The Wild are slowly getting healthy once again.
With Zach Parise back and winning awards after missing a month of hockey with a broken foot, Jared Spurgeon is the next Wild skater to return from a lower-body injury, set to enter the Minnesota lineup for the first time in 15 games tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
One man with a lower-body injury that is getting closer to a return but still hasn’t returned to game action for the Wild is captain Mikko Koivu, who continues to wait on medical clearance to return from his broken ankle.
Koivu skated and shot pucks on his own today, according to the greatest hockey reporter in the history of hockey, Star Tribune beat-writer Michael Russo. With the Olympics just a few days away and Koivu’s status more in doubt with each passing day, head coach Mike Yeo told Russo that if there is no chance of Koivu re-injuring the ankle, he would “want him to go” to Sochi.
Koivu faces the possibility of serving as Finland’s captain at the Games with his brother Saku missing the Olympics because of a concussion, and should he be medically ready, it sounds like an offer he would love to accept.
One thing we know for sure is that Koivu will miss tonight’s contest against Tampa, as will goalie Josh Harding.
Harding continues to work on treating his Multiple Sclerosis, meaning Darcy Kuemper will once again start for the Wild.
The rookie net-tender has started nine of Minnesota’s last 10 games, clearly surpassing Niklas Backstrom as the No. 2 option in goal for the Wild.
Kuemper is 6-3-2 for Minnesota this year, but has lost three of his last four starts.
Tampa will pose a tough task for the Wild, as they sit second in the Atlantic Division with 69 points, and have won four of their last six.
