Wild's Suter clarifies comments after change to defensive pairings
All appears to be well and good again between Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter and head coach Mike Yeo.
Suter clarified comments he made Monday regarding his displeasure with being paired alongside another left-handed shot in Jonas Brodin.
"We're obviously on the same page," Suter said, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "It's a story that shouldn't even be a story. I think the heat of practice yesterday, I was just saying stuff I probably shouldn't have said. But at the end of the day, it's about what's going to be best for our team."
The 30-year-old defenseman is off to another impressive start this season - with three goals and 17 assists in 22 games - while playing on a pairing with right-handed Jared Spurgeon. However, Yeo has elected to use a Suter-Brodin pairing with the return of Marco Scandella.
Suter still meant what he said, but has chosen to put it behind him in order to do what's best for the team.
Suter said bottom line is he was just saying it's easier to play w a righty, but he'll do whatever the coaches think will bring wins #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) December 1, 2015
Yeo was not bothered by Monday's comments following a seven-game stretch that saw the Wild put together a disappointing record of 1-4-2.
"Didn't bother me. There was a time maybe it would have," Yeo said. "But first off, just the day in general, practice in general was a day to rattle the cage a little bit, and so that's what we were looking for."
Minnesota will hope their new pairings can get them back on track when they face the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.