Cooke could spark Wild out of malaise

Mike Yeo shredding the team during a curse-filled rant before a recent practice didn't do the trick. Neither did Zach Parise saying that the Wild had been playing "very mediocre" hockey for some time with little excitement in its game.

Since those harsh words from the Wild coach and its heart and soul, the team is, well, a "very mediocre" 1-1-1. That one win came by way of a shootout against one of the NHL's worst home teams, Arizona. In all three of those games, the Wild managed to fall behind and needed to rally in the third period on late goals. Only once did they get the full two points.

So now it's Matt Cooke's turn to try to jolt the Wild out of its malaise.

The Wild is so desperate for the energy and physicality that Cooke can provide, the team plans to play him Saturday night against the Nashville Predators even though the 36-year-old's second practice in 7½ weeks will come Friday.

"In a perfect world, we'd probably have a little bit more time and a little bit more practice," Yeo said. "But it's not like he hasn't been skating. He's been skating for a long time.

"At some point, we've got to throw him right into the fire and work out some of the kinks."

Cooke was injured the second game of the season at Colorado and played with the injury the next six games in agony. In fact, he had five points in those final six games, and the fourth line was churning as one of the Wild's most consistent lines.

As it turns out, this was no normal injury. He had three torn muscles, including the Psoas Major, which attaches to the femur, and two other supporting hip flexor muscles.

"I didn't want to go back to the situation I was before, return too soon and be in pain. So we had to take it slow and careful," Cooke said. "I skated a lot on my own, but even skating on my own, it was trial and error every day to see what I could get away with and what I couldn't.

"I've gotten conditioning. Obviously, I'm not in game shape, but the only way to get that is to play."

Cooke has been watching the Wild from afar, and it's been tough. He's not used to watching games from the sideline for, to be blunt, non-suspensions and he also has seen how much the Wild needs a spark.

Yeo has talked often about how much the Wild misses Cooke's presence, both on the ice and off.

Cooke led the Wild with 190 hits last season. The Wild has the second-fewest hits in the NHL this season (511 to Chicago's 510). Cooke should also help, depending on where he lands, the third or fourth lines produce more. But mostly, Cooke should be able to inject some of that excitement Parise says the team sorely lacks.

"I've always been that guy who goes out and plays physical and plays the right way and hopefully it's contagious throughout the lineup," Cooke said. "Hopefully all goes well on Friday and I can get back Saturday and infuse some energy."