Wild's GM not quite ready to unleash Gaborik

Any Wild fans anxious to finally see the return of Marian Gaborik might have gotten jacked up if they attended Wednesday's practice at Parade Ice Garden. Looking like his usual high-flying self, there was Gaborik streaking down the right wing, stopping, turning on the jets and placing a pinpoint shot in the tiniest of spaces just inside the post. Instead of wearing a defenseman's sweater or being the fourth forward on a line, Gaborik had a spot on a regular line alongside Wes Walz and Stephane Veilleux. That must mean he's returning tonight against Tampa Bay, right?

General Manager Doug Risebrough put the kibosh on that: "He is not playing."

How about Saturday against Colorado? "Wait and see," Risebrough said.

Gaborik only was on a regular line because buddy Branko Radivojevic's girlfriend, Jana, was giving birth to the couple's first child. Judging by Gaborik's tone though, he wasn't too pleased when reporters told him he wasn't playing tonight.

"It's their call," said Gaborik, who has missed 33 games since Oct. 20 because of a groin injury. "I have nothing to say about that."

Gaborik's father, Pavol, in town for the holidays, watched Wednesday's practice from the stands. He's returning to Slovakia on Sunday, and Gaborik said, "I hope he can see me play. I don't know. Out of my hands."

It's clear the decision rests with Risebrough.

"I'm not as concerned about his injury right now as I am about his conditioning and timing, which can lead to vulnerability," Risebrough said. "He could play, but I don't want him just to play. I'm hearing he's got a way to go. He's tired after drills.

"Let's face it. Up until a couple days ago, he hasn't been in any game situations."

Gaborik's response?

"How do you know if you're in game shape if you don't play?" Gaborik said.

Added left winger Pavol Demitra: "You can't get in game shape in practice. Everything's different in a game."

Coach Jacques Lemaire said there's not as much pressure to rush Gaborik back because the Wild is riding an eight-game home winning streak.

"If the team wouldn't be as good, then you could bring him in and use games as practices," Lemaire said.

Asked if there would be more pressure to make certain Gaborik is back by the four-game road trip that begins Tuesday in Calgary (the Wild is winless in 10 consecutive road games), Lemaire said, "Maybe."

Either way, Gaborik's close and Lemaire's contemplating what line to begin Gaborik on. He doesn't want to break up the Brian Rolston-Todd White-Pierre-Marc Bouchard staple.

All the preseason hype was the union of Gaborik and Demitra, but with eight goals in the past 12 games, Mark Parrish has made quite the case to remain with Mikko Koivu and Demitra.

"I'm not concerned about Gabby coming back," Parrish said. "We just want him back. You get a player like that back in the lineup, it's a good problem to have."

Gaborik could start on the right wing with Walz, whom Gaborik has played with often in the past, because Lemaire is delighted with Parrish-Koivu-Demitra.

"Mikko and Pavol are just controlling the game and giving me that extra second to get open to find that seam and find that little hole for a shot, and they're putting it right there," Parrish said. "I could have had a dozen goals in the last three games as many times as Pav and Mikko have been setting me up.

"I almost feel guilty for not scoring more for them."

Demitra concurred, saying, "The last five games, our line could have had 20 goals. ... Our line is dominating, but we're working so hard for every single goal."

Lemaire is thrilled with Demitra's improvement. In Tuesday's blowout of Atlanta, he bowled over defenseman Niclas Havelid to trigger a 2-on-1 and set up Parrish's second goal.

"He's playing much better," Lemaire said. "He's good now. He's working. He's working. That's the thing. He's working harder. It seems like he was exactly like Mark at a time.

"You see Mark now, there's a lot of things he does on the ice because of his work. He doesn't stop. To me, when I look at him, it's day and night from the start."

Michael Russo • mrusso@startribune.com