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Home | Sports | Minnesota Wild

Schultz makes return 12 days after surgery

The defenseman replaced Sean Hill in the lineup, playing because it was an elimination game.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: April 20, 2008 - 12:39 AM

DENVER — Chris Simon might have made his biggest impact in a Wild sweater Saturday, and he didn't even play in Saturday night's Game 6 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Saturday morning, Simon treated defenseman Nick Schultz as if he was dressed head-to-toe in Colorado Avalanche gear.

It was the first contact Schultz had taken since having his appendix removed April 7. Schultz survived, meaning he returned Saturday night only 12 days after his surgery with the hopes of helping the Wild stave off elimination and force a Game 7.

"I just went out there at the end of practice, trying to see how it holds up," Schultz said. "It felt pretty good."

Schultz, who replaced veteran Sean Hill as rookie Erik Reitz earned a second consecutive game, said his ice time would be based on how he felt. "That's what will decide, how you're doing and how you're playing and how you're feeling," Schultz said.

Coach Jacques Lemaire admitted he wouldn't even have considered playing Schultz if Saturday wasn't an elimination game.

But Simon did his best to prepare Schultz with an intense battle in the corner.

"It feels like he's 100 percent to me," Simon said. "At this time of year, playoffs are so much fun and everybody wants to be a part of it. I don't think he would take a risk if it would hurt the team. He knows he can help."

Added Derek Boogaard: "He doesn't want to throw the year away because he's hurt. He's willing to sacrifice himself, which shows a lot of heart."

Schultz said his strength isn't at 100 percent, but he has done his best to regain the 7 pounds he lost with ice cream and milkshakes.

Rookie James Sheppard couldn't believe Schultz was even thinking of playing.

"He's got guts," Sheppard said. "He wants to be there for us. It's going to give us a big lift."

Wild hoop it up

Besides a team off-ice workout and dinner Friday, the Wild hit its Denver hotel's basketball court for several games of Bump.

Earlier this season, a Toronto opera singer beat Brian Rolston, Keith Carney and Hill.

"My sister would beat those guys up," said Boogaard, whose sister, Krysten, plays basketball for the University of Kansas.

Rolston was impressed with the Wild's Europeans.

"They're actually pretty good, especially the Slovaks," Rolston said. "Fridge [Todd Fedoruk] won a lot of the games. He's very athletic, that kid."

Boogaard, even though he can slam dunk, didn't play because he didn't want to hurt anybody.

"Me and my brother [Aaron], we play at the gym every morning during the summers," he said. "It's like a hockey game on the basketball court."

Old habits hard to break

In Game 6, Lemaire was hoping Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik would just get back to basics and stop being so pretty.

"That line's got to put pucks on the net," Lemaire said. "They started to play the series by making passes, wanted to make great plays. And when it's a tight game, passes across and little dink passes don't work. You've got to shoot more at the net. You've got to adjust your game.

"We're telling them, and they have a hard time to do that because they want to curl, they want to try to hold on to the puck. They're doing things they've been doing for 15 years."

Power-play adjustments

With defensemen Kurtis Foster hurt and Petteri Nummelin scratched, Lemaire has been using center Eric Belanger at the power-play point for the first time all season.

"I like it," said Belanger. "I like bringing the puck up, and I like being back there. I think I can read the plays pretty good."

Lemaire said he also wants Belanger there so he's on the ice against Colorado's top line if the Wild can't score on the power play.

"They come up with the big line a lot of times, and I need a center who will be able to play against the top line," Lemaire said.

• Matt Foy made his postseason debut in place of Benoit Pouliot.

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