Monday morning, Darcy Kuemper, the Wild's second-half savior in goal, returned to the place it all started for him way back on Jan. 7 -- the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

And, ... he promptly got hurt.

Not too many playoff contenders can absorb their No. 1 and No. 2 goaltenders being sidelined, so the Hockey Gods figured let's try knocking out the No. 3.

Kuemper sustained an upper-body injury at this morning's skate. GM Chuck Fletcher said Kuemper will "hopefully [miss] just a few days, but it's hard to know for sure."



If it's more, the Wild will likely recall John Curry for Thursday's game in Chicago.

Ilya Bryzgalov, the scheduled starter tonight at L.A., will be backed up tonight by Rob Laurie, a 43-year-old who in the last calendar year has served as an emergency goalie for the Anaheim Ducks and most recently the Vancouver Canucks against Anaheim in January. He has been signed to a pro tryout.

Laurie, who attended Western Michigan University, lives in Corona, Calif. He was a longtime minor-league goalie who stopped playing in 2001-02. Here's his career stats. Here's a Yahoo recent piece on him.

Cool tidbit (provided he doesn't see the light of day): Laurie gets paid $500 and is "permitted to retain" his game-worn jersey.

As you can see on the previous blog, Andrew Brunette took over for Kuemper at this morning's skate.

Yes, Andrew Brunette.

Good thing the Wild acquired another goalie at the deadline in case Kuemper faltered or got hurt.