CHICAGO – Wild coach Mike Yeo and No. 1 defenseman Ryan Suter met Tuesday morning to clear the air after Suter's outspoken comments Monday.
Suter, miffed because he thought he wouldn't play with a right-shot defenseman — namely Jared Spurgeon — Tuesday against the Blackhawks, voiced his frustration about the blue-line tinkering and Yeo's decision to scream at the slumping team before practice.
"We're obviously on the same page," Suter said. "It's a story that shouldn't even be a story. I think the heat of the practice, I was just saying stuff I probably shouldn't have said. But at the end of the day, it's about winning and it's about what's going to be best for our team."
Yeo said Suter's comments didn't bother him, although "there was a time maybe it would have." He admitted he was trying to "rattle the cage" of players, and it obviously worked with Suter.
"I did exactly what the coach wanted, right?" Suter joked.
Yeo explained to Suter his rationale for reuniting the left-shot Suter with the left-shot Jonas Brodin and putting Marco Scandella, who returned from a lower-body injury against Chicago on Tuesday night, with longtime partner Spurgeon.
But Tuesday morning, Yeo indicated Suter would see shifts with Spurgeon, and they did play plenty together in a 2-1 victory which Suter scored the winning goal.
"We didn't talk before practice [Monday] obviously. Might have been a good idea," Yeo said, laughing. "I learned a long time ago coaching [Suter] … he's a guy that when you ask him to do something, he might tell you his opinions, but nobody will go out there and do it better than him."
