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Home | Sports | Minnesota Wild

Nummelin ready to fill blue-line void

By KENT YOUNGBLOOD, Star Tribune

Last update: April 8, 2008 - 11:49 PM

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WILD NOTES

WILD VS. AVALANCHE

First-round, best-of-seven series; *-if necessary

Game 1: 8 p.m. today • Xcel Energy Center • Ch. 45, 830-AM

Game 2: 8 p.m. Friday • Xcel Energy Center • FSN, 830-AM

Game 3: 9 p.m. Monday • Pepsi Center, Denver • Ch. 45, 830-AM

Game 4: 9 p.m. Tuesday • Pepsi Center, Denver • FSN, 830-AM

*Game 5: 8 p.m. April 17 • Xcel Energy Center • Ch. 45, 830-AM

*Game 6: TBA, April 19 • Pepsi Center, Denver • FSN, 830-AM

*Game 7: TBA, April 22 • Xcel Energy Center • Ch. 45, 830-AM

MORE ON THE SERIES

Scouting the Wild

Scouting the Avs

Who to watch on the Wild

Who to watch on the Avs

The Wild-Avalanche season series

First-round series-by-series glance

More from Minnesota Wild

In one day, Petteri Nummelin has gone from usually inactive to mostly indispensable.

On Tuesday the Wild still was digesting the news that defenseman Nick Schultz, who had an appendectomy Monday, would be lost for at least the team's first-round playoff series against Colorado.

"He's a great player -- big in the room, big on the bench, big on the ice," defenseman Brent Burns said. "It's a huge loss; we can add him to the long list of things to play for so he's got a chance to come back and play."

Suddenly Nummelin, who had played in only two games since the start of March, is essential. Nummelin was limited to 27 games this season, both by injuries and by Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, who had settled on a defensive rotation that didn't include the 35-year-old Finn.

"Nummi's ready to play, so he's going to play," Lemaire said. "He's a skilled player. He'll be on the power play, for sure -- that should help the power play. "

Before hearing about Schultz's surgery, Lemaire said he was planning to play Nummelin in the first round because of his speed and playmaking. However, Lemaire figured Nummelin would be taking minutes from Sean Hill. Instead, Hill and Nummelin both will be in, creating more matchup challenges against the Avalanche's top two lines.

Then there is the question of a close Wild team coping with the loss of one of its leaders.

"He's a really big part of this team," defenseman Kim Johnsson said of Schultz "That's a big loss for us. I've been playing with him a lot this year, and I think he's been playing great for us. But we have to step up. We have the guys to do it, and we still feel confident."

Nummelin, meanwhile, is excited about his opportunity.

"I feel like a young guy getting back," he said. "Hockey starts to feel fun again."

A surprise visit

For the first time since breaking his left femur in a violent crash into the boards in San Jose on March 19, Kurtis Foster appeared at Xcel Energy Center.

Foster, still tired, in pain and on crutches, wanted to surprise his teammates at practice Tuesday.

His teammates were thrilled. Foster? It was therapy for him, too. "It's the first time I've been out of the house since the injury," he said. "It's nice to see the guys. But, soon enough, I get tired and I have to go home."

Foster all but ruled out attending tonight's game but hopes to be there Friday. The team is figuring out the best way for him to do so comfortably, with his leg raised. "Honestly, if they had a recliner, that would be perfect," he joked.

TV update

A year ago many Wild fans outside the metropolitan area were upset they could not see the team's first-round playoff games that aired on KSTC (Ch. 45).

The team has taken steps to solve that situation by reaching agreements with either individual stations or a cable company.

The team's postseason games on KSTC will be shown on the following stations: My 9 in Duluth and Superior, Wis.; Ch. 26 in Sioux Falls and Rapid City, S.D.; Ch. 27 in Grand Forks, N.D. (Great Plains Media Network); and Ch. 9 in Fargo, N.D. (Great Plains Media Network).

Charter Cable will air the KSTC games in Austin, Rochester, Albert Lea and Mankato on Mainstreet Ch. 14. Wild officials were working Tuesday to get coverage in Winona and Houston counties in Southeast Minnesota.

KSTC is scheduled to show tonight's opening game, as well as Games 3, 5 and 7. FSN North, which will carry Games 2, 4 and 6, is seen throughout the state for those with cable or satellite. Versus will air Games 2, 3, 4 and 6 of the Wild-Avs; those games will be blacked out in the Twin Cities but available on cable and satellite systems 50 miles outside the metropolitan area.

Etc.

• Center Steve Kelly has been reassigned to Houston of the AHL.

Staff writer Judd Zulgad contributed to this notebook.

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