Rolston sees Minnesota in a positive light

NEWARK, N.J. - After the Wild swung and missed at a number of upper-echelon free agents last summer, owner Craig Leipold said it was essential the Wild recruits that one bigwig player to demonstrate to others that Minnesota is the place to be.

For whatever reason -- maybe it's the defensive system -- there does seem to be a perception out there that the Wild is a team to avoid.

Brian Rolston is the exception to that rule.

The Wild's biggest free-agent signee not only thrived here -- three consecutive 30-goal seasons -- there are few louder salesmen than Rolston on how great it is to play in Minnesota.

"Players ask me all the time what it's like to play there, and I say, 'It's an amazing place to play,'" said Rolston, who faces the Wild for the first time tonight after signing with the New Jersey Devils last summer. "You can't beat the atmosphere there, how great a family place it is, the people are great.

"I had an opportunity to flourish there. Jacques [Lemaire] gave me that opportunity, which I will be eternally grateful for. It just means a lot to me to have played there."

Rolston said if it seems big-time free agents avoid Minnesota, "it has a lot to do with Jacques' system, a defensive system that has been instilled in New Jersey since he left, by the way. I mean, Jacques literally changed the game of hockey."

Rolston's point is stars such as Zach Parise don't have problems scoring in New Jersey, nor has Devils all-time leading scorer Patrik Elias ever been handcuffed.

"This is how you win today," Rolston said. "And Jacques never held me back. Jacques gave me the opportunity to do things offensively. That's why I played wing because he demands his centermen to play defensively."

Alluding to Lemaire's possible retirement, Rolston added, "If there's a perception free agents don't want to come there, players should also realize anything can change on a dime in this league."

Love from teammates

Rolston, 36, who hit the 300-goal plateau Saturday against Montreal and the 1,000-game mark earlier this season, scored 96 goals and 202 points in three seasons with the Wild, missing only three games because of illness and one to rest for the playoffs.

He was a tremendous influence on up-and-comers such as Mikko Koivu, whom Rolston called "Franchise," Brent Burns and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

"This is something I've never went through before," said Koivu, who along with some teammates planned to eat dinner at Rolston's Short Hills, N.J., home Thursday night. "I've played against [former teammates], but Roli was here ever since I got here and he was the guy I looked up to every day, every game, every practice.

"I learned from him every day. I asked him all the questions what I should do. He took us all under his wing. He kind of made you feel safe every day."

It was Rolston who taught Koivu his favorite line, "Never too high, never too low."

"It's been the best advice I've heard," Koivu said. "When things were going bad, he would come and say, 'Don't worry about it and keep doing what you're doing.' And when things would go well, he'd say, 'Remember, never too high, never too low, eh?'

"He did it kind of as a joke, but it was a message, too. The way he took care of his body off the ice, the way he took care of his family and the guys in the locker room, he's the perfect pro to look up to."

Rolston: 'No regrets'

Rolston signed a four-year, $20.25 million contract to return to the Devils, where he was drafted 11th overall in 1991 and won a Stanley Cup in 1995, on July 1. The last contract offer he turned down from the Wild was three years, $13 million.

He said if the Wild had come to him before last season, there's no doubt he'd still be on the Wild.

"Trust me, my intention wasn't, 'I'm getting out of here,'" Rolston said, laughing. "But it gets to be the final 12 hours, you want to see what's out there. It's only logical. It's the business of hockey. It is a business."

Rolston signed with a much deeper team than the Wild and has missed 18 games because of a high ankle sprain that's still lingering, causing his production to slip (14 goals, 27 points in 52 games). He's not averaging 20 minutes a game anymore (15 minutes), not the No. 1 penalty kill option, not on the first power-play unit.

But "I have no regrets," he said. "Playing all the minutes, those things are good, for sure. There's no question there's times when you're like, 'Geez, I had it pretty good in Minnesota,' and I knew I did. But this kind of depth is a winning formula. I think that's what it takes a lot of times to win and actually be a contender for the Stanley Cup."

Rolston, playing center in New Jersey, has bounced up to the second line between Elias and Brian Gionta. And tonight, he plans on using his signature slapshot with the goal of beating the Wild.

"He promised me last summer he'd keep them low," goalie Niklas Backstrom said, laughing. "I hope he's a man of his word."