Medical trainers for the Wild and St. Louis Blues compared notes Saturday afternoon when it was revealed that ill-stricken players for both teams had similar symptoms.
Several Blues players were ravaged all week with the same sounding sickness that sidelined Wild defensemen Keith Ballard and Christian Folin from two games, including Saturday's against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and one practice.
The symptoms included fatigue, shivering, body aches and began with swollen jaws. Both Ballard and Folin looked Saturday like they were punched in the face, "and it was way, way worse a few days ago," teammate Kyle Brodziak said.
The Blues originally thought their players were stricken by the flu, but now it's believed to be some kind of other virus or bacterial infection. Perhaps a coincidence, perhaps not, the Blues and Wild spent time in the visitors' locker room at both Anaheim and Los Angeles late last week and into the weekend.
"It starts with one person, and then it's passed very quickly through water bottles, or a towel, or whatever, the shower floor," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock told St. Louis reporters. "It just goes … zipping through your team."
As of now, only two Wild players have been affected, so the Wild's trying to nip it in the bud. Ballard and Folin, who both skated Saturday morning, were sent to Regions Hospital on Saturday afternoon for blood tests to rule out maladies like the mumps. The Wild leaves Sunday for a two-game trip to the Rangers and Bruins, and Ballard and Folin will not accompany the team.
They were put on antibiotics a few days ago, "so we shouldn't be contagious," Ballard said. "I don't know what's going on, but it was awful."
Wild equipment trainers have sterilized the Wild locker room and disinfected the equipment for Ballard and Folin. Players are using separate water bottles and are being cautious with towels.
