Nolan will spill blood for Wild's big finish


MICHAEL RUSSO

The Wild’s 38-year-old warrior forward was poised to be dealt at the deadline but is happy to have stuck around for a playoff push.

Owen Nolan was sitting in a doctor’s office Thursday about to get “plenty of stitches” when he decided it was best to get off the phone.
“I’m leaking all over the place,” Nolan said, laughing.

Owen Nolan is a warrior, and Friday night when the Wild visits the Edmonton Oilers, he will look like a warrior.

During Thursday’s practice, a puck hit the crossbar, ricocheted off Nolan’s face and split his lip.

No worries. Nolan will be in the lineup against the Oilers.

For Nolan, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 1990 draft and the oldest forward in Wild history at age 38, a puck to the mouth is just another battle scar on a well-traveled face.

On Thursday, Nolan was still a member of the Wild. Twenty-four hours before, he wasn’t so sure he’d last the day.

General Manager Chuck Fletcher knows Nolan, in the twilight of a tremendous career, has never won a Stanley Cup. So Fletcher asked Nolan if he wanted to be traded.

Nolan revealed Thursday that he told Fletcher that if two teams, believed to be San Jose and Washington, called, he’d be interested. “We play this game to win the Stanley Cup,” he said. “But at the same time, I told him if he wanted to keep me to help the team, I didn’t have a problem with that.

“I’m not giving up on this team. When we’re playing at the top of our game, we can compete with every team in this league. We have a good team, and we plan to battle it out right to the end. Nothing’s ever over.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/86450412.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUBP7hUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr


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