Sitting idle frustrates Schultz

Now without his appendix, defenseman Nick Schultz shared his hope to rejoin the Wild in the second round.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: April 9, 2008 - 10:33 PM

Considering he is a player who has routinely played throughout injuries, Nick Schultz was frustrated that an appendectomy cost him a chance to join his Wild teammates Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

The Wild defenseman prides himself on being an everyday gamer. In six seasons, Schultz had missed one game to injury before appendicitis crept up on him last weekend.

"It's hard to describe how I feel," Schultz said from his hospital bed an hour before being discharged Wednesday. "The appendix is a useless organ. You can do without it, and now because of it I can't play. It's just bad luck.

"It's pretty frustrating, very hard for me. You play all year to play in the playoffs. ... But I'm confident in the guys being able to go out, do the job and hopefully win this round so I can get back. ... Just bad, bad timing."

Schultz doesn't know how long he'll be out.

"I asked [team Dr. Sheldon] Burns the same thing," Schultz said. "He doesn't know. He said we'll reevaluate it every day. Everyone's different how they feel, how they recover from it. I'm trying to do a little more every day. The first 24 hours are supposed to be the worst, and I'm starting to feel better and move around. I'll see what I can tolerate and how it works once I can take contact."

Schultz woke up Saturday morning with pain in his stomach. He figured it was early symptoms of the flu and practiced. Sunday morning in Denver, he felt much worse and finally went to the doctor after Monday's team photo.

"You first have the pain, you never really know what it is and why you're having it," said Schultz, who had his appendix removed laparoscopically (minimally invasive surgery), which he hopes means a faster recovery.

Schultz expects the Wild's blue-line depth to prevail without him.

"This is why we carried eight D all year," he said. "Look at how the guys stepped up when we lost [Kurtis Foster]. That was a big body, a big shot from the blue line, and they stepped up. That's what makes a team good, and I have no doubt the guys will step up and rise to the occasion."

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