Great Athletic story on Faber’s first weeks with the Wild. It’s a long one but well worth the read:
“They called Brock Faber and his college roommates “ducks,” because when you saw one, the rest would soon follow.
So it was fitting that for Faber’s home debut for the Wild in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Stars, he hooked his buddies up with sweet seats.
Not long ago, they were having late-night Catan battles at their Dinkytown campus house and rewatching the Hangover movies.
On Friday, Mason Nevers (wearing a Kirill Kaprizov jersey), Carl Fish and Mike Koster were standing and screaming from 25 rows behind the net at Xcel Energy Center.
Nevers and Koster are still having trouble sleeping after the Gophers’ OT loss in the national title game three weeks ago while Faber has jumped right into the NHL playoffs.
Faber, a 20-year-old from Maple Grove, is still working to finish two college classes. He moved from the shared house into a hotel Friday.
“We were a year ago together cheering (for the Wild) like a bunch of little kids,” Nevers said. “Now he’s a grown man playing in the game. It’s unbelievable.
“I might cry I’m so happy.”
Faber, just five NHL games in, is already playing with the poise of a 10-year veteran. It’s rare for a kid to go right from college into the playoffs, but the Gophers captain has solidified a spot on the Wild’s third pair. He made a game-saving play in the team’s double-overtime victory in Game 1, with his roommates yelling in disbelief at their TV. “We were like, ‘No way! That was Fabes!’”
The four of them were in the stands at a Wild home game just over a year ago — right up against the glass — to watch former Gopher Ben Meyers play. Faber will never forget how much he celebrated after Kirill Kaprizov’s franchise-record 47th goal that night.
Faber said the experience on the other side has been better than he could have imagined.
“When you’re wondering when you were a kid in the crowd if players hear you or if it affects the game, playing, it sure does, hearing that crowd,” Faber said. “Just feeding off that. It was special.”
The plan all along was for Faber to sign with the Wild after the Frozen Four.
He was ready. Gophers coach Bob Motzko knew it. His teammates knew it.
“We thought he was going to leave after freshman year,” Nevers said. “He was that good.”
“He said, ‘I want to wear a letter. I want to win a title,’” Koster said. “He changed the program.”
So in the aftermath of the Gophers’ heartbreaking loss to Quinnipiac on April 6, even Faber’s family wondered if he’d have a change of heart. Teammates saw how distraught Faber was in the dressing room after the game, barely able to speak through his tears, not wanting to take his Gophers sweater off.
“It was devastating for all of us,” Foster said. “But he was in the spotlight, having to answer all the questions.”
Before boarding the bus for his flight home, Faber walked into the room where families were waiting. His mother, Karri, gave him a big hug.
“I know he felt ready to go, but after that devastation, I honestly was like, ‘Wow, I guess I don’t know,’” Karri said. “While he was crying in my arms, he said, ‘I’ll see you Monday.’
“Which meant with the Wild. I think that told us he was going to sign without him saying it.”
Faber landed around 5:30 a.m. in Minnesota and went to get some sleep. Karri said he signed his contract from his iPhone either on the plane or right when he got back. Koster had the house’s only car, a white Chevy Malibu, and the roommates all drove Faber to the airport so he could catch a flight with the Wild to Chicago, where he’d make his NHL debut the next night.
“He was very, very quiet,” Koster said. “You could tell he had a lot of emotions. Losing the title game, he was still excited.”
Faber didn’t make any speeches after the title-game loss, in the room or on the plane. He told teammates how much he loved them and how proud he was. And when he left his fellow ducks at the airport, he thanked them.
“I can’t wait to see you guys,” he said.
That night, Faber got a text from a familiar number. It was former Gophers captain (and Hobey Baker winner) Jordan Leopold. Leopold had spoken to the team this year about what the program meant to him, staying in school and playing in the pros. He’d sent Faber and Maple Leafs prospect Matthew Knies encouraging messages en route to the Frozen Four.
Leopold, who played 12 years in the NHL, sent Faber another note about the NHL.
“You’re still playing the same game, just a different jersey. Just go out there, play to your strengths. Enjoy it. It’s not going to last forever.”
Faber’s NHL debut was a “dream come true,” playing alongside fellow former Gophers defenseman Alex Goligoski.
“He’s just so mature,” Goligoski said. “A natural.”
Faber was picked by assistant coach Darby Hendrickson to read the starting lineup in the dressing room before the game. A video of the moment shows him going around the room, yelling out nicknames. Then, “Me.”
“I watched that about 20 times,” Karri said.
Faber’s father, Jay, said his first wow moment was seeing his son line up on the ice with Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews on a faceoff. Faber didn’t seem fazed, which his mother believes is due to his experience playing at the U.S. National Team Development Program and in the Olympics. He was traveling to Sweden to play at 17.
“You had to mature quickly,” Karri said.
A couple dozen family members and friends made the trip to Chicago for the milestone game. They took a group picture in the stands afterward. They chatted briefly, then Faber told his parents, “I’ve got to catch the bus.”
Karri always sends her son the same message before games: “Good luck tonight. I love you.” She uses same emojis every time. And she tried to give him some advice after his first game.
“Great game,” she wrote. “Hope you’re able to sit back, relax and enjoy some of this.”
“He’s like, ‘Oh I am,’” she said. “He sent a picture of him lounging on the airplane.”
Faber kept raving to his parents and roommates about the food in the NHL, from the sushi and steak on the charter flights to dinners on the road. It’s called the “Never Hungry League” for a reason.
Faber was still living at his college house the first couple weeks. Wild teammate Matt Boldy offered to give him rides to and from practice. Boldy, who played with Faber at the USNTDP, said he was just paying it forward. “He’ll give me a tip one day,” Boldy joked.
On the ice, Faber has fit in seamlessly. Coach Dean Evason said the original plan wasn’t to put him in the playoff lineup this quickly. Faber earned it with his play, his poise and how he conducted himself off the ice.
“That’s when we started to go, ‘Wait a minute, maybe he should be in our lineup,” Evason said. “He’s got a composure and maturity level about him that’s real good and above his years. He’s been a leader.”
Assistant coach Bob Woods, who runs the blueline, said, “There was a discussion after his first two games. ‘This kid can play. He’s not intimidated. Not afraid of being in the big show.’”
Woods noticed Faber’s poise immediately in his first NHL game — how he was directing traffic and communicating. He was confident and comfortable. His details were phenomenal. He’d ask the right questions. They could tell he was well-coached by Motzko and his staff. “You’re like, he’s going to be really good,” Wood said.
Faber credited his teammates and coaches with making him feel welcome, easing his transition. They’d give him tips in film sessions. Boldy gave him rides. Ryan Reaves invited the entire team to his Lake Minnetonka-area home for dinner a few days before the playoffs.
“When I work with young defensemen, you let them know you have confidence in them,’” Woods said. “‘We believe in you. Don’t worry about making mistakes. You’re going to play. We’re not going to sit you. We want you to play free. We don’t want you thinking too much.’”
Faber said he gained confidence early in the first period in Game 1 of the Stars series when he had a battle along the wall in the defensive zone with potential Hart Trophy finalist Jason Robertson. Faber calmly knocked Robertson off the puck, got it up the boards and cleared the zone.
“When he came to the bench, I just said to him, ‘You can handle these guys,’” Woods said. “Defense has a lot to do with confidence. You have to believe. He’s a confident kid, and we’re trying to instill: ‘You can handle this. You’re here for a reason. We believe you can be effective here.’”
There were some uh-oh moments, too, like when Faber, falling to the ice near the crease, got a high stick up on Tyler Seguin. It was late in a tied game. There was no call, much to the chagrin of Stars fans.
“That was a scary moment,” Faber said. “A guy you grew up watching, you high stick him in the face. Kind of crazy. Thankfully, there was no call.”
The highlight of the playoffs so far might be Faber diving to get his stick on Mason Marchment’s shot from the slot in double-OT. Faber said, “That was my guy” so “thankfully I did get a stick on it.”
“It saved the game,” Leopold said.
“I’ve seen it for three years,” Motzko said. “Brock is a world-class defender.”
“We watched the play and thought it was just a regular Wild defenseman,” Fish said. “Then we saw the replay, and it was No. 7. We’re like, ‘Wow!’”
The night before Faber’s first playoff game, he was on his couch watching Knies make his playoff debut for the Leafs against the Lightning.
This was Faber’s last night in the house. His teammates, including Fish, Koster and Nevers, were all at another house, having beers and watching hockey.
Faber, not in college anymore, wanted to take it easy. He had a big game the next day.
He FaceTimes or calls his parents just about every day, whether for 20-minute chats or just to check in. His dad mostly asks questions as a Wild fan, like what is Kaprizov like? Karri checks in on how he’s handling life off the ice.
The Fabers were planning on bringing a group to Friday’s game.
“He’s like, ‘Mom, I don’t even know if I’m playing,’” Karri Faber said. “I’m like, ‘Well, we’re going anyway. We’ve got like 25 people. It’s not like we’re not going to go.’”
The next morning, around 10:30 a.m, Faber sent his parents a text:
“I’m playing.”
Faber logged 12 minutes, and 10 seconds in Game 3, playing on a pair with veteran John Klingberg. He was a plus-2. “It looks like he’s been playing for a lot longer than four or four five games,” Klingberg said. “He’s going to be a really good defenseman in this league.”
“We’ve got a really good one,” Marcus Foligno said.
How good?
“He can be like a (Jonas) Brodin,” Woods said of the Wild’s top shutdown defenseman. “He’s capable of being a top-four defenseman. He can skate with the high-level players. He can think the game. He’s got a great stick. He’s strong. He’s a thick kid. He’s got a lot of strength.”
When Faber was on the ice for the Wild’s first goal Friday night, his college roommates jumped out of their seats. Fish hugged Nevers then high-fived Koster. They sang the Wild’s goal song, “Shout.”
Faber’s lease with his roommates is up in August, though it sounds like he may stay at Boldy’s place when the winger returns home for the summer.
“It’s just surreal,” Fish said. “It still hasn’t set in for us. It doesn’t feel like he’s gone.”
“He’s going to be in the NHL 10 years from now,” Koster said. “And we’re going to be best friends 10 years from now. That’s the kind of guy Brock is.”
