It's hard to say if there's something Minnesotans detest more than excuses or love more than perseverance in the face of adversity, which probably helps explain general local sporting public's opinions regarding the 2011 Twins and the (so far) 2011 Wild. Injuries clobbered both teams early in the season. We all know the Twins limped to a 17-37 start as Joe Mauer and co. limped to the disabled list. Injuries happen. They're inevitable. What happens afterward, however, is to an extent controllable. You can't turn Drew Butera into Joe Mauer, but a group of professional athletes can collectively rise up and overcome the loss of even seemingly irreplaceable players.
You could argue the Wild hasn't been hit as hard by injuries as the Twins, but we're not so sure. Regardless, you can't argue this: Instead of piling up excuses, the Wild keeps piling up victories. Russo noted the laundry list of everyone out last night when the Wild won its sixth consecutive road game and sixth consecutive game overall. Minnesota used a goalie making his first career start, replaced a top line forward with a callup and were without several other key pieces. As has been the case for most of the season, however, another win was the end result.
Maybe it's not sustainable. Even the Twins, you'll recall, had a 27-12 stretch in the midst of the 2011 awfulness (really, they did! Of course that means they were 36-87 in all other games, but ...). What we do know is this: For now, injuries have not been been offered as an excuse for why something could not happen. And if Minnesotans love perseverance as much as we think they do, they're starting to really love this team.
