Wild's Gaborik feels better, is set to return to lineup tonight

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - Right when eye contact was made with Marian Gaborik Wednesday, the Wild winger's blue eyes opened wide and he cracked a smile.

Believe it or not, the smirk had little to do with his scheduled return tonight when the Wild faces the Edmonton Oilers. Gaborik was mostly grinning because he knew it was time for daily groin chalk talk with reporters.

"I'm the best to know if I'm ready to play or not, and now I feel better today," said Gaborik, who has seen the Wild go 1-4 in the five games he's missed out of the last seven.

General Manager Doug Risebrough said it's up to Gaborik to "learn to manage" the injury.

"The day you become a professional athlete is the day you start to become an injured athlete," Risebrough said. "You've got to learn to manage injuries. Ultimately, he's learning that right now."

Managing injuries comes under several different definitions. Risebrough says Gaborik needs to know when he feels comfortable enough to play and when he doesn't, when it's OK to skate full-throttle on a shift, and when it's smarter to maybe idle a bit more.

Take, for instance, the Oct. 25 game at Edmonton, a 5-4 shootout loss, one in which Gaborik nearly scored the winner in overtime only to clank the post.

"He played the game and it was suggested, 'Maybe you shouldn't play this game the way your legs feel,' " Risebrough said. "And he wanted to play the game, but there's no doubt that game had implications."

Then there was the Nov. 3 game against Calgary, one in which Gaborik didn't feel 100 percent but still scored two goals and an assist in a victory.

"Being less than 100 percent doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to make a contribution," Risebrough said. "It gets back to how does he feel. I only want him out there when he's ready and comfortable to be out there. I'm not in his body. I have a lot of confidence Marian physically knows he can fight through pain. His motivation is honest. It's confidence that he's got to find.

"You've got to get some confidence that you can do all these things, that you're not going to make it worse."

With the Wild set to play Vancouver on Friday as well, coach Jacques Lemaire was asked if Gaborik would play back-to-back games or if he'd monitor his ice time tonight.

"Let's get through one game," Lemaire said.

With Gaborik, that's always a start.

It's beyond the point where Gaborik's long-term future has to be called into question. After missing 34 games last season, Gaborik returned to have a tremendous second half (26 goals and 50 points in 41 games).

This past offseason, he changed his offseason regimen to make sure his lower body was as strong as possible for the season grind. He arrives at the rink early, stays late, has had so many deep-tissue massages, it's amazing trainer Mike Vogt's fingers haven't cracked.

Yet, despite all the work to make sure his groin problems were a thing of the past, the chronic injury has returned. Asked if he's worried this will be a career-long problem, Gaborik said, "Hopefully it's going to go away. I try not to get frustrated, try to be positive."

Gaborik has talked a lot about only wanting to play when he's close to 100 percent.

"It wasn't like that for a while," said Gaborik, who admitted last year's 34-game absence is in the back of his mind.

He said he feels if he's not comfortable with his legs, "I think I'd be out for a long time. It's hard to say when you're 100 percent, know what I mean? My history of leg injuries, it hard to be 100 percent for a long period of time. I'm trying to manage and learn."

Gaborik said that unless he can skate at full strength shift after shift, "I don't think it's worth [it] to play. I want to go out there and feel good ... and help the team."

Frankly, Risebrough admitted: "There's no perfect solutions, that's the problem. But you've got to work with it. Then maybe all of a sudden it becomes perfect just like it did last year."

Michael Russo • mrusso@startribune.com