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Four months after having reconstructive surgery on his left shoulder, left wing Andrew Brunette is still aching and will miss his third consecutive game tonight when the Wild conclude their exhibition schedule at Montreal.
Brunette, held out of the lineup mostly as a precaution, is expected to play
in the regular-season opener Oct. 8 in Chicago. That would be 13 days off between
games for Brunette, who appreciates the rest but is eager to get up to speed.
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"I'm not as sharp as I'd like to be, but I don't think it's going to take too much. The biggest thing for me is that my shoulder is healthy and it doesn't hurt to make plays," he said. Ticketmaster
With 18 goals last season, Brunette is the leading scorer in camp, with wingers
Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis holding out. Brunette has been held to one
assist in three exhibition games.
A week after the playoffs, Brunette had surgery to stabilize damaged cartilage
that had bothered him since he signed with Minnesota two years ago. His recovery
was expected to stretch into training camp, and the lingering pain has kept
Brunette from playing back-to-back games. Ticketmaster
"It was supposed to take four months, so I knew there were going to be
a few bumps in the road coming into camp," he said. "But these bumps
aren't making it worse. It's just a little bit of pain."
Coach Jacques Lemaire said he felt more comfortable allowing Brunette to practice
at full speed instead of absorbing extra punishment along the boards in a meaningless
exhibition game. Ticketmaster
"I'd rather not take a chance and wait until the first game," he said.
Rookie protection: Wes Walz will play tonight for the first time this season
after three weeks rehabilitating from arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder
in August. He will center a line with checking mate Antti Laaksonen and 18-year-old
rookie Brent Burns, who will take his first shift under the NHL lights after
signing with the Wild on Wednesday.
With the team's two best defensive forwards on his flank, Burns should not be
exposed too much. Barring a complete meltdown, he should make the team. Lemaire
said he would carefully plug Burns into the lineup during the regular season,
as he did last year with Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who played 50 games as an 18-year-old.
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"We'll find teams that we feel he can have some success against and we'll
play him," Lemaire said.
After waiting more than two weeks to get a deal done, Burns is more than a little
antsy to prove he belongs. About 20 friends and relatives are expected to make
the three-hour drive from his hometown of Barrie, Ontario, to the Bell Centre.
"It feels like a big burden has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can
just concentrate on hockey," Burns said Thursday. "It's going to be
a great time. I'm not going to try to do anything out of the ordinary. I just
want to get back to playing hockey."
Briefly: With several forwards still on the bubble, Lemaire said he would play
Christoph Brandner, Matt Foy, Alexandre Daigle and probably Stephane Veilleux
in the Wild's final dress rehearsal against the Canadiens. Unless Daigle or
winger Bill Muckalt are claimed off waivers today, the Wild must cut four more
players to get their active roster down to 23.