EDMONTON, ALBERTA - One cool part of being the minor league general manager are the calls you get to make.
Jim Mill hands over some of that fun to Houston Aeros coach Mike Yeo sometimes, but this time, "I told Yeosie, 'This one's mine.'"
After four years at St. Lawrence University and five years in the minors, defenseman Drew Bagnall finally got the call he's long been waiting for.
"I asked, 'Are you ready to play in the show?'" Mill said, laughing. "He said, 'Darn right.'"
During the Wild's 3-1 victory to complete a six-game season-series sweep of the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night, Bagnall made his NHL debut at age 27.
"You always wish it happened sooner rather than later, but I'd rather it be later than never," Bagnall said before logging 16 minutes and 53 seconds during a gritty, hard-nosed performance.
The truth is the Wild wanted to reward Bagnall for being a good soldier in Houston, but rookie Justin Falk made it easier Thursday night. The 6-5 defenseman didn't react when Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa fell over Niklas Backstrom and Jannik Hansen popped Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who came back Dec. 1 after playing one game in 20 months because of postconcussion syndrome.
The message of sticking up for teammates was delivered to Falk when he was demoted for the tough Bagnall.