Sam Malinski, Brock Nelson Head Home for Games 3 and 4

sam malinski will get Stanley Cup Playoff games at home in Minnesota, with Games 3 and 4 of the Colorado Avalanche-Minnesota Wild series set for Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Brock Nelson will be there too, giving two proud Minnesotans a chance to play in front of family and friends on the biggest stage.

The Avalanche open the series Sunday night at Ball Arena before it shifts north. That means the first chance for Malinski and Nelson to skate in Minnesota comes later in the series, when the matchup moves to St. Paul for the middle games.

Malinski’s home-ice comfort

For Malinski, the setting is less about nerves than routine. The Colorado defenseman said, "It’s going to be really fun," and added, "Just kind of like any other game against Minnesota, I’ve sort of grown out of those nerves about playing at home."

He grew up in Lakeville South, where he played Class AA high school hockey. That team finished third in the state tournament in 2017 and lost a consolation game in overtime to Eden Prairie, a reminder that St. Paul has already been part of his hockey path before this playoff series.

Grand Casino Arena is also part of the same hockey map for Nelson. The forward said the playoffs will feel "a little bit different" in St. Paul, but he is treating it as "business as usual and a work trip."

Nelson’s St. Paul return

Nelson’s connection to Minnesota hockey runs through Warroad High School, a small program in a town of fewer than 2,000 people and about a six-hour drive from the Twin Cities. He played in the Minnesota state high school tournament twice, finishing third as a junior and second as a senior.

He also took a longer route through the college game, spending two years at North Dakota. During that stretch, he won the old WCHA conference tournament in 2011 and 2012 after beating the University of Denver both times, and he played in a Frozen Four semifinal loss to Michigan in 2010 and a regional final loss to Minnesota in 2011.

A family trip on pause

The pull of home is real, but Nelson said playoff priorities come first. He called the state-tournament atmosphere at The X "the coolest thing as a high school," while noting, "It wasn’t a sellout for the smaller schools like it was for the (Class) AA schools, but it was still a great rink for that."

Now, he is setting aside the usual chance to catch up with people back home. "It’s a little bit different than in season, when you’re trying to think about seeing some family and friends you haven’t seen in a while," he said. "Now is not the time for that. We’ll put that on pause and see them in the summer."

That leaves the series with a clear local edge in St. Paul. Malinski and Nelson will spend Games 3 and 4 in front of the people who watched them come up through Minnesota hockey, even as the Avalanche and Wild continue the playoff race on opposite sides of the rink.