Wild continue to fight through injuries

The Wild has officially been bitten by the injury bug at the absolute worst possible time of the season. With Nick Schultz (appendectomy) and Kurtis Foster (broken femur) already out for the rest of the series with Colorado (Schultz is slated to appear sometime during the second round, assuming the Wild get that far), the Wild are lucky to be tied at one game a piece heading into the games in Denver.

The injury list seems to be growing day by day, although the most recent injuries are not preventing players from sitting...yet. Martin Skoula has been playing on a bum leg for the last couple games, making our defensive corps even weaker, and Branko Radivojevic is said to be nursing a leg injury of his own. Radio's injury, although kept under wraps pretty good, seems to be the most serious. He is actually in jeopardy of sitting for game 3. Wild coach Jacques Lemaire seems adamant that Radio will be sitting on Monday, but General Manager Doug Risebrough is in disagreement stating he is "day-to-day." It wouldn't be beneficial to lose a forward like Radivojevic, but at least the Wild could adjust accordingly. If Radio were to sit, it would open up a spot for Chris Simon, who I think should have been in the first two games anyway (3 Stanley Cup appearances and 1 ring? That experience should be out there). On defense, it's a whole different story. Already being two defensemen down, it is imperative that our defense stays intact from now on.

Since Schultz went down with his appendectomy, many beat writers around hockey have been writing the Wild off (including Minnesota's own Michael Russo) and saying that the series is now Colorado's to win. Obviously being a huge fan of the Wild, I disagree. My prediction of course has something to do with how much I root for Minnesota, but I also approach the series realistically. Losing Schultz is huge, no doubt, but the Wild have enough adversity to get through it. Since he went down, guys like Brent Burns, Kim Johnsson, and Keith Carney have all stepped up and filled their roles just like they should. The Wild have plenty of experience on the blueline, and although guys will have to log more than 30 minutes of ice time, defensemen Petteri Nummelin put it best: "It's the playoffs, you never get tired." If the Wild can get off to a good start in Denver, there chances of advancing are greatly improved, and if they advance and get Schultz back healthy, there's no limit as to just how far they can go.