BREAKING: Jonas Brodin Won't Travel To Colorado, Joel Eriksson Ek Is Questionable
ST. PAUL, Minn. — On the eve of Round 2 starting in Colorado , the Minnesota Wild took the ice for practice on Saturday.
It was an optional skate with a lot of important people not on the ice. That included injured defenseman Jonas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek , who got hurt in Game 6 against Dallas but finished the game.
Wild head coach John Hynes stood at the podium after practice and broke that Brodin would not be ready to start the series and will not travel with the team to Colorado.
That means not only is he out for Game 1, but he is also likely out for Game 2.
"No," Hynes said if there was anyone else injured. "I would say right now, those two would be -- Brodin will not be ready to start. Eriksson Ek’s questionable."
Brodin, 32, is the Wild's most defensive defender on the team. He is given the task of shutting down the opposition's best every game. He was crucial for the Wild in the Dallas series and is one of only two current Wild players who were on the team 11 years ago when the Wild last made it out of the first round.
Eriksson Ek, 29, is the exact same thing but as a center. He is the most important center on the Wild, and one could argue the most important player. Hynes said he is questionable to start the series and said he doesn't know yet if he will even travel.
"Uhhhh," Hynes muttered. "I’m waiting on that."
For a team that just made it out of the first round for the first time since 2015, it is truly unbelievable that this just happened.
"I mean, we got guys who understand what is needed," Marcus Foligno said on playing without the two. "The style of play that the Minnesota Wild have to play. We got guys that can fill in and do the job. We're hoping that we're not too far out with those guys, but it is one of those things that you gotta understand, that is how we have to play as a team. It doesn't matter who's in that situation, you just gotta do the job, get it done and be a smart player. We got guys too, that can come in. Yury can come back in. We have a lot of center depth. It may not be as pretty as Colorado's, but we've got guys that know how to play that grind of a game. I really like our guys."
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