Talk about being thrown in the deep end of the pool in your first week back from injury.
After returning from a nearly month-long lower body injury, Taber’s Devin Setoguchi joined his Minnesota Wild teammates last week during a tough time on the NHL schedule.
Last Wednesday saw Setoguchi record five shots on net in a 3-0 blanking at the hands of the 2011 Stanley Cup finalist Vancouver Canucks on the road, only to have the weight of history on the Wild’s back on Saturday as the squad battled the Calgary Flames in the Scotiabank Saddledome.
There was a rowdy crowd on hand as the Flames’ organization held a ceremony commemorating Olli Jokinen’s 1000th-career game and the stands were filled with anticipation in hopes Jarome Iginla would score his 500th goal at home.
There were many of Iginla’s other 499 goals that were far prettier. But, Iginla would indeed score the historic marker 8:33 into the third period on a shot that was intended as a centering pass to Curtis Glencross which instead pinballed off of Marek Zidlicky and Mikko Koivu into the net, in what turned out as the game winner in a 3-1 Flames win.
It was perhaps poignant after Iginla was denied his 500th marker after releasing a laser in the high right slot that would go off the crossbar three minutes into the third period.
“Every game is going to be tough and we had to treat that game like every other game. I had a couple of chances to score some goals, so I felt pretty good on the ice,” said Setoguchi in post-game interview. “I’m trying to trade chances out there and that’s my role here. When you are not creating chances, that’s when you start to worry.”
Despite fighting off the rust after the long layoff from injury, Setoguchi still showed flashes in giving his team a chance to win.
A chip pass in the neutral zone allowed the Wild to gain the offensive zone and record the first solid scoring chance 20 seconds into the game.
Two and half minutes later in the first period, Setoguchi’s pass led to another quality scoring chance. The Taber native’s third shift involved a solid backcheck on Glencross which led to a turnover in the neutral zone and the Wild’s sixth shot on net on the ensuing rush.
Setoguchi was able to get some special teams work in on the tail end of a power play from a T.J. Brodie elbowing penalty. His work in the corner helping to maintain possession in the offensive zone was rewarded with a return pass and a scoring chance at the side of the net with 3:28 left in the first period on Miikka Kiprusoff.


In a 0-0 game after two periods, Setoguchi had the best scoring opportunity for the Wild in the second period with a deflection in the early going. Setoguchi would later on try and catch Kipper asleep with a quick release on a spinarama shot on net at the 15:36 mark.
Setoguchi was called for a boarding penalty rubbing his opponent half way through the third period which eventually led to the Flames’ third goal, but all in all, the Taber native and former Golden Sun showed his game was rounding back into shape.
“It’s obviously tougher coming back after a month off. You’re just trying to get back into the flow of the game and trying to read the plays as they come at you,” said Setoguchi. “Trying to get your legs under you, you can do as much as you want in practice , but you only get that game speed when you get into games. It was nice coming back, but it’s going to be a while before I’m back to the point where I was when I left, but it’s getting better every day.”
The Wild themselves have left themselves in a tough spot as of late. After the early promise of leading the Northwest Division and firmly entrenched in a playoff spot, the team has hit a skid, losing 11 of its last 12 with Setoguchi out for a majority of that time on a squad screaming for offence, a far cry from his previous team in the San Jose Sharks. The team currently sits in second place in the Northwest Division as of Tuesday, but barely hanging onto the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of both Dallas and Colorado.
“The transition’s been good. Every team is the exact same where you have good players. I’m getting along with everyone and things are going well and they’ve welcomed me here,” said Setoguchi of the offseason trade from the San Jose Sharks to the Minnesota Wild. “Obviously, we are in a bit of a tough spot right now, but the guys are working hard. We can’t worry about what’s happening now or 30 games down the road, we just have to take it game by game and getting back tot what we were doing before that was making us successful and then we’ll be all right.”
Setoguchi’s first week back in NHL action proved just as difficult in his next game, as the Wild tangled with his former teammates in the Pacific-division leading San Jose Sharks on Tuesday with results unavailable at press time.