Dashing through the snow, Travis Boyd beats the traffic to make Wild debut

Travis Boyd grew up dreaming of playing for the Wild, but the Hopkins native didn’t anticipate his debut going quite like it did.

“Never in a million years,” he said.

How Boyd arrived at his first Wild game last Saturday in Calgary might be more memorable than him finally drawing into the lineup as an emergency addition from the minors with Kirill Kaprizov and Marat Khusnutdinov hurt.

Get this: Boyd landed in Calgary during a snowstorm only a few hours before an afternoon puck drop between the Wild and Flames. After the car that was driving him to the arena got stuck in traffic, Boyd ran the last few blocks to the arena with his hockey bag slung on his shoulder.

His commute was caught on camera and went viral on social media.

“It was pretty funny,” Boyd said. “I’m actually kind of happy someone got a video just so I can remember that day instead of telling the story about it.”

Boyd’s trek to join the Wild began the previous day.

He was with Iowa, the Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate, and the team was in Grand Rapids, Mich., when Boyd was beckoned to the NHL for the second time this season. When he was called up in October, also under emergency conditions, he didn’t play and was soon returned to Iowa.

The 31-year-old forward flew from Grand Rapids to Detroit and then Toronto.

After getting to his hotel around midnight, Boyd boarded a flight to Calgary in the morning and touched down about noon. Once he had his bags, he set out for the rink.

“Massive snowstorm,” Boyd said, “so it wasn’t like we were able to book it over there.”

A 35-minute drive later, Boyd was approaching Scotiabank Saddledome where the Flames play, but they were in a traffic jam with fans going to the game.

Wild team services manager Dominic Hennig was with Boyd and said he thought the two would have to make a run for it, and Boyd was game.

“One positive I guess is the jog through the traffic was a little bit of my dynamic warmup,” said Boyd, whose shoes had “no traction” as he hustled to the rink while Hennig hauled Boyd’s sticks.

When Boyd finally reached the Wild locker room, he had only 14 minutes to get ready before warmups started.

He received a standing ovation, and Boyd glanced at the board to see who his linemates were before making it onto the ice for his first official Wild game after suiting up for the team in the preseason.

Boyd signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Wild last July after logging nearly 300 NHL games with Washington, Toronto, Vancouver and Arizona following four seasons with the Gophers; his tenure with the Capitals included their Stanley Cup run in 2018, with Boyd appearing in one playoff game.

“As a kid growing up in Minnesota, I think everybody wants the chance to put on this Minnesota Wild jersey,” said Boyd, who has two goals and nine assists in 13 games with Iowa. “It certainly was no different for me and if you would’ve told me at 9 years old that this was how it was going to go, I wouldn’t have cared. I would’ve said I’m getting a chance to play for the team I grew up watching and cheering for.

“Crazy 24 hours but at the end of it, it was a very special 24 hours for me and I’m sure my family back home, as well. Chills went down my spine just thinking about that first shift and realizing what was going on.”

Since he was recalled in an emergency, Boyd will have to rejoin Iowa once Kaprizov or Khusnutdinov is back in action unless the team makes him a regular recall.

But whatever’s next for him, Boyd made a childhood dream come true and picked up an unforgettable tale to tell along the way.

“Hopefully there’s many more games to come,” he said, “and hopefully I don’t have to go through a four-hour flight and running through a snowstorm through traffic to play in those ones.”