Wild veteran Eric Staal relieved scary injury…
Wild veteran Eric Staal relieved scary injury wasn't something worse
Minnesota Wild center Eric Staal (12) celebrates his goal against Edmonton in the third period of an NHL game at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019. The Wild would hold on to win, 6-5. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
By Dane Mizutani | dmizutani@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: December 13, 2019 at 12:32 pm | UPDATED: December 13, 2019 at 12:34 pm
Wild veteran forward Eric Staal knew just how scary the play looked to anyone watching.
He collided into linesman David Brisebois at full speed during Tuesday night's game against the Anaheim Ducks, writhed in pain as soon as he hit the deck, then laid motionless on the ice for what seemed like an eternity.
Eric Staal collided with a linesman and was down for a while pic.twitter.com/cfjkP6ECRQ
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 11, 2019
While the 35-year-old Staal has had his fair share of stingers throughout his career, when a hit causes numbness to shoot down different limbs, he had never experienced something quite like this.
"It's kind of a scary feeling and (this one) didn't really subside until a lot later than it had in the past," Staal said. "Just some symptoms I was feeling I was unable to come back."
It looked grim as Staal staggered to his feet, and while he wasn't feeling 100 percent as he headed to the locker room, he made sure to text his family right away to let them know he was OK.
"There were kind of a lot of things that went wrong in a split second," he said. "I was kind of reaching for a puck and then the (defender) hit me and kind of caught me off balance enough to plow me straight into the (linesman), who was trying to jump out of the way. I'm fortunate it wasn't any worse, and obviously happy to be back with the guys."
When Staal returned to game action less than 48 hours after his Tuesday scare, he stepped up big time when the Wild needed him most, scoring the go-ahead goal in Thursday's 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers,
"As the night kind of wore on, later (on Tuesday), I started to feel a lot better, and then obviously rest (on Wednesday), which helped," Staal said. "We took the right steps, and I was fine to go (on Thursday).
Not that anyone was too surprised to see Staal back on the ice. After all, he has missed fewer than 25 games in his entire 16-year NHL career, and has played in 277 of a possible 278 games with the Wild,
"He's been a big-time player his whole life," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "These are things that I expect."
Wild extra cautious with players who are ill this time of year
Wild lose heartbreaker to Panthers at the buzzer
John Shipley: It's up to Wild GM Bill Guerin to finish the job Paul Fenton started
Wild put South St. Paul native Alex Stalock in net third game in a row
The game also gave Staal a chance to chat briefly with Brisebois, who coincidentally worked the game a couple of days after inadvertently laying a big hit, and he apologized profusely before the game.
"There wasn't much he could do. It happened fast and he tried to jump," Staal said. "I told him he must be working out because it was a heavy hit. Maybe one of the hardest I've taken this season I'm just glad I was able to come back."
As are the Wild.
Dane Mizutani
Dane Mizutani is from Hawaii and somehow ended up covering the Wild in the State of Hockey. No, it doesn't make sense to him, either.
Follow Dane Mizutani	@danemizutani
More in Minnesota Wild
Brad Hunt was conspicuously absent from practice several times last week and hasn't played in a game in more than 10 days. Similarly, Mikko Koivu missed the past couple of games with an illness, though he appears ready to return to the lineup for Wednesday's home game against the Detroit Red Wings. Still, to say there's a bug circulating through...
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Wild to say the least. That said, they had nobody to blame but themselves after falling behind time and time again.
Just when you thought things were lining up for the Wild, they went and fired their general manager. Paul Fenton did his best to start over in Minnesota, trading away a handful of usable, if uninspiring, players for replacements of roughly equal or lesser value. The Wild tanked and missed the playoffs for the first time in six years. Fenton...
In desperate need of a victory last week, the Wild turned to backup goaltender Alex Stalock. It's not the first time the Wild have done that this season. It's also not the first time Stalock has risen to the occasion with an inspiring performance between the pipes. With the Wild in danger of becoming irrelevant in the Western Conference playoff...
Wild winger Ryan Donato looks like odd-man out — and doesn't want to be
At least Ryan Donato had a few hours to prepare for his spot start this time around.
Wild stay hot with blowout win over Stars on Hockey Day Minnesota
Maybe rest really is a weapon the Wild can use down the stretch. After scrapping practice earlier this week and emerging with a gritty 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning the following night, the Wild cancelled morning skate leading up to Saturday's matchup with the Dallas Stars and walked away with a blowout 7-0 win. With the time away...