The Minnesota Wild placed Zach Parise on the injured reserve last weekend with a fracture in his foot. This puts his chances of returning to the Wild's lineup at risk, as well as his availability for the USA Olympic Team.
At the end of November Parise sustained a foot contusion after blocking a shot. He was supposed to be out of the lineup 2-3 weeks, but returned just a few days later. It was obviously a mistake for him to return so quickly, as his output has been diminished, with just five points in 12 games.
The Wild recently re-evaluated Parise's foot with a MRI and it showed a stress fracture in his foot. Stress fractures can take four to six weeks to heal, but Parise will likely be back before that. Coach Mike Yeo has stopped calling him day-to-day.
"We've got to keep him off the ice until it starts to feel better and then we might have to keep him off a little bit longer," Yeo said. "We just have make sure he gets a full opportunity to heal. It's a long season and we need him to have the opportunity to go out and perform and compete at the level he's capable of.
"He's been really grinding it out there. He's such a competitor, he wants to be in the lineup and it's been extremely difficult for him. We have to give him a lot of credit for that, but at the same time, we've got to make sure he gets better."
If the fracture in Parise's foot takes the maximum amount of time to heal, his first game post injury would be the Olympics for Team USA. The best situation would be for him to return soon, play some games for the Wild, and be at full potential for the Olympics.
Parise is third on the team in points, with 15 goals in 37 games, behind co-leaders Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville.
References: CBS Sports and Star Tribune.
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