Though Coyle said he couldn't pinpoint for sure if the injury affected him the entire year, it was certainly difficult to get into a groove. A six-game point streak in November and December and a seven-game point streak in March were nestled among droughts.
"I've talked to all of them. It's not like they didn't want to score]," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said last Monday of Coyle, Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter, all of whom struggled to hit the net in the playoffs. "Sometimes, you want to do it too much and sometimes you take it all upon yourself to do it, and it doesn't come out right. There's a lot of factors, I think. You could talk to all of them and none of them, those three guys in particular, would not be happy with what happened in the playoffs.
"I don't think it's conditioning. I don't think it's work ethic. I don't think it's the will or the want. They just have to work on their game and embrace big games more than be afraid of them."
One bit of advice that was oft-repeated this season, by Coyle and coaching staff alike, was that he needed to be more '
[selfish
' and shoot the puck more. While a few particular regrets from the postseason haunt Coyle, it's motivation to take that to heart.
"Sometimes you run into a hot goalie, sometimes you don't get the bounces and you wish you could have had a shot back," Coyle said. "I know there's a few chances that I wish I had back and buried."
Following a disappointing Stanley Cup Playoffs First-Round exit against Winnipeg, Coyle has taken it upon himself to spend the offseason growing his game and working to improve. Inspired by a belief in himself and in the team core, he knows there's room to be better without sacrificing team identity.
"I could be a better player, I want to be a better player, that's what I'm gonna do this summer," Coyle said. "Go home, get a good training schedule, come back a better player. I'm sure we can fix some things and become a better team, I've got to do my part."
Ideally, he won't be too banged up for too long to do that. Boudreau said last week Coyle had a few injuries of which the team was still waiting to learn the severity of, but it's nothing that will require surgery.
"So many good players on the team started injured, finished injured -- it's not ideal," Coyle said. "I think when we're a healthy team, we're a really great team. And it showed when we were together. When everyone was playing, it showed."
Related:
- Dumba hoping career-best season helps case to stay in Minnesota
- Suter, Parise face offseason recoveries
- 'Good isn't good enough' for Wild moving forward
