Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin held his end of season press conference on Monday and most of the discussion was centered around the team’s quest for a Stanley Cup. But at the beginning of the presser, Guerin took some time to honor former Wild beat writer and podcaster Jessi Pierce.
Pierce, who died with her three children, Hudson, Cayden and Avery, in a house fire on March 21, was in her 10th season covering the Wild for NHL.com and co-hosted the Bardown Beauties podcast. But she also was part of the emotional fabric of this year’s team and her absence is still being felt by many who worked with her and consumed her content including Guerin.
“We also don’t want to forget our good friend Jessi Pierce, who would, without a doubt, be sitting in the front row with a big smile on her face. And we missed Jessi coming down the stretch here,” Guerin said via Wild freelance reporter Heather Rule. “Miss her every single day. And we understand that it was an extremely difficult time for everybody in this room. We want to make sure that you guys know that we have not forgotten.”
Jessi Pierce’s spirit lived on during the Wild’s playoff run
The Wild advanced out of the first round for the first time since 2015 during this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and while Pierce wasn’t there physically, she was definitely there in spirit. Her spot in the press box at Grand Casino Arena was reserved for the rest of the season and opposing teams followed suit, saving a spot for each of the Wild’s road games over the final two months.
Pierce’s life and career was also beginning to take off. The Bardown Beauties podcast, had been picked up by Minnesota-based sports media brand SKOR North at the beginning of the season and she had also dabbled in its Minnesota Vikings coverage as part of the brand’s Before I Die podcast.
But Pierce’s coverage wasn’t the thing that made her stand out. It was her glowing personality.
The Wild reserved a spot for Pierce in the press box but it became a makeshift memorial by the end of the playoff run. Along with a photo of her and her three children, her colleagues brought a blanket because she would always get cold during games and even left a Taco Bell seasoning packet in honor of her epic postgame runs she would proudly post on social media.
Pierce was also a presence in the locker room. In addition to interviewing players with a child strapped to her chest at times, she brought out a humorous side in players and executives. This included Guerin, who quipped “He f*****’ better be” when Pierce asked Kirill Kaprizov if he was excited about his new eight-year, $136 million contract last September.
SKOR North colleague Judd Zulgad also noted that Pierce “would have had a smile on her face and a notebook full of questions” at Monday’s press conference. Fans also would have loved to have heard her takes on the Wild finally getting out of the first round or John Hynes’s decision to bench Jesper Wallstedt for Filip Gustavsson in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
But the biggest void has been how she helped others. This includes myself, who only met Pierce in person once, but had an impactful conversation with her in 2022. Faced with the decision of moving to Brookings, S.D. for a newspaper job, Pierce told me that she was “a fan of risk” and to “go with your gut.”
Three years in South Dakota later, I moved back to Minnesota last fall and eventually got a full-time job writing at Puck Gone Wild along with the other Minnesota sports sites at FanSided.
I’ve thought a lot about how cool it would be to tell Jessi that I was writing for this site. But my story is just one of many in the way Pierce made an impact on others.
Rule contributed to NHL.com and stories to the Wild's gameday programs during the Wild's playoff run, continuing the work that was part of Pierce's role.
Pierce’s Bardown Beauties co-host, Kirsten Krull, has been an in-arena host for the Wild and the PWHL’s Minnesota Frost for several seasons, but began conducting postgame interviews on Wild telecasts during the season and worked as a rinkside reporter for Frost telecasts at the end of this past season.
There are countless others who have a story about how Pierce took the time to help them and it extended to local charities including DinoMights, a Twin Cities based non-profit organization that connects with urban youth to build long-term mentoring relationships.
Between the way she covered the team, how she helped others and was just a massive presence for many hockey fans, it’s why many people, including Guerin, thought of Pierce as the Wild made their way through the playoffs. It’s also why Pierce will be remembered by fans, friends and colleagues and her spirit will continue to live on with the Wild.
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