Iowa Wild Recall Johan Gustafsson, Josh Harding Possibly Not Ready to Return
On Sunday the Iowa Wild recalled goaltender Johan Gustafsson from the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. This recall comes just one day after Josh Harding was reported to be injured after he left an AHL Wild game against the Charlotte Checkers at the end of the second period. It was later said to be dehydration and not an injury by general manager Chuck Fletcher.
Gustafsson’s recall comes just two days after he and forward Raphael Bussieres were sent down to the ECHL.
Gustafsson started one game for the Aces, a 6-4 win over the Stockton Thunder on Friday night. In his Aces debut Gustafsson helped the Aces win their seventh straight game, stopping 24 of 28 shots. Bussieres got in on the action as well, recording a goal and an assist in his ECHL debut. A short stint in the ECHL might be good for Bussieres, who could use a little confidence booster to get his offensive production going before returning to the AHL Wild.
While I wouldn’t say that Fletcher is lying about anything, it does seem likely that it’s maybe a little more complicated than could be encapsulated in a sound bite or tweet. Dehydration can be serious, but recalling another goaltender who they just sent down makes it seem like Harding might miss time. Though “missing time” could be as simple as that he’s not ready to back up John Curry in Monday’s Iowa Wild rematch against the Charlotte Checkers. The Checkers beat the Wild 2-1 on Saturday.
You have to feel for Harding, who can’t seem to catch even the smallest of breaks. He put together an impressive performance in his AHL Wild debut, stopping 50 of 54 shots in a 5-4 loss to the San Antonio Rampage. That set a new franchise record for most saves in a game. His next start was Saturday, when he left after stopping 19 of 21. In five periods of AHL play so far he has a .920 save percentage.
In other Aces news, their winning streak came to an end Saturday when Stockton took a 5-3 win. The Aces were 2-1 in their three-game weekend series against the Thunder.
Also, the Aces waived forward Andy Bathgate and goaltender Andy Iles on Friday in what were likely corresponding moves to the reassignment of Bussieres and Gustafsson on Friday.
Iles was claimed by the Florida Everblades on Saturday, but Bathgate went unclaimed.
UPDATE:
From a blog post at Russo Rants:
"Josh Harding left Saturday’s game after two periods due to dehydration.It was so serious, he was taken to the hospital and remained hospitalized until he was released late Sunday. Multiple sources say this is related to his multiple sclerosis. Harding is listed day-to-day with dehydration, but this will likely be one of those indefinite day-to-day’s. It’s very unlikely he will play another game for Iowa until this is figured out."
Terrible news. GPW’s best to Harding. Hope to see him up and about again soon.