Minnesota Wild rip ex-teammate Ryan Suter

Former Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter was lured just over 10 years ago to the Minnesota Wild alongside his good friend Zach Parise; they both inked identical 13 year, $98 million contracts in what was thought to be the beginning of a golden era of Wild hockey.

Unfortunately, the team never advanced past the second round with their dynamic duo, and they were both bought out of the remainder of their deals by general manager Bill Guerin in the summer of 2021. Suter subsequently signed with the rival Dallas Stars, while Parise headed east for the New York Islanders. 

Suter is now facing his former Wild teammates in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he's already gotten under their skin in a major way. Suter got away with not one but two separate brutal crosschecks to the back of Russian sniper Kirill Kaprizov over the course of what would eventually be a 3-2 Wild double overtime victory. 

Needless to say, this didn't sit well with the Wild players. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, Suter was catching some serious heat from his ex-teammates in the Minnesota dressing room following the game: 

"Gaudreau, playing hurt, looked bothered at times. Middleton, who was outstanding, hobbled to the bench on one occasion. Same with Johansson and Kaprizov, who ate a couple vicious cross-checks from Ryan Suter, who is not a popular fixture at all inside his old locker room. Wild players were ripping the longtime former Wild defenseman to shreds in the celebratory postgame locker room."

As you may remember, Suter was referred to as "uncoachable" by a former Wild head coach, while his close relationship with Wild owner Craig Leipold was a reported source of tension within the organization.