It was a busy, dizzying Thanksgiving down at the X as assistant GM Tom Lynn probably had to get the services of a CPA to count and re-count the Wild’s roster to make sure he didn’t go over the maximum 23 men.

First of all, G Josh Harding has a head injury. Lynn said it is not yet classified as a concussion. The Wild will know more this weekend, but Harding is out of Friday’s game against Columbus and Saturday’s in Nashville. Nolan Schaefer has been recalled.

Defenseman/winger Petteri Nummelin suffered a head/nose injury last night and he’s been placed on injured reserve. Pavol Demitra practiced and is aiming for Wednesday.

Originally, Aaron Voros was sent to the minors to make room for Todd Fedoruk (see below). Voros was called back up when Nummelin was put on IR. It had a lot to do with the fact Jacques Lemaire was not happy at all that Voros was taken from him. Jacques made that clear when I talked to him.

Lynn made clear it was only a matter of time before Voros would be back anyway, saying the Wild would examine its roster and Voros would wind up taking somebody’s job (read tomorrow because this is interesting stuff. Jobs are on the line, folks).

Here’s the deal. Doug Risebrough isn’t happy as the Wild has dropped nine of 13. I left Risebrough alone today because he’s visiting his mom, who’s very ill, in Ontario. Lynn spoke for him, and quite strongly, I should add.

The Wild claimed Fedoruk, the same Fedoruk who had his face bashed in by Derek Boogaard last season, off re-entry waivers from Dallas. Read the story on the soon-to-be Boogaard/Fedoruk reunion because Fedoruk, who’s long been known as a “great guy in the room,” was hysterical.

Basically, Dallas tried to trade Fedoruk and couldn’t. He cleared waivers and was sent to AHL Iowa. Probably knowing the Wild wanted Fedoruk, the Stars called Fedoruk back up. He had to pass through re-entry waivers and the Wild claimed him. So now, instead of paying his full salary if it had taken him on the first time through, the Wild gets to split the rest of his 875K salary with Dallas. Fedoruk was due in to the Twin Cities from Des Moines on Thursday afternoon.

Lynn said, “The general manager is not happy where we are right now, so he’s made this move (Fedoruk). Some guys will have to step up or there will be other moves.”

He added, “In order to compete against some of the teams in our conference that we need to get ahead of, we need a grittier, more committed physical team. Fedoruk, we didn’t get just to come and fight. He makes us a tougher team.”

The guy I think is in trouble is Branko Radivojevic. The Wild painted him as the nastiest forechecker in the history of the planet when it signed him two summers ago. He’s not nasty, and forecheckers usually, I don’t know, check. Fedoruk is a big body who can skate and bang, so to me, the obvious job he eventually takes is Radivojevic.

The Wild didn’t get him to fight. In fact, if the Wild explains that to him, he might be a more effective player because he’ll concentrate on doing stuff that can help this team.

This is going to get interesting because the Wild is plummeting and is in danger of falling out of the top eight in the jam-packed conference. Look at the standings. They’re insane.

Lastly, Because of the Hmong New Year, expect traffic congestion and parking problems near the X on Friday. Round-trip shuttle service will be available from 8 a.m.-11:30 p.m. The shuttle pick-up will be at the Alright Central parking lot at 390 East Kellogg Blvd. with the drop-off at St. Paul RiverCentre on Kellogg.

Happy Turkey Day!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 22nd, 2007 at 11:57 am and is filed under Breaking news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.