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Home | Sports | Minnesota Wild

He's known for winging it

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

The Wild’s Stephane Veilleux took part in a preseason scrimmage Monday in Grand Forks, N.D., and scored two goals. Veilleux, 26, is entering his sixth season with the team.

Whether it's taking part in the latest team challenge or representing himself in contract negotiations, Wild checker Stephane Veilleux is never one to hold back.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: September 23, 2008 - 7:14 AM

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GRAND FORKS, N.D.

Always intense, Wild checker Stephane Veilleux is a competition junkie.

When he plays ping-pong, Veilleux slips into tennis garb that makes him look as if he's playing Wimbledon.

When he plays hockey, there are times when Veilleux skates as though he's had espresso injected into his veins.

Monday, Veilleux, 26, felt the battle scars from his latest challenge.

Veilleux was enticed into a suicide chicken wing-eating competition at a local joint. He did so "well," the restaurant asked him to return Monday night to take a photo for its Wall of Fame.

"It was the most painful thing I've ever watched," Kurtis Foster said.

"His face was as red as his hair," Derek Boogaard, in hysterics, added.

In fact, the proof was on Veilleux's face Monday. His lips were burned to a crisp.

"I feel like I have 200 canker sores," Veilleux said. "When I got up this morning, my breath, terrible!"

Not to mention the digestive problems. "Unbelievable. Unbelievable," he said.

OK, so the venture was probably as bright as when Veilleux decided to fight Dion Phaneuf last season, but hey, Veilleux at least won this challenge.

"It was funny," Veilleux said. "Fifteen, 20 guys at dinner, and [equipment trainer] Tony [Da Costa] was chirping me, so I had to do it. [Pierre-Marc Bouchard] said, 'Don't take any rest because they burn so much.' But they were so hot. My nose was leaking after the fourth one."

Veilleux's night wasn't over. The players went for a "Hoops Fever" competition in their hotel's arcade. "Me and Burnzie [Brent Burns] played so much, we have tennis elbow," Veilleux said.

Veilleux was ecstatic when he beat Mikko Koivu's record of 83 with an 84. But then Foster scored 85.

"I have the record as of right now, but Steph's down there right now trying to beat it," Foster said. "He won't."

Veilleux, who brushed off the fiery wings with two goals during Monday's scrimmage, made hockey news this summer when he fired his agent and represented himself in contract negotiations with the Wild.

Veilleux, a restricted free agent, wanted the Wild to pony up. In a game of chicken, the Wild put him on waivers to prove his value wasn't as high as he thought. Veilleux cleared, and eventually signed a one-year, $862,500 contract, meaning he can become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Asked if he's worried this could be his final year with the Wild, Veilleux said, "My life has been here and my hockey career started here. It's just an amazing feeling that all of us are growing together. Mikko, Gaby [Marian Gaborik], Burnzie, Butch, I'm not top-six like them, but I think I can be a top checker, sign long-term and be here with this core forever.

"That's what I hope."

But Veilleux also wants to be compensated fairly. This is his sixth season with the Wild. He has played 280 games. Yet, he sees players such as Aaron Voros get three-year, $3 million contracts with the Rangers after 55 NHL games.

"I see what's going on around the league," Veilleux said. "I know what I've done the last few years, but my salary compared to other players in the market, it's not the same. If I play good hockey like the last couple years, I don't see any problems.

"I'm getting close to my prime."

Veilleux's taken a lot of barbs from teammates who say they'll fire their agents, who take 4 to 5 percent of their salaries, and hire him. "He said he'll take 2 percent," Boogaard said, laughing. "And he told Gaby he'd take 1 percent."

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