Amateur cook with championship pedigree: Get to know Wild’s Bonino

The Minnesota Wild added a veteran center Wednesday when they swung a trade with Nashville which netted them, in part, Nick Bonino.

A two-time Stanley Cup champion with Pittsburgh, Bonino has carved out a role for himself, especially the past four seasons with the Penguins and Predators.

Bonino can put the puck in the net on occasion – the past four seasons he’s had 18, 12, 17 and 18 goals (the latter in 67 games). His career high is 22 goals and 49 points with Anaheim in 2013-14.

He’s also strong defensively. Bonino has received votes for the Selke Award, given to the top defensive forward, in three of the last four years. This past season, he had 11 takeaways on the penalty kill, which tied him for 11th-most in the NHL. Over the past three seasons he has 28 takeaways when short-handed, which is tied for 16th in that span.

“He’s always a very reliable two-way player,” Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis said in December 2019. “But this year, you see a lot of his goals, he’s going to the dirty areas, going to the net. Obviously, some good deflections and some good chances at rebounds. He’s a guy that doesn’t get enough credit but plays the right way every night, whether it’s a (defensive) zone draw or a net-front presence, Nick’s your guy.”

Bonino will also be a welcome addition on faceoffs; he’s won 52.8% over the last three seasons, including 52.6% on 928 faceoffs in 2019-20. The Wild had only one player – Mikko Koivu (53.1%) – who won faceoffs than lost last season (min. 200 faceoffs).

But there’s more to Bonino than just some NHL stats. Here’s a look at some interesting facts of the Hartford, Conn., native:

— Playing for Boston University in 2009, Bonino assisted on a goal in the NCAA championship game against Miami with under a minute to go then scored the tying goal with 15.4 seconds remaining. The Terriers ended up winning the title in overtime.

— Bonino just hasn’t won the Stanley Cup and NCAA championship, but also the 2005 Connecticut state high school championship and 2007 New England prep school championship. “My most memorable hockey moment growing up, and during my career, has been winning championships along the way,” Bonino has said.

— Bonino isn’t the only hockey player in the family. His wife, the former Lauren Cherewyk, played on the women’s team at BU. “She was an amazing skater,” Bonino said. “She was so good and so fast. Even when we do the family skates here in Nashville, she can just fly. I was always jealous of that.” They have two daughters, Maisie and Isobel.

— Nick met Lauren on the first day of classes at Boston U. Lauren hadn’t gone to the school’s freshman orientation and didn’t know where to go. Introduced to Nick by her roommate, the two ended up walking to class together.

— During Pittsburgh’s first Stanley Cup run in 2015-16, when Bonino had 14 assists and 18 points, he nearly missed time in the final due to a 101 fever and elbow injury. But an IV (for the fever) and antibiotics (for the elbow) got him on the ice. He ended up playing all six games.

— Bonino wasn’t as fortunate the next year. In Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against Nashville, Bonino broke his tibia after blocking a shot in the first period of Game 2 – and still played the entire game. “I broke my tibia straight through,” he said after the series concluded. “We shot it up right when it happened and I was able to finish on it with some adrenaline. I just couldn’t do it (after Game 2).”

— After winning the Cup the first time, Bonino brought it to his prep school where people lined up to take a picture with the player and trophy. Then he brought it home – and ate pasta out of it at a local restaurant with his grandparents. “Nick would say, ‘If we ever win the Stanley Cup, we’re eating pasta out of it,” his mother said. Bonino has remarked: “I think that’s the one memory I will cherish the most. My Nana and Poppa kissing the Cup and eating pasta out of it is something I will never forget.”

— By the way, Bonino cooked that pasta himself – his grandmother’s “secret tuna fish pasta” (tuna fish with angel hair pasta).

— Chef Bonino was on the debut of the show “Skates & Plates,” which pairs an NHL player with a celebrity chef. In his episode, Bonino was given the ins and outs of making Steak Diane with pommes frites by Los Angeles-based French chef Ludo Lefebvre.

— Nothing to do with cooking, but Bonino’s nickname is “Bones.” Perhaps appropriate to that sobriquet, he wears No. 13. Bonino will be the first Wild player to don that number.

— We, of course, saved the best for last. In 2017, Bonino made an incredible declaration on Twitter which sparked numerous replies (too many for us to count), over 700 retweets and quote tweets and 1,700 likes. It’s really made us rethink our actions in our life.

Apparently guys on team button dress shirts top to bottom…that is bananas! Never seen before. Only normal way is bottom to top, thoughts?

— Nick Bonino (@NickBonino) April 3, 2017