A big ‘bump in the road’ as Wild captain Jared Spurgeon faces season-ending surgeries

Jared Spurgeon tried to rehab — different approaches, too — and he received injections.

Nothing worked.

“Very frustrating,” the Wild captain said.

Finally, after tests and talking to doctors, Spurgeon reached a conclusion to address the nagging hip and back issues that had been plaguing him for months: the defenseman would undergo season-ending surgeries.

“To come in and sort of be battling something throughout the entire time was not something you’re looking for this year,” Spurgeon said on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center, a week after the team announced he’d be shelved for the rest of the season. “Obviously to be out for the year, to be injured at any point of time, is not what you want. To be able to sit back and now sort of have a plan is mentally a bit better for myself.”

Spurgeon is scheduled for surgery on his left hip on Feb. 6 and then will have back surgery approximately four weeks later.

Both procedures will occur in the Twin Cities.

Neither of these ailments was the result of a specific incident but rather general wear-and-tear.

“It’s something that’s been going on for a while,” Spurgeon said. “Just couldn’t get a handle on it this year.”

The beginning of Spurgeon’s season was also interrupted. He missed the first 13 games because of a shoulder injury suffered in the Wild’s second-to-last preseason game. After debuting in November and rattling off 13 games, Spurgeon sat out another seven, played the next three and then was sidelined again after coming back too soon.

“When stuff isn’t helping, that’s when you get to the point where you have to make a decision, I think, for what’s best for the team and yourself,” said Spurgeon, who had five assists in 16 games. “We tried all different types of things, and they weren’t calming stuff down.”

During a Dec. 3 game vs. Chicago, Spurgeon left after taking a hit from the Blackhawks’ Ryan Donato, but Spurgeon said that was unrelated to his hip and back issues; his leg went numb for about 15-20 minutes, and he later returned to the action.

Over the last couple of months, Spurgeon has talked to former Wild forward Zach Parise, who had back surgery while he was with the team. Spurgeon also spoke with another one-time teammate in Marco Scandella, who’s been in a similar situation with his hip.

“Obviously you’re playing and trying to get through it and not play to the standard, or feeling you’re playing to the standard you want to be at, is difficult,” Spurgeon said.

Since he’s been out, the Wild have been up and down, going on losing and winning streaks.

Although it’s a different dynamic when he’s not on the ice with them, Spurgeon is still available as a sounding board for his teammates and to offer up his opinion if he’s asked.

He plans to be around the group as much as possible.

“It’s a lot easier to watch from afar when you’re getting those victories,” Spurgeon said. “The season, there’s still a half left, and there’s a lot of games to be played. It’s such a tight race that they’re all important right now.”

The longest-tenured player on the Wild and franchise leader in games played by a defenseman (867), Spurgeon, 34, is facing a four-to-six-month recovery, a timeline that allows him to heal before training camp in September without rushing the process.

At the two-month mark, he expects to skate on his own, and Spurgeon is confident he will rebound.

“It’s obviously a bump in the road,” he said. “But it doesn’t bring you down to the bottom.”