WINNIPEG – Tyler Graovac had to be mentally and physically exhausted Tuesday night.
The Wild forward played his fourth game in four days — back-to-back Iowa Wild games at the Chicago Wolves and back-to-back Minnesota Wild games in St. Paul against Los Angeles and in Winnipeg against the Jets.
In between, there were six-hour bus rides to and from Des Moines and Chicago and a last-minute, emergency four-hour car ride from Des Moines to St. Paul because the Wild needed a center to play against the Kings after Zac Dalpe was lost via waivers.
"The sleeper bus," Graovac said, smiling. "I kind of got used to the charter planes up here. The sleeper bus is not the same. But you know what? I'm used to it. That's been my schedule the last three years in the AHL. Three-in-three's, and travel. Now we're in Winnipeg living kind of the fast life. How can you complain about that?"
The Wild flew to Columbus late Tuesday. With a chance the Wild scraps practice Wednesday, Graovac might get a deserved and needed day off. Even Bruce Boudreau, a minor league lifer before coaching in the NHL the past 10 seasons, couldn't think of another time a "kid's had to play four in four" in the pros.
After a disappointing training camp landed him in Iowa, Graovac, who scored in the first period Tuesday and has seven goals and an assist in 48 games, spent 3½ months in the NHL before being blindsided Feb. 13 with a trip through the waiver wire.
This is his second call-up since and the latest only came after the Wild passed him over for Dalpe.
Asked if it's a coincidence he had a hat trick for Iowa hours after learning he had been snubbed, Graovac said, "There's been a little bit of outside noise here and there. For me, I've just been dialed in. I've realized the biggest thing I can control is my game. A little early on, I think I was too focused on outside noises and trying to figure things out."
