Like any other long-time NHLer, Ryan Suter is a creature of habit.

So it was understandable that the Wild's recent trip to the bubble in Edmonton, and playing hockey in the middle of August, came as a bit of a shock, especially after spending four months training with the expectation that, at one point the Wild would be back ... it just didn't know exactly when.

"Honestly, that was the biggest issue I had with the whole thing from the start," Suter said last week. "I mean, we were done in March, we trained, I haven't taken a week off since March just because you didn't know when you were going to start up again. You wanted to be in shape, you wanted to be ready to go."