Zeev Buium will make NHL debut in Wild playoff opener
LAS VEGAS Even for a grizzled veteran like Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian who has been in the NHL for seasons and has a Stanley Cup title on his resume standing in front of a backdrop that features the Stanley Cup logo as he talked to reporters in a Nevada suburb had a different feel This is why we play hockey Bogosian explained of the playoffs This is how people remember you If things go well on Sunday night or even if they do not people will surely remember the new guy wearing number on the Wild blue line On Saturday afternoon at the Vegas Golden Knights practice rink rookie Zeev Buium was paired with Bogosian and again got considerable time on the Minnesota power play drills When the players left the ice Wild coach John Hynes verified that Buium will make his NHL debut on Sunday evening in Meeting of the series It possibly could be a little bit of a different dynamic on the D-pair Hynes announced We like what we ve seen After winning a NCAA title as a freshman at Denver and nearly winning the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey s top contestant last season Buium is set to bring his puck-moving offensive defenseman battle to the Minnesota blue line Very very excited Just really thankful for the opportunity Buium revealed following Saturday s practice I mean these guys have been building toward this the entire season so I just want to go out there and do whatever I can to help The debut brings back lots of memories for Wild blueliner Brock Faber who was in similar skates two years ago jumping right from the Gophers to the Wild Faber plays more of a defensive encounter and got a inadequate regular season games under his belt before facing Dallas in the playoffs but recalled the encouragement he got from veterans then When you re in his spot you come in and it almost feels like you re gripping the stick You don t want to make a mistake Especially me when I was playing those minutes when I was out there it was like please don t mess up please don t mess up I don t want to ruin it for these guys Faber noted For him mistakes are going to happen I made mistakes and whether he gets back to the bench everyone turns the puck over every so often It happens Faber revealed Maybe you get beat out of the corner it happens You miss a pass it happens That s something that my D partner when I was playing whoever it was they were perpetually like dude just keep going You re good you re good we re having fun Advocacy each other so just let him play with confidence Having paired with him for a scarce days Bogosian says that the skill Buium shows off on the ice instills confidence that he could be a key cog in Minnesota s hopes of a first-round upset I just think you see a skill set right away The way he handles the puck the way he skates the way he thinks the championship I think he has an offensive mind Bogosian commented You can kind of see that when he has the puck on his stick he s kind of scanning areas where he s looking for plays to develop and that s been something I ve seen right away It s really cool to have that part of our group now Buium was drafted in Las Vegas last summer and is originally from San Diego which is a little over miles from the site of his first NHL battle Zeev mentioned he expects his parents one of his brothers the other is playing pro hockey in Michigan his girlfriend chosen childhood friends and perhaps more familiar faces in the crowd University of Denver s Zeev Buium poses for a portrait at Magness Arena in Denver Colorado on Wednesday April Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post I think I ll be more nervous leading up to the encounter rather than when I m in it Buium explained Leading up to it you tend to get in your head or whatnot But I think for me just again just going through my regular routine and doing what I do and understand that I m here for a reason I think once I get out there and get skating around the nerves will kind of calm down and just be excited
