Hunter Haight’s hard-charging ways earning notice by Wild

With the Wild skating 4-on-4 in a morning practice at TRIA Rink, the puck was dumped into the corner to the right of the goalie. Immediately, defenders Jared Spurgeon and Zeev Buium converged, prepared to clear the zone. But they didn’t get the chance.

Hunter Haight crashed the party, wedging himself, at high speed, between the defensemen and refusing to quit the board battle before he’d not only won the puck, but flipped it to the hashmarks for a shot on goal by practice linemate Vladimir Tarasenko.

While some would call that a defensive failing, the play brought a smile to the face of at least one grizzled NHL veteran.

“It’s tough to do it against those guys, so it’s kind of nice when you see your veteran partner get beat by a young kid once in a while, as long as it’s not you,” Wild