Caution is requested as players make exits

The turned-off lights made Xcel Energy Center eerily dark Saturday morning. The ice was empty, the boards had no advertisements, the arena was silent.

By Michael Russo, Star Tribune

Last update: April 21, 2007 - 8:20 PM

The turned-off lights made Xcel Energy Center eerily dark Saturday morning. The ice was empty, the boards had no advertisements, the arena was silent.

The stark reality hit Marian Gaborik like a Brad May punch to the face.

"It's over," the Wild right winger said. "It's hard to believe."

But Gaborik was packing his bag Saturday for Moscow, where he and Pavol Demitra will play for Slovakia in the world championships starting April 28. Finns Mikko Koivu and Petteri Nummelin will partake, too.

General Manager Doug Risebrough could have asked Gaborik to decline because of the forward's groin problems but said: "I told him, he has to be cognizant of, if he's not feeling that comfortable, he has to recognize that before it becomes a problem. I even put Pavol in charge of monitoring that, too. Sometimes I find he listens to Pavol more than he listens to me."

After the tournament, Gaborik will return to Minnesota to sit down with Risebrough to discuss an offseason training program to prevent further groin injuries. Gaborik now wants to spend most of this summer in Trencin, Slovakia, or come back and forth to Minnesota.

"He specifically knows what he has to do more of and where in the offseason," Risebrough said. "He agrees, we can't have this same thing develop again. He's been pained by what's gone on."

Setback for Fernandez

Goalie Manny Fernandez said he had another setback last week with his rehabilitation from a sprained knee.

"It got to where I was supposed to begin practicing with the team and I stepped on a puck. How stupid is that?" Fernandez said. "I think at this point, I need a break. I think the best approach is to stay off of it. My only goal at this point is to get this knee back. There's really no rush to start skating again, so why not just rest it and make sure it's 100 percent? I don't think it will take long to get it all back."

Etc.

• If potential free agent Wes Walz, an original member of the Wild, did play his last game with Minnesota, he has quite the résumé-filler from his final game. Walz, 36, schooled two of the game's best defensemen on one play, first muscling away from Scott Niedermayer, then passing through Chris Pronger en route to Gaborik's shorthanded goal in Game 5 of the playoff series with Anaheim.

"Wes is a great story about the Wild," Risebrough said. "He's been connected right from the start. He's an overachiever. He's played his best hockey here."

• The Wild fired AHL Houston Aeros coach Rob Daum after Houston finished last in the West Division with a 27-43-10 record.

• Losing so quickly to the Ducks had players saying "woulda, coulda, shoulda," Brian Rolston said. "We played a good hockey team, one of the best teams in the NHL, and it wasn't a good [matchup]," Rolston said. "But what if we finished third?"

Michael Russo • mrusso@startribune.com

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