Austria’s NHL figurehead Marco Rossi is currently missing from the Minnesota Wild due to an injury – but the center gives the all-clear: the injury is unpleasant, but not threatening in the long term. The Rankweiler is already working intensively on his return in St. Paul.
Pain since October
The injury dates back to October 18th: Rossi blocked a hard shot from Cam York in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers and limped off the ice. Despite significant pain, he returned and even helped Tarasenko make it 1-0. But after the game things got worse.
“The pain was enormous,” remembers the 24-year-old. However, the first examination did not produce a clear diagnosis – Rossi sat out one game, but then continued to play a total of eleven matches. Finally nothing worked anymore: “I could hardly walk, it was unbearable in the ice skates. I pushed through until I just couldn’t go anymore.”
Rehab instead of ice – two weeks until the comeback?
On November 12th, the doctors finally ordered complete rest. Since then, Rossi has been in rehab. The center is nevertheless optimistic: “It’s a blessing in disguise. The injury is not dangerous, it just needs time and patience,” Rossi told the “Vorarlberger Nachrichten”. He is aiming for his comeback in around two weeks – but will be re-evaluated every week.
Wildly back on track – Rossi happy
Despite a bumpy start, Rossi now sees his team on the right track: eight wins from the last ten games indicate a clear upward trend. “Every team has a bad phase. The important thing is to keep it short – and we managed to do that.” A long internal team talk initiated the change: every player was allowed to openly share their thoughts.
“Uncharted territory” Outnumbered – but valuable minutes
Exciting from an Austrian perspective: Rossi has recently been increasingly used in penalty killing in Minnesota. “The last time I played when I was outnumbered was at the junior level. It was a bit new again – but I’m getting more ice time, so I’m certainly not complaining about that.” He’s not on the ice yet, but he’s hungry: “It’s already burning under the blades.”
Image: www.facebook.com/minnesotawild
