Wild forward Charlie Coyle showed some toughness in the playoffs.
It wasn’t because he averaged 18 minutes of ice time through Minnesota’s 13 game playoff run. It’s not because he logged over 21 minutes of ice time in Game 6 and it wasn’t because he scored three goals and had four assists and registered 31 hits, during the playoffs.
It’s because Coyle accomplished all of that, with two separated shoulders.
According to the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo, sources told him Coyle was dealing with the injuries, during the playoffs.
“It was very noticeable to me in Chicago that he was playing hurt in Game 5, and last night, it was very apparent he was having trouble catching passes and stick-handling.”
Not surprised to hear about @CharlieCoyle_3 playing w separated left & right shoulders & stitched lip. He's one tough player. Suter too
— Dawn Mitchell (@DawnAtFOX9) May 14, 2014
The NHL playoffs are never short on stories of players who fight through unbelievable injuries. For example, last year in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals Patrice Bergeron played through a broken rib, torn cartilage and a separated shoulder.
Bergeron though, had one good shoulder. Coyle didn’t in Tuesday night’s game, and still finished with three shots on goal in 21 minutes on the ice.
“The way that our young kids performed, I’m very proud of them,” said Wild head coach Mike Yeo. “You’ve got guys that are getting needles to numb the pain. They’re battling through an incredible amount so what you see out there is only scratching the surface.”
