Foy's roster spot uncertain

Matt Foy can do the math, and he understands he could be odd man out with the Wild.

By Michael Russo, Star Tribune

Last update: December 12, 2007 - 2:03 AM

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Matt Foy looks like he's on death row waiting anxiously for a stay of execution.

Unfortunately for the Wild winger, General Manager Doug Risebrough is in charge, not Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Foy can do the math and understands he could be odd man out.

"We have too many players, right?" Foy said. "Have you heard anything? I haven't heard anything either. I guess I'll just wait and see like everybody else."

Coach Jacques Lemaire wants to play Petteri Nummelin on this road trip. He's on injured reserve. If nobody else gets injured, the Wild would have to shed a player in order to activate Nummelin.

If Risebrough doesn't make a trade, the easiest remedy is to put Foy on waivers. Then, either another team would claim him or he'd clear and the Wild could send him to Houston, the team's AHL farm team.

"I don't want to go to Houston. I played four years there already," said Foy, 24. "I just hope I don't go on waivers. I'd rather stay here. But it's a numbers game and a business and I realize that. It'll be interesting. I'm just trying to stay positive. I'm kind of nervous, but there's nothing I can really do about it."

Waiting to exhale

The Wild held on to beat Columbus 2-1 on Saturday, but player after player said, "We sat back too much."

In the last 10 minutes, the Wild barely sent one forechecker into the offensive zone. Usually, the Wild dumped the puck and sat with five players back. The results were almost disastrous as the Blue Jackets nearly tied the score.

Wild players say when they sit back, it's not because of a directive from the coaches to protect the lead.

"It just naturally happens. It really does," defenseman Kurtis Foster said. "I think with losing so bad the night before [to Detroit] and being embarrassed, you want that win so bad, you're thinking, 'Defense, defense, defense. Don't let them score.'

"So all you worry about is getting the puck over the blue line. One player does it, so the next does also. And then the puck ends up in your zone for five minutes. They were all over us. We know if we sit back, that's the worst thing to do. But yet all teams naturally do it sometimes."

Left winger Brian Rolston said Lemaire has harped on this the last couple of days.

"We didn't have the right mindset the last 10 minutes the other night," Rolston said. "We let them take it to us and we made error after error after error. It was great we got the win, but we learned a lesson."

Etc.

• Aaron Voros can't wait to get back to the Twin Cities. The Wild has told the winger he can move out of his hotel and into an apartment.

"It's a good feeling, but I never want to be relieved," Voros said. "I always want to be hungry."

Voros also can't wait to have his "life" shipped up from Houston. When he was promoted last month, Voros came to Minnesota with only a few suits. He left his car in Houston and is still paying rent on an apartment there.

• Keith Carney was supposed to be scratched Tuesday, but he was called prior to game time and was told he'd play. Sean Hill was scratched instead. Carney also was supposed to play in Columbus until he tweaked his groin.

• Branko Radivojevic, scratched Saturday, replaced Derek Boogaard on Tuesday.

• Jonathan Cheechoo (groin) and Jeremy Roenick (knee) missed the game for San Jose.

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