As Gerard Gallant sat in the stands watching the Wild's morning skate Thursday, an 8-year-old boy wearing a Mikko Koivu jersey tiptoed over to talk to the Florida Panthers coach.

"My dad coached Nick Bjugstad before you. He's nice," said Olaf Aus.

Turns out it was one of former Blaine High School coach Dave Aus' four children, and minutes later, Aus, who now coaches Brainerd High School, introduced himself to Gallant and chatted about the former Minnesota Mr. Hockey and Gophers center's impressive rise as an NHLer.

The 22-year-old, who led the Panthers in scoring as a rookie last season, scored a goal against his hometown Wild and leads the Panthers again with 19 goals and 34 points.

At one point during the Panthers' skate, Gallant skated up to Bjugstad, pointed to the stands and asked, "Is that your high school coach?" When Bjugstad said, "Yeah," Gallant cracked, "Well, he didn't teach you [anything]."

"[Aus] was a good coach, more like a life coach," the 6-foot-6 Bjugstad said. "He was always trying to be a good person. He taught me quite a bit. He taught me how to lift weights. I was a toothpick back in the day."

Bjugstad had dinner with his family Wednesday night, saw old Gophers teammate and roommate Kyle Rau and other college pals and his mom gobbled up a 160-seat group package for Thursday's game.

His teammates ribbed Bjugstad as he showed them the new Vikings stadium and TCF Bank Stadium. They wanted him to grab the team bus' microphone and act as a tour guide. They wanted dinner recommendations, too.

Bjugstad told them, "Chipotle, since that's all I ate in college."

Budding writer

Olaf was a busy boy Thursday morning. The second-grader had a school project where he had to write about one person. He decided on Wayne Gretzky, T.J. Oshie or Zach Parise.

Former NHL goalie Chico Resch, the former Devils TV analyst, is on Aus' staff at Brainerd, so he texted Parise, a former Devil, to see if he'd meet with Olaf. Parise said, "No problem."

After Thursday's skate, Parise emerged from the locker room to a shy, red-faced Olaf, who asked questions like, "What advice do you have for kids to reach their hopes and dreams?" and, "What was it like to grow up with a dad that was a hockey star?"

"He was a little nervous. It was just Zach and Olaf in a room. It was quite a morning," Dave Aus said.

Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, a former Islanders teammate of the late J.P. Parise, also told Zach some funny J.P. one-liners. During one practice, J.P. skated over to Resch and said, "You're very, very hard to hit today." Whenever Potvin would miss the net and hit the glass, J.P. would crack, "Your shot sounds great today."

He's back

Recalled Iowa captain Stephane Veilleux skated in his 500th game. He ranks eighth in Wild history with 422.

"It goes so fast," Veilleux, 33, said. "You take a step back and the success and the grind that you have, you feel very fortunate that the work you put in that you actually accomplish that many games."

Veilleux said big influences were former Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, former Houston Aeros/current San Jose coach Todd McLellan, Koivu (Veilleux and the Wild captain were each drafted in 2001 and were road roommates for five years), Andrew Brunette, Wes Walz, Darby Hendrickson, Richard Park and Jim Dowd.

"Those guys were always supportive and taught you how to be a professional. It's been a great ride," Veilleux said.

Etc.

• With Nate Prosser and Matt Dumba a third-pair staple for six consecutive games, the Wild assigned rookie Christian Folin to AHL Iowa so he can play some games. Folin, who has played 29 games, will likely be the first call-up next time the Wild needs a right-shot defenseman.

• Niklas Backstrom backed up Devan Dubnyk in goal. Darcy Kuemper was scratched.