Wild’s Harding ‘looks great’ after MS setback

Some encouraging news out of Minnesota on Friday regarding the health of Josh Harding — the goalie was at Xcel Energy Center and spoke with head coach Mike Yeo about his recovery from a setback with Multiple Sclerosis.

“I had a brief conversation with him,” Yeo told the Minnesota Star-Tribune. “And he was feeling very good. His word, actually, was great. And even just looking at him, I think he looks great.

“So we’ll talk some more about what the plan is going forward.”

Harding has missed the last 19 games after informing the organization of some complications regarding his MS, which he was diagnosed with last fall. He hasn’t appeared in a game for Minnesota since relieving Niklas Backstrom in a 4-1 loss to Vancouver on Feb. 7.

Harding was supposed to dress for a game against the Canucks on Feb. 12 but, prior to, informed the club he wasn’t feeling right.

“Just lately been feeling a bit off and we kind of knew this was a possibility,” he told NHL.com. “I’m not going to get into too many details about it right now.

“I’m a little off and the decision was made to take this one [game] off and take care of it right now.”

The Wild called up Darcy Kuemper from AHL Houston to play against Vancouver, and proceeded to put Harding on injured reserve.

Two weeks ago, Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher expressed optimism about Harding’s recovery.

“[He's] feeling a lot better,” Fletcher told the Minnesota Star-Tribune. “Now it’s a question of getting back to strenuous physical activity, then getting back on the ice and seeing from there.”