As part of his maturation process, Wild defenseman Brock Faber is trying to eat better — a noble goal for someone who won't even turn 21 until next week.
Brock Faber living out a childhood dream with Wild after starring for Gophers
Brock Faber won't turn 21 until next week, but he's already penciled in as a mainstay on the Wild's blueline. He's working hard this summer to make sure that happens.
August 17, 2023 at 8:55PM
Faber says that he and roommate Sammy Walker, another ex-Gopher vying to make the Wild roster, are pretty boring when it comes to their cuisine.
They make eggs for breakfast to fuel up for offseason training. Dinner is some combination of a protein and vegetable, usually with rice. They'll make enough so they can have it again the next night, a life hack that some of us don't appreciate until we're much older.
"We literally do repeat that just about every night," Faber said on Thursday's Daily Delivery podcast about their meal prep. Runs to Chipotle are still in the mix but far less frequent. "It's pretty basic, but it gets the job done."
Faber can be forgiven if he is craving a summer routine after a hectic spring. The Maple Grove native played his final year with the Gophers, culminating in an overtime loss to Quinnipiac in the NCAA title game on April 8 that Faber said he still thinks about.
The next day, he turned pro with the Wild — like the Gophers, his hometown team and one he grew up rooting for — and the day after that he made his NHL debut. Suddenly he was playing with stars like Kirill Kaprizov, who shows up in a classic picture with Faber in a U of M sweatshirt cheering in the background.
A week after his Wild debut, he made his NHL playoff debut and ended up playing all six games in the Wild's first-round loss to Dallas.
"Growing up, I always want to see the Gophers and the Wild win so bad. Being able to give everything I had with the program to try and bring home a national championship was so special and something I will never take for granted," Faber said. "Now it's the same here with the Wild. Anything I can do to bring a Stanley Cup here and anything I can to help this team win is what I'm willing to do."
That second part wasn't always part of the plan. Faber was a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2020, but he was traded to the Wild in 2022 along with a first round pick in the deal that sent Kevin Fiala out west.
The Wild showed tremendous faith by inserting Faber into the playoff lineup, and he figures to be a big part of their plans this season and beyond.
"The way we play as a team is such a style that I like to play. I like to defend. I like to hunt. I like to, play a gritty, hard-nosed game, and then that obviously opens, you know, opens the ice up for some skill," Faber said. "Being able to play at the Xcel, it's just all you wanna do is play there more and play for the state. You're getting me fired up here a month early."
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