Minnesota Wild: Ryan Suter is confident in his possible return

After suffering an awful injury in April, Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter is optimistic about returning quickly.

Back in April, with the Minnesota Wild getting themselves ready for a playoff run, they saw their efforts hit a wall in a game against the Dallas Stars. Literally. Star defenseman Ryan Suter, the backbone of the Wild defense, was fighting for a puck with Dallas Stars forward Remi Elie behind the net when Suter’s right skate hit the boards.

It was later announced that he’d require surgery and would be missing the entire Wild playoff push. With Minnesota also lacking Jared Spurgeon at the time, it seemed like the Wild were going to get rolled by the Jets in the first round (and they totally did).

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A more pressing concern was the long-term condition of Suter’s ankle, however. Turns out, he broke his fibula in the talus region, which for those less well versed in anatomy, is the bone right underneath the inside of your ankle.

Suter mentioned via Mike Russo of The Athletic, that if he played a sport where players didn’t secure their ankles firmly in the manner hockey players do, his career likely would be over.

Well, it turns out luck is in the cards, because he plays a game where players secure their ankles firmly in their skates. After surgery and four month’s worth of recovery time, he can now actually skate again and says he’s ready for camp to begin already. Which is amazing to see, considering the scare he’s had.

"“I’m going to be in better shape than I’ve ever been in. I’ve never worked this hard, this much,” he said. “I feel like this is going to be a blessing in disguise. I feel good right now. I feel like I’m back.”"

Looking back in April, when he sustained the injury, most said that he wouldn’t be ready to begin the 2018-19 season, let alone be skating at training camp. This kind of injury is said to occur mostly in car accidents, not sports. Something like that should take months to just recover from, before players even think about hitting the ice with no limiters on.

Well, it’s a good thing that hockey players are in such immaculate shape these days. Players sometimes recover in quicker times than initially diagnosed, and begin rehab ahead of schedule, and often come out of the entire process in better condition than they might have been before the injury. Ryan Suter seems to be on that track.

This is a major injury Suter is recovering from. An injury that could have cost him his career had he been playing a different sport. So far, he’s missed 9 games from it, and if he actually laces up the skates for opening night October 4th in Denver, it’d be crazy to think about how an injury that bad would cost that little amount of time (relatively), and leave the player in better shape for it.

Well, let’s pump the brakes for just a moment because every off-season in every sport has those players who claim to be in “the best shape of their lives”, and it means nothing. The reason I bring this point up, is to curb the excitement behind Suter’s statement because any athlete will probably say the same thing. Anyone will say that they’re better off than before and will be improving their shape for next season.

Not to say that we should doubt Suter’s work ethic and the schedule he’s actually keeping to, in order to get back on the ice for the Wild. Knowing how Suter plays on the ice and conducts himself off the ice, I’d actually be more inclined to believe what he’s saying.

I certainly hope so. You don’t want any player missing time for injuries, and you especially don’t want to see careers derailed by said injuries. No matter what team you root for, you always hope players can recover from such injuries.

Everyone will be watching for October 4th in Denver for number 20 in green and red.