systems wise, as people think. I think many teams use similar system. Many teams play the same in the defensive zone. Everybody pre-scouts everyone else. It’s the head coach that will be the difference and their philosophy and how it’s implemented within the group of players.”

Those comments ended the media scrums, by and large, and with this hiring, the Wild have ushered in a new era of pro hockey in Minnesota with a young GM who has a new philosophy on how to play hockey and is a new voice ready to lead the Wild, hopefully to greatness and the Stanley Cup.

So, Wild fans, what do you think?

Kudos to Craig Leipold on his hiring of Chuck Fletcher. Chuck, the State of Hockey welcomes you and your family to Minnesota. The fans are excited to see what you can/will do starting now. Good luck and Go Wild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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