{"id":585165,"date":"2026-04-15T06:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T06:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/585165\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T06:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T06:12:08","slug":"why-was-wilds-jesper-wallstedt-wearing-a-jersey-with-his-name-misspelled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/585165\/","title":{"rendered":"Why was Wild\u2019s Jesper Wallstedt wearing a jersey with his name misspelled?"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Was it a practical joke from retired, longtime prankster Marc-Andre Fleury or prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Filip Gustavsson? Or was it an honest mistake?<\/p>\n

Several of the nine Minnesota Wild regulars scratched from Tuesday night\u2019s regular-season finale against the Anaheim Ducks, such as Brock Faber and Ryan Hartman, were convinced it was the latter as much as they wanted to believe it was the former.<\/p>\n

Jesper Wallstedt is convinced it was \u201c100 percent\u201d a practical joke and alluded that it had to be his goalie partner, Gustavsson, who has taken up Fleury\u2019s old role as the team prankster.<\/p>\n

During warmups and the first period Tuesday night, the nameplate on the back of Wallstedt\u2019s green home Wild jersey was misspelled \u201cWallstead.\u201d<\/p>\n

@RussoHockey<\/a> have you seen the latest Flower work? pic.twitter.com\/FqiWHjbZo4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Peter Kuhnly (@kuhnly21) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Wallstedt had no idea until he peeked at the JumboTron to analyze how Mason McTavish scored against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought something just looked a little weird on my upper back,\u201d Wallstedt said after making 35 saves in a 3-2 win over the Ducks. \u201cAnd I kind of saw that the \u2018T\u2019 was gone and there was an \u2018A\u2019 there instead that probably shouldn\u2019t be there. So, yeah, I think it was an April Fools\u2019 joke, but a little late, because I think I didn\u2019t end up playing that game.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time Wallstedt returned to the ice for the second period, his nameplate was spelled correctly, \u201cWallstedt.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem is that by then, pictures of the jersey from fans in the crowd had gone viral, as did FanDuel Sports Network North\u2019s video of Wallstedt\u2019s new look and subsequent back-and-forth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we scan the crowd, we might see Marc-Andre Fleury somewhere in a mustache,\u201d said Wild color analyst Ryan Carter, the former Ducks Stanley Cup champion.<\/p>\n

At least Wallstead almost sounds the same as Wallstedt \ud83d\ude05<\/p>\n

Close enough\u2026 right? \ud83d\udc80<\/p>\n

(\ud83c\udfa5: Fanduel SN) pic.twitter.com\/gjvlzeBAGy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BarDown (@BarDown) April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Fleury, for the record, wouldn\u2019t fess up to the misspelled nameplate of his Wild backup heir apparent during a text exchange with The Athletic. In fact, Fleury, who still fills in often as the Wild\u2019s practice emergency backup, wasn\u2019t even at the game. He was in Las Vegas for an alumni golf event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly who it is, but obviously I have a feeling of who it could be,\u201d Wallstedt said. \u201cI heard something about it a couple of games ago that my name was misspelled. Didn\u2019t really pick up on it. \u2026 So, yeah, it was fun. All good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he thought it was Gustavsson, Fleury or both, Wallstedt said, \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t think that Flower could be involved. That\u2019s true, too. Then I definitely think it\u2019s a team job. Well done for them. Yeah, I\u2019d rather take it that way than having my car on cinder blocks or something (like Fleury did once to Brandon Duhaime). So I\u2019d rather have my name a little misspelled.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Wallstedt\u2019s convinced it was a mistake, the trainers at least originally thought it was an innocent mistake. NHL teams preorder jerseys. They come with the nameplates sewn on. The equipment staff double-checks to make sure everything is correct and accurate and just missed this one.<\/p>\n

During the first period, behind the scenes, the Wild\u2019s equipment staff actually requested the in-arena warehouse that makes custom orders for fans to print out a correctly spelled \u201cWallstedt\u201d nameplate. They quickly ran the nameplate down to the locker room for the staff to sew on another No. 30 sweater.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know it was going on until after the game (the game),\u201d coach John Hynes said. \u201cBut it\u2019s funny because I did see them re-steaming a nametag on the jersey (during the first intermission), but I didn\u2019t think anything of it until they started telling me afterwards. Has anyone gotten to the bottom of it?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all news to me until about 10 minutes ago. It\u2019s one of those things where you\u2019re like now I\u2019m connecting the dots and I\u2019m like it was odd.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ironic thing about Tuesday night? It was Fan Appreciation Night, so select season-ticket holders got an actual \u201cJersey off Our Back.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no word whether the lucky fan who selected Wallstedt got the \u201cWallstedt\u201d jersey or the now-collector\u2019s item \u201cWallstead\u201d one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they threw that nameplate away. I have no idea where it went,\u201d Wallstedt said. \u201cI told (assistant equipment manager) Cliffy (Halstead) that I don\u2019t want to see that name again. It was changed until the second period. Then I didn\u2019t give up any goals in the second. I told him, \u2018I like this jersey better.\u2019 But, yeah, I don\u2019t know where that went.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that \u201cCliffy\u2019s\u201d last name has a \u201cstead\u201d in there, by the way, may be a clue as to how and why the practical jokers got the idea to turn \u201cstedt\u201d into \u201cstead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or, it could be one giant coincidence and one very funny mistake.<\/p>\n