ST. PAUL, Minn. — With Vinni Lettieri making his Minnesota Wild debut Tuesday night, Louie Nanne — Vinni’s cousin and a fellow grandson of Minnesota royalty Lou Nanne — was entertaining 10 clients inside a suite. Tyler Nanne, another of Lou’s grandchildren and Louie’s kid brother, was there, too. Naturally, so was Lettieri’s mom and Lou’s daughter, Michelle; Lettieri’s dad, Tino; and his sister, Bianca.

Advertisement

There were so many Nannes and Lettieris around, Grandpa Lou — the former North Stars defenseman, coach and general manager — restlessly watched his grandson’s first game in a Wild sweater alone in a press box radio booth.

“I don’t want to be around people,” Nanne said before puck drop of the Wild’s eventual and highly entertaining yet nerve-wracking 7-4 pounding of the Edmonton Oilers. “I don’t like to be distracted by people talking or making me miss something. I don’t feel comfortable being around everybody else when I want to watch a game.”

The only difference between when Nanne managed the North Stars and Tuesday night was he was a nervous wreck to not only watch his grandson’s 84th NHL game but every second of the Wild’s at times aggravating performance.

“Thatta boy, Marco,” Nanne screamed when Marco Rossi scored his first-ever goal at Xcel Energy Center.

“Keep it, keep it, go, go, go, perfect, now go for a change,” he hollered during a textbook short-handed rush to eat clock by Joel Eriksson Ek.

“Come on Moose!” he yelled on a drive to the net by Marcus Foligno.

And when Ryan Hartman capped a dominant three-goal, five-point night during a 10-point night for his line that included 24 shot attempts, Nanne exclaimed, “They needed that.”

Of course, the anticipation of watching Lettieri, a die-hard Wild fan growing up in the western burbs, wear a No. 10 sweater — the same number worn by one of his favorite Wild players ever, all-time leading goal scorer Marian Gaborik — warm up before the game didn’t stop Nanne from finishing his pregame meal down on the event level.

“I didn’t watch f—ing warmups when I was a general manager,” Nanne deadpanned.

Nanne was known as one emotional GM, but it was fun seeing just how anxious he was during every ebb, flow and twist and turn of the Wild’s come-from-behind win, a game that included a five-goal third period and three rallies from a goal down.

Advertisement

The Wild looked like they were going to be robbed by Jack Campbell, who made so many robberies in the second period, Nanne was grunting and cursing and punching the tabletop in front of him.

“How many chances did we have that we couldn’t capitalize on?” defenseman Jake Middleton said. “Frustration, you could feel it wanting to set in like it has at the start of these last couple of games.”

Even assistant coach Jason King was concerned, telling coach Dean Evason during the second intermission that the players were incredibly frustrated despite his attempt to go into the room and convey to them that they just needed to stick with it because of the number of scoring chances they were generating.

“It must have been a feeling, but they didn’t show it,” said Evason, knowing full well Hartman’s tying goal 38 seconds into the third helped that matter.

A day before, Evason hinted that the coaching staff had at least mulled over breaking up the Kirill Kaprizov-Hartman-Mats Zuccarello line. But he also said there was a process, and it’s incumbent on coaches to talk to each player individually, then as a group before dislodging three proud, solid pros like these three. Hartman said the linemates had been watching their shifts and felt like it was coming.

So did their teammates, especially Middleton, the defensive defenseman nicknamed “Midstrom” because he wears No. 5 like Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom. Tuesday night he looked like Lidstrom at least on one sequence in which he blew down the left-wing wall and set up Hartman’s second career hat trick.

A VERY HARTZY HATTY 🎩🎩🎩#mnwild pic.twitter.com/h0VSptQJ00

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 25, 2023

“Fortunately, I got to be a part of that top line coming to life,” Middleton said after his first career three-assist and three-point game. “They’re our horses, right? That’s what they are. They’re the top line for a reason. I don’t want to say it’s expected of them, but this kind of stuff is expected from them and they’re up to the task every time.”

Advertisement

Hartman’s first career hat trick came with Chicago but only after two empty-net goals.

“This felt more real,” Hartman quipped.

Nanne loved the way they didn’t get frustrated after forcing plays too often in the first five games and mismanaging the puck. And he loved the way the team played as a whole, especially his 28-year-old grandson who logged 8 minutes, 48 seconds of ice time.

Lettieri showed his grit when he blew up Derek Ryan and showed his speed both offensively and when he tracked back defensively.

Evason lauded Lettieri’s game afterward and said he wished he could have gotten him more ice time. But because of first-period penalties by the Wild — Minnesota killed four in the period, including a 1:15 five-on-three, Lettieri didn’t see his first shift until 4:30 in and his first even-strength shift with his linemates, Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime, until two minutes left in the period.

He saw limited ice time late when the Wild first had to shorten the bench to rally and then when the Oilers pulled within one on an Evander Kane goal.

Nanne, 82, lives mostly in Florida these days. But when he walked into the arena Tuesday, even GM Bill Guerin sarcastically embraced him and said, “Shocker. You show up in Minnesota when your grandson’s playing.”

Truth be told, it was serendipity that Lettieri got the call because Nanne’s wife of 61 years, Lettieri’s grandmother Francine, had a scheduled appointment for her fourth and final chemotherapy treatment Wednesday after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Francine watched from home on TV, but she’s doing “amazing,” Nanne said, walking 3 miles a day with weights and experiencing no fatigue or nausea.

Nanne, like a GM, had a feeling Lettieri would get the call after seeing Sammy Walker skate on the fourth line Saturday night in an overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. But even though the fast, skilled Lettieri is more suited to be a middle-six forward, he figured he’d land on the fourth line upon arrival because Pat Maroon had three assists in four periods with Marcus Johansson and Eriksson Ek the previous two games.

Advertisement

“The majority of his 84 NHL games, he starts off on the fourth line,” Nanne said. “I hope somebody eventually gives him a chance to play with players that are more his style. But Dewar and Duhaime are great checkers and Vinni can check, so it’s better him being here in that role than not here.”

How long Lettieri will get a chance to be up depends on the health of the team. He’ll play Thursday night in Philadelphia in the first game of a three-game trip, but injured Matt Boldy is accompanying the team and could return in Washington or more likely New Jersey. If there are no other injuries, Lettieri would likely be returned to Iowa.

But he was so noticeable against the Oilers and so impressed Evason after his solid training camp, Lettieri likely elevated himself to top call-up at this juncture.

Nanne hopes he stays because he moonlights as a Bally Sports North color analyst and is calling his first three games next month at the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres.

“And I’ve had the luxury of calling (son Marty Nanne) and Louie and Tyler’s games on TV in the state high school tournament back in the day,” Nanne said. “I’d love to get to be behind the mic for Vinni’s games.”

If Lettieri does get more action in Minnesota, Nanne might have to establish residency again in the Twin Cities and leave the sunshine of South Florida behind this winter so he could watch a lot more of his grandson in person.

Actually, Lettieri — the former Ranger, Duck and Bruin — wasn’t born yesterday.

“Taxes are bigger than me,” Lettieri joked.

(Top photos of Vinni Lettieri and Lou Nanne: Bruce Kluckhohn / NHLI via Getty Images and Michael Russo / The Athletic)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k3Jwb2tnbnxzfJFsZmpoX2eCcMPIpZtmn5Gism66zquroWWjqa6zv4ygpGakn6p6r63Np5xo