Jessi Pierce being gone still doesn’t seem real and it probably won’t for quite some time. I learned of the death of Jessi and her three beautiful children before the Wild played Dallas on Saturday afternoon at Grand Casino Arena. For the next two-plus hours, I sat in my press box seat having no clue what to do or if I was even in the right place.
Jessi sat about a dozen seats down from me in the press box, and I kept looking toward her usual spot expecting to see her either chatting with someone or typing away. Jessi got me and my weird sense of humor, and would laugh when I made some random and often cynical observation about what the Wild was doing that night.
But here’s the thing: Jessi got everybody. From the curmudgeon, to the Pollyanna types, to the young journalists who were looking to break into the business and hoping to spend a day shadowing a true professional.
Jessi Pierce welcomed them all in a seamless fashion that is no different than watching Quinn Hughes spin away from a defender. Sports pundits love to use the term “it factor” to describe a player who has intangibles that are hard to describe but easy to see.
Jessi had an “it factor.”
It’s at this point she would roll her eyes at me, or fellow podcast host AJ Fredrickson, in that disapproving but motherly way that she had and tell us to cut the crap. What she wouldn’t have realized is that was her “it factor.” It’s incredibly hard to be as kind as Jessi was, and, at the same time, suffer no fools. Yet, that’s exactly what she did.
For that, she has had my utmost respect. Her desire to get better was constant. She co-hosted a Vikings podcast on SKOR North because she wanted more experience talking about different sports.
Earning respect in sports media is a tricky thing. It’s not a club in which everyone is given entry — in part because it’s made up of a lot of people who are paid to be noisy and trying to uncover information teams don’t want released. It’s hard not to become cynical. As far as the podcast end of things, well, there you are paid to give an opinion that often can rub people the wrong way. That includes the team you are covering.
There is internal competition as well, so you often develop friendships with the same people you are trying to keep at a distance.
Whether it was covering the Wild for the NHL’s website, or for her “Bardown Beauties” podcast with Kirsten Krull, or joining “Judd’s Hockey Show,” Jessi never seemed to struggle with her place in the media landscape. In fact, she was becoming more and more comfortable.
Driving home from the Blackhawks-Wild game on Thursday night, I was listening to John Hynes’ postgame press conference. I meant to give her a tough time on Friday because of how many questions she asked the Wild coach, but it really was admiration for her hockey knowledge and willingness to take charge.
As part of her postgame duties, she would often work the visiting team’s locker room. Given how limited travel is these days for publications, this could leave her in a group of one or two people asking questions. Jessi’s disarming manner could get answers out of anyone — from Nathan MacKinnon to Sidney Crosby.
Jessi loved the locker room. Not only did I never see her intimidated, but she found humor where others might have been offended. Having to talk to Wild players and coaches all of the time might have caused some to pull their punches when going on a podcast or doing a radio hit.
Not Jessi.
Last season, before it was even being brought up on a regular basis, Jessi suggested on both her podcasts that Marco Rossi should be shopped by the Wild. The pushback was immediate — as a woman in sports, she definitely got pushback from male listeners — but Jessi didn’t care. She’d laugh it off and then often be proven right —as she was when Rossi was traded to Vancouver in December in the Hughes deal.
I began to joke with Jessi and AJ that “Jessi was always right.” She would simply smile and say, “You know it.” Jessi always had a theory that certain players listened to her podcasts. One of them was Wild winger Marcus Foligno. Jessi started talking about the potential of trading Foligno a few years ago and was pretty certain he knew about this.
But Foligno never said anything, and Jessi wasn’t about to stop asking him questions, even if he was aware of it. The same could be said when it came to Hynes, Guerin or anyone else. And you know what? They would always answer her questions.
But Jessi’s story doesn’t end with her hockey work, which included many things I haven’t mentioned because she didn’t turn down many opportunities and she was talented enough to handle them all.
Jessi also was a mom and a damn good one. She loved to talk about her kids — Hudson, Cayden and Avery — and occasionally they would make unannounced appearances on her podcast. We would often start “Judd’s Hockey Show” at 8 a.m. on Wednesdays because she had to get the kids to school, and when we ran long, they would get antsy.
At first I wasn’t sure what to do about this, but eventually I’d just acknowledge it and she would mute her mike for a second to address them. On Friday, however, they barged into the room and showed up on camera. Introductions were made, smiles exchanged and Jessi soon left to drop off the kids. I think I said something about seeing her the next day at the rink.
As I sat there Saturday — trying to deal with the fact Jessi and her kids had perished in a house fire — I couldn’t process the fact my friend was gone at the age of 37. I couldn’t process that three great children also were gone, or that Jessi’s husband, Mike, has been left to face this unfathomable situation.
It still doesn’t seem real and it certainly doesn’t seem fair. There are no words to describe this tragedy and yet there are countless words to describe Jessi. She was special in so many ways.
