Get a clue: Trapped Wild players find off-ice challenge in trying to solve escape rooms

To unwind in between games, the Wild like to forget about hockey and take a break from the mental and physical toil of the season.

That’s why they trap themselves in a puzzle and try to decipher clues to flee before time runs out.

“I can’t say we’re good at it,” captain Jared Spurgeon said. “We just enjoy it.”

Escape rooms have been an off-day hobby for Spurgeon and fellow defenseman Jake Middleton after Middleton had been lobbying for years for his teammates to go with him.

When he was with San Jose, Middleton and a few Sharks players would find a spot after arriving in a road city.

“I got the wives involved,” Middleton said, “and they kind of spearheaded it for us.”

The group has competed three times around the Twin Cities, usually going in the afternoons — sometimes sandwiching it between a lunch or brunch and after-school pickup for Spurgeon’s kids. Middleton’s baby daughter Stevie accompanies them.

“She doesn’t bring much to the table as far as getting out,” said Middleton, who’s still on the mend from getting boarded last week and won’t play Wednesday vs. the Sharks at Xcel Energy Center. “But she just stays all cute in the corner for us.”

They didn’t get out before the hour elapsed during their first two tries, finishing in 1 hour, 5 minutes in their initial go and then missing the cutoff by only a minute their second time, but they were successful their last attempt by a mere minute.

“We were pretty pumped about that,” Spurgeon said.

“That was when Matt Boldy didn’t show up,” Middleton pointed out.

“They got out the one time I wasn’t there,” Boldy confirmed. “So, they said I’m not invited back.”

Ryan Hartman wants to join — “I think I’m good at the thinking outside the box,” he said — and Spurgeon doesn’t know of anyone on the Wild who would feel claustrophobic being stuck in the space.

“Everyone on our team would be a good choice to have in there,” he said.

There’s been different themes to the rooms, from spooky vibes and being completely in the dark — “Wasn’t a fan of that one,” Middleton said — to medieval times, but the gist is the same: to devise an exit based on the maze of colors, symbols and numbers scattered around them all without a timer in the room; some places let participants keep their cellphones, Spurgeon explained, while at others they’re not supposed to have them.

“It’s funny just hearing the thoughts going through people’s heads when you’re reading certain things or getting certain clues,” Spurgeon said. “To see where people’s brains go right away, pretty comical conversations going on in there.”

Unlike their first two rooms when everyone worked together on the same task, they divvied up duties last time.

“That seemed to work better for us,” Spurgeon said. “Some people, they can figure certain things out a bit quicker than others, and it just clicks with you. So, it’s not really giving roles. It’s more so just what you see and then sort of bouncing it off each other.”

They’ve also learned asking for an assist — aka a clue — early on is OK.

“You only get so many,” Spurgeon said. “But the first time we did it, it was a recording of a voice and we thought it said one thing and it actually said something [else], and we were stuck on that clue for like 20 minutes. And then we finally asked, and it was actually a pretty simple thing to figure out. But we were just too stubborn to ask for help.”

Not much translates from hockey to these challenges except trust and teamwork.

“It’s something completely different than your everyday life,” Spurgeon said. “It’s fun to see the rooms and see all the differences, and obviously spending time together in a different scenario is pretty fun, too. You’re trying to get it done but at the same time, you’re joking around and get to spend time with your friends and buddies.

“So, it’s a nice way to get out and just not sit around and waste a day.”

But like when they’re on the ice, they play to win.

“It’s an easy way to get out of the house for an hour and kind of turn your brain on, but to be competitive, too, to try and beat that knowing there’s a time,” Middleton said. “To only win once is a little disappointing right now … but we’re headed in the right direction.”