The Wild’s situation at goalie has become a little more concerning. An injury to Darcy Kuemper has forced the Wild to sign Rob Laurie to a professional contract.
According to the Star Tribune, Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher said Kuemper sustained an upper-body injury at the morning skate. Fletcher said Kuemper will “hopefully [miss] just a few days, but it’s hard to know for sure.”
Laurie, 43, played four seasons at Western Michigan University (1988-92) and 10 seasons in the minor leagues for several different teams.
He served as an emergency goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks earlier this season and for the Anaheim Ducks on April 5, 2013. He will wear No. 33 for the Wild tonight.
Rob Laurie on being #mnwild emergency goalie:"Until I walked into the building w my gear, I didn’t believe it was really happening again"
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 1, 2014
Ilya Bryzgalov is scheduled to start tonight for the Wild, he will be backed up by Laurie. According to Russo, if Kuemper’s injury is much longer than expected the Wild would likely recall John Curry for Thursday’s game in Chicago.
Russo says If Laurie doesn’t get on the ice tonight he will get paid $500 and is “permitted to retain” his game-worn jersey.
