ST. PAUL, Minn. — The highlight of Ryan Hartman’s August wedding was tough to pick.
There was the live band/DJ mix that had turned a jampacked dance floor at Bavaria Downs in Chaska into a mosh pit. The only slow song might have been for the first dance for Ryan and his wife, Lauren, Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” a stick tap to their prom.
Advertisement
There was Hartman’s younger brother, Tanner, 21, bringing his family — and the rest of the 280 in attendance — to tears during his emotional (and comical) best man’s speech. Way to one-up the groom.
“He got a standing ovation,” Ryan Hartman said.
But even that didn’t top when the happy couple, Ryan and Lauren, were literally tossed into the air repeatedly by a group led by Minnesota Wild teammate Marcus Foligno — a tradition, Foligno said, that started with his father, Mike, the longtime Sabre. Think “Wedding Crashers,” only without the chairs.
The newlyweds were caught, of course, but not before a few close calls.
“They were really launching me,” Hartman said, laughing. “I was touching the (string) lights in the ceiling.
“You definitely have to be worried about chandeliers,” Foligno joked. “You don’t want them paying for extra. But it’s fun.
“It makes for great photos.”
This is a great time to be Hartman. He’s healthy, having recovered from an MCL injury suffered in Game 1 of the team’s first-round loss to the Stars last postseason. He’s the centerman for one of the league’s best players in Kirill Kaprizov, playing the ideal complement for the Russian superstar and Mats Zuccarello.
“If he plays a full season with them, he should score 30 in his sleep,” said former Wild forward and current color analyst Wes Walz.
And Hartman is likely about to get paid. The pending 2024 unrestricted free agent is in talks with the Wild on a contract extension, which one would think would be a good-sized bump from his current bargain deal ($1.7 million average annual value).
There is nowhere else Hartman would rather be, having put down roots in Edina with his Lakeville-born wife. After a journeyman start to his career — playing for four teams in a three-year span — Hartman said he feels like he’s found a home.
Advertisement
“A lot of guys, in their careers, it’s the opposite,” Hartman said. “They’re in the same place for a while and in the second part they travel around. Not to say they chase money, but they try to get the most they can. I was traded earlier in my career, but I feel like I found a good spot. Great teammates, a team that can compete for a Stanley Cup. I love it here. I want to do everything I can to stay here. We want to get to the next level, and it’s going to take everybody.”
If it looked like Hartman was playing on one leg during the playoffs last year, it’s because he was. Hartman, the hero of Game 1 with the double-overtime winner, suffered an MCL injury earlier in the game. He told coach Dean Evason on the bench, “I understand if you don’t want to put me out there, but I’m there if you need me.” Evason took Hartman off the top line so he wasn’t playing as much, but the veteran center came through to end the longest playoff game in franchise history.
“It was just adrenaline — the pain didn’t kick in until later,” said Hartman, who missed Game 2 but returned for Game 3. “I hurt that knee when I was younger in minor-hockey days. Never had it fixed. I did wear a brace on the knee prior, and it was pretty bent and damaged. But if I didn’t have that brace on, it would have been a lot worse. … It was frustrating because I felt like I was playing at 50 percent.
Hartman said he felt the Stars series was the Wild’s best chance to win in the first round since he’s been here. He was one of the most emphatic players about this after the season, saying that everyone says the right things, but “you’ve got to get it done and do it when it matters.”
“Obviously (the first-round losses) is a thing in the media and everyone likes to talk about it,” Hartman said. “I’ve been a sports fan my whole life. I’ve ripped on (a team). I’m a Chicago Cubs fan. There’s a tendency to get mad at that. We’re not proud of losing in the first round. We’re trying to get better. You just have to use your experience.”
Advertisement
If the Wild go anywhere in the playoffs, Hartman will have to be a key reason for it. The franchise’s need for a true No. 1 center is well-documented, but Hartman has been the Wild’s most reliable option up the middle on their top line with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. Why? Walz said Hartman doesn’t get enough credit for how gifted he is with the puck, how he creates.
“That’s what makes that line so scary,” Walz said. “You could tell in the first game or two together that line would be special. Even (Joel) Eriksson Ek, you know who he is defensively and his skills have really improved offensively, but Ryan has got that innate ability in small spaces to make that 4-foot pass to keep the offensive zone time going.”
“Hartsy? He’s a great player,” Kaprizov said. “He’s always played well and knows what we want to do. He always tries to open things up. He has a nice shot, sometimes better than me and Zuccy. We know what Hartsy does and he knows what we want to do.”
Hartman jokes that Kaprizov and Zuccarello are so good together, he tries not to “ruin their chemistry.” But he loves this role, noting he can’t always defer — that’s how he got 34 goals two seasons ago.
“I remember when I was younger with the Blackhawks and with the (Artemi) Panarin-(Patrick) Kane line, Artem Anisimov was the center on that line,” Hartman said. “He always joked, ‘Stand in front and be ready when you get the puck.’ He complemented those guys really well, and I try to do the same with them.”
Assuming Hartman’s extension gets done — “We’re heading that way,” general manager Bill Guerin said this past weekend — he’d be in a position to potentially grow that chemistry long-term. Hartman noted, though, that as a player you have to look out for your own best interests in these negotiations.
But he wants to make it work. “The goal in everyone’s career is to win a Stanley Cup and also, for me personally, I always wanted to be part of a core group and be a leader,” Hartman said.
Advertisement
Hartman lives in the same neighborhood as several Wild teammates, including Filip Gustavsson, Freddy Gaudreau and Marcus Johansson. For a guy who was born in Hilton Head, S.C., and raised in Chicago, Minnesota fits his personality and lifestyle. He loves that it’s a big sports town. He’s a gifted golfer — as those on the team’s Duluth trip this week can attest — right up there with Matt Boldy. He’s also an avid outdoorsman who loves fishing and hunting. His father, Craig, said Ryan still drives the 2011 Ford F-150 he got him in high school, the truck now up around 150,000 miles.
“He’s just an old spirit,” Dad said.
Hartman’s first job was as first mate on a fishing boat, and he spent most of his summers in Hilton Head on the water — or the golf course. He was maybe 10, 11 years old when he and a friend found a perfect side hustle. They’d go to the 14th hole of a local golf course and go fishing for golf balls. They’d tie a big rope to what was basically a bike basket and toss it across the pond, dragging the bottom to collect the lost balls. They’d snag as many as 500 balls, bring them home, bleach them and sell to local convenience or drug stores for 10 cents a ball.
“You’d feel rich,” Hartman said.
Hartman had friends from all parts of his life at the wedding. There were buddies he played soccer with when he was 5, 6 years old; a couple of teammates from when he played Michigan youth hockey; a former roommate from when he was with the Blackhawks; family from Alabama (his mother’s side) and California (father’s side). There was also Matt Dumba, one of his closest friends and now former teammates. Dumba literally tackled Hartman before the reception, making for a playful photo pose, then hosted an afterparty at his lakehouse until around 6 a.m.
“Just telling crazy stories — of hockey and love,” Craig Hartman said. “They’re a special group.”
Hartman met Lauren in high school while he was playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program. Lauren’s friend was dating Hartman’s teammate, so she came along for the ride. They hit it off right away, and their relationship went through all Hartman’s pro stops until his unique proposal last summer.
Advertisement
Their wedding ceremony was short and sweet, about 10 minutes, leaving time for a lengthy cocktail hour and then a reception. Lauren and her father danced to “Sweet Child of Mine” before the reception really got rocking. “It was like a rock concert,” Craig Hartman said. “Some tarps came off.” The highlight, at least to Ryan Hartman, was his brother’s speech. He asked Tanner earlier in the day if he was done yet, and little brother — perhaps joking — said no. The family had no idea what was coming until Tanner — who won a Division III national title with Hobart College — delivered a toast that was equally funny and emotional.
The inside jokes were there, of course, but so was Tanner’s recount of how, when he nearly drowned as a 12-year-old, Ryan made a 60-mile drive in 45 minutes to be there by his side in the hospital. Craig Hartman said Tanner’s mood completely changed once he saw his big brother. “A pretty amazing time to go through hell and back,” Craig said. “Their partnership and relationship runs so deep.
“It was a total roller-coaster speech.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do as good as he did,” Ryan said. “He’s turning 22 soon, so I think we’ve got a long way before (his wedding).
“Maybe I’ll start writing now.”
(Top photos courtesy of Ryan and Lauren Hartman)
