Wild assistant has varied résumé

As a junior player, Dave Barr played on four teams in three years, so he got vast experience at an early age how to handle life being uprooted.

Barr might be the newbie assistant on the Wild's coaching staff, but this is no newbie.

In hockey, he's lived it all.

After turning pro in 1981, the former winger played on 14 teams -- seven in the NHL, seven in the minors -- in 16 years.

Barr was the definition of a journeyman yet still managed to play 614 games in the NHL, skating for some the game's best coaches, such as Gerry Cheevers, Jacques Demers, Bryan Murray and Herb Brooks.

He played alongside legendary teammates, from young Ray Bourque and Steve Yzerman, to Wayne Cashman, Brad Park and Bernie Federko, to Doug Gilmour, Claude Lemieux, Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer.

He grabbed bits and pieces of everything and carried it into a coaching career that's taken him from Houston to Guelph, Ontario, to Denver, and now to the Wild. Barr, who turns 49 Monday, relates to players because he's able to convey how he's personally dealt with every situation imaginable.

"As a player, I went through everything, being a guy who sat in the stands, being a guy who sat on the bench, being a guy who played a lot, being one of the top players, being one of the last couple guys," Barr said. "I know what certain guys are going through, and it's usually in bad situations where they're sitting out or not playing a lot and wondering why. I've been through it, so I can hopefully help them."

First-year Wild coach Todd Richards retained assistant Mike Ramsey, a former defenseman, and goalie coach Bob Mason from the Jacques Lemaire staff. To round out his staff, Richards wanted to hire a former forward, and one with oodles of experience.

Last June when the Colorado Avalanche, the Wild's opponent in an old-style home-and-home series today and Saturday, cleaned house, Barr, an Avalanche assistant, became free.

Barr used to play with Richards' brother, Travis, in Kalamazoo, and from 1995-97 Todd Richards and Barr played together on the now-defunct IHL Orlando Solar Bears. Barr was a player-assistant coach, and in 1995-96 he produced a career-high 38 goals and 100 points. Richards, a defenseman, was Orlando's captain and scored a career-high 73 points.

"He was a veteran guy, a really smart player," Richards said.

Richards began calling some of Barr's former players, such as Avalanche defenseman Brett Clark, Richards' former teammate in Orlando, to reinforce what he already thought he knew about Barr.

"The most important thing is trust. I trust Barrsie completely," Richards said. "With our past relationship, he was a guy I looked up to and respected, and nothing's changed there."

After retiring in 1997, Barr started his coaching career with the Houston Aeros, now the Wild's AHL affiliate, as an assistant under first Dave Tippett, then Ron Low. The Aeros won a Turner Cup in 1999, and Barr became head coach in 2000. He was then the Aeros' GM for two years, winning a Calder Cup in 2003.

Barr went to the OHL Guelph Storm, where he served as coach and GM for four years. He was Coach of the Year in 2006, and helped guide such future NHLers as Drew Doughty, Ryan Callahan and Ryan Parent.

"The junior coaching progressed me a long ways," Barr said. "You have to be a father figure. At that age, they're learning how to become men, so you're developing the whole person as opposed to maybe just the hockey side."

On the side, Barr is a running freak of nature. He's done six marathons, a 50-miler, two 50K's and more than 50 25K-or-shorter races.

At Xcel Energy Center, he and running partner John Worley, one of the Wild's medical trainers, routinely run up and down the lower-bowl stairs and concourse escalators.

"It keeps you honest," said Barr, laughing. "When I retired, it was nice to have the pressure off of staying in shape all the time. Four months later, I started to get out of shape and didn't like it. So I started running. I found that I loved it and it was a great way to get away from the stress and thoughts of hockey."

Barr ran the 50-miler in nine hours. He did a 50K, which is 31.07 miles, in 4 hours, 5 minutes.

"I ran the last 8 miles at a six-minute pace. I was flying trying to break four hours," Barr said.

He ran a marathon in 3 hours, 2 minutes.

"I was bonked," he said. "I hit the wall at the 25-mile mark. I had no idea where I was. I was staggering around, and somebody had to point me in the right direction. My wife stopped going to my races after that.

"There's always a point in every race where you're like, 'Why am I doing this?' In the 50-miler, at 37 miles, I was like, 'What the heck am I doing this for? Why?' But the end result, it's really an accomplishment.

"I really enjoy testing myself. I'm always training for something."

That kind of bothers Richards.

"He makes all of us look bad," Richards joked. "If I would have known that ahead of time, I probably wouldn't have brought him in."