Eriksson Ek, – Minnesota Wild captain Ryan Suter? (No) — actually defenders Matt Dumba? (No). In reality, Nicklas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek reflect on painful injuries that sidelined them as Minnesota lost to Colorado in five games.
When the Minnesota Wild were chasing a run against the Colorado Avalanche, two of their most important players were stuck on the sideline instead. The team was eliminated in five games, and for Nicklas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek, watching from the outside came with its own kind of hurt.
Eriksson Ek, the Wild’s No. 1 centre, spoke Friday with the emotion of someone who wanted to be involved but couldn’t. “Lot of emotions, watching,” he said. “I mean, everyone says, it’s a lot worse to sit on the side and watch than playing the games. Yeah, it was hard.”
The centre missed the rest of the first round after suffering a broken bone in his heel. He said the injury happened after falling and sliding into the boards during Game 6 against the Dallas Stars. Eriksson Ek didn’t play another game and added that his recovery will take “a few more weeks.”
“You want to play,” Eriksson Ek said. “Just I couldn’t do it. It was too painful to skate.”
Brodin’s postseason ended even sooner in the sequence that followed, with his own lower-body problem turning into surgery.. He suffered a broken bone in his foot while blocking a shot in Game 5 against the Stars.. Brodin had surgery, and the setback carried even more frustration because it capped a difficult year beyond the playoffs.
“It’s awful to not play in the playoffs. Best time of the year. Not be out there, try to help the team win,” Brodin said Friday. “So it’s really frustrating year for me with that stuff. Yeah, not a good ending.”
That “stuff” included missing the Olympics for Sweden with a lower-body injury. Brodin said he was aiming to return during the Western Conference Final, but the Wild’s second-round exit left him and Eriksson Ek reflecting on a season that ended with too much time away from the ice.
Minnesota Wild Colorado Avalanche Joel Eriksson Ek Nicklas Brodin playoffs injuries Dallas Stars surgery Western Conference Final