ST. PAUL -- Minnesota Wild winger Jordan Greenway admitted he was playing hurt for a good chunk of last season. He originally injured his shoulder in a Feb. 22 loss to the Ottawa Senators and spent the next couple of weeks trying to get back to 100%.
Though he returned to the lineup for the final part of the regular season, Greenway tweaked his shoulder once again shortly before the Wild played the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
As soon as that series was over, Greenway decided to have surgery. He proceeded to have two more surgeries this past offseason, once to get his wisdom teeth removed, the other time to remove a cyst from his ankle.
“A lot of healing this summer,” Greenway said. “I’m happy it’s over with, to be honest.”
So are the Wild.
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With his team in need of a spark after an 0-3-0 start this season, the 25-year-old Greenway will make his season debut in Thursday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center. He has been skating with the team since training camp and recently got cleared for contact.
“It’s been a long summer,” Greenway said. “I’m excited to get back and start competing again.”
The past few games have been difficult for Greenway to watch. He felt like he could have made a difference in consecutive losses to the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche.
“It’s always tough when the squad is losing,” he said. “Just being out of the lineup, and knowing I can’t do much, it takes a little more of a toll.”
Now that he’s back in the lineup for good, Greenway will slide into his usual spot alongside center Joel Eriksson Ek and opposite winger Marcus Foligno. That trio always seems to play better together, and it has become the identity for the Wild, more or less, over the past couple of seasons.
“We’re going to try and get back to it as quick as possible,” Greenway said. “Hopefully it can add a little consistency and stability in the lineup.”
All the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Greenway is hoping to do is make a difference in any way he can.
“I’m going to do everything I can do to bring a little energy,” he said before talking broadly about the Wild as a whole. “We’re going to need everyone here dialed in.”
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As for his offseason surgeries, Greenway is thrilled to be out of the other side of it.
“Everything feels good,” he said. “More than anything, we’ve got a job to do as a team, and I’m happy to be coming back at a time when we’re getting out of something. We’re working to get out of a little adversity. You know, obviously, we’d have loved a better start, but it’s a good time to come back.”
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