Minnesota Wild GM says team 'fortunate' in mumps scare

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher knocked on nearby piece of wood shortly after he said his team was “fortunate” that the mumps didn’t derail the Wild’s season.

On Feb. 27, the team announced that forwards Zach Parise and Jason Pominville were diagnosed with the illness. This came after the Wild’s bye-week when there was minimal contact between the players and the rest of their teammates. Also, the two only ended up missing two games because of the Wild’s slow schedule after the bye.

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“We sent them home right away, the first day back and kept them away for five days and then they would check in with the doctors because it’s a minimum of five days,” Fletcher said. “The doctors felt their symptoms were not that bad and they were progressing nicely so he welt after five days they were fine.”

After an absence of over two years mumps has returned to the NHL with the Wild and the Vancouver Canucks, another team this season that has been hit by the illness. According to Fletcher, both Parise and Pominville received mumps booster shots two years ago, which may have helped lessen their symptoms this season.

“Our doctors said the fact they got the booster probably helped reduce the severity of the symptoms and so we were lucky there but even if you get the shot it’s not 100 percent effective,” Fletcher said. “I don’t know if it’s 80 percent of 90 percent, you’re still going to have some players or people in general still contract the mumps.”

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Also, because of Minnesota’s previous experience with the mumps, they took a proactive approach with the two. When the big mumps outbreak hit the NHL during the 2014-15 season, several Wild players were affected including defensemen Jonas Brodin and Ryan Suter so the team knew the proper precautions.

“I know, and we were very fortunate, it was coming off a bye week and players weren’t around each other and they missed two games,” Fletcher said. “Two or three weeks from now or if you’re in the playoffs it would be a disaster.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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