Minnesota Wild Team Up for Hockey Talks Event

On March 19, 2025, the Minnesota Wild hosted their fourth annual Hockey Talks pregame seminar before facing off with the Seattle Kraken. Hockey Talks is a program dedicated to raising mental health awareness, featuring a keynote speech by a mental health advocate. Past speakers include Clint Malarchuk, Chris Hawkey, and others.

This year’s Hockey Talks event featured Mark Wick, a coach with over 30 years of NCAA Division III experience. A native of Hermantown, Wick is best known for his tenure as head coach of the College of St. Scholastica from 2004-05 to 2017-18. Throughout his coaching career, Wick faced personal struggles with mental health before retiring as a coach. He now works as a motivational speaker, sharing his inspiring story and experiences with depression, anxiety, and anger.

Wick’s seminar offered a candid conversation covering a range of mental health topics, including his personal struggles, the stigma around discussing mental health in athletics, and the importance of community support. One key point in his talk was how mental health challenges can affect anyone, regardless of background.

“The one thing is this (mental health struggles) does not discriminate. Young, old, rich, poor, male, female, white, black, it doesn’t matter.” Wick said, “I’ll tell you why I have depression, I think. It’s because I’m human. If we talk about that, we can normalize it.”

Local Mental Health Nonprofits Take the Spotlight

A portion of the ticket sales for the Hockey Talks program benefited The Ranch – Teammates For Life. The organization is a nonprofit dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of veterans, athletes, and others in need. The Ranch, located in Sauk Centre, was established in honor of Mark Pavelich, a member of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team and a former NHL player. Pavelich played for seven NHL seasons, but struggled with mental health throughout his life and career before his death in 2021. The Ranch continues his legacy by offering critical healthcare in his memory.

The Wild supported the cause in several other ways throughout the evening. At the start of the game, Mark Wick and Paul Martin led the iconic “Let’s Play Hockey!” chant. Martin is a respected mental health advocate himself and co-founder of Shine a Ligh7. Shine a Ligh7 is dedicated to improving mental health resources and reducing stigma, particularly for children.

Sophie’s Squad was also one of the organizations fortunate enough to support the event. We set up a table in in the Xcel Energy Center concourse, providing crucial mental health resources. Additionally, the Wild’s 50/50 raffle raised over $6,000 for organization, with proceeds benefiting mental health initiatives. Ryan Bahl, the Director of Marketing for Sophie’s Squad, spoke about the significance of such programs in increasing awareness.

“The Wild are a great partner, and we couldn’t be happier to be involved in the Hockey Talks program. People need to talk about mental health to lower the stigma, but when an organization like the Wild does it too, it raises the profile of these issues.” Bahl said, “We all have to do our part in recognizing the importance of mental health, and the Wild helped spotlight that for over 15,000 people tonight.”

Minnesota Wild Come Away with Win

Once the attention turned to the ice, the Minnesota Wild took on the Seattle Kraken in a crucial Western-Conference matchup. Minnesota came away with a win after three first-period goals by the home team. Ryan Hartman and Liam Ohgren scored for the Wild while Matt Boldy added two goals of his own. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson earned the win in a 34-save shutout effort for the Wild.

The game was a fantastic way to cap off a night that was filled with fun and the important mission of shining a spotlight on mental health awareness. Check out our photo gallery from the game below!

Photos by Robert Brent.