Suter calls out Wild coaches after change to defensive pairings

Reunited and it doesn't feel good.

That appears to be how Ryan Suter is feeling after being placed alongside Jonas Brodin in practice Monday, not out of any disrespect for the player, but because of the decision on the part of the Minnesota Wild coaching staff to play him with another left-handed shot.

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on there. (Head coach Mike Yeo) decided to change things up. I don't know what they're thinking," Suter said after practice, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "I need to play with a right-handed defenseman to give me more options, neutral zone, offensively and even coming out of D zone. It's not fair to put a guy on his off side.

"I don't if that was just for practice today or what it is. They didn't say anything."

Suter, who typically carries the heaviest load on the Wild's blue line, is off to a productive start, with three goals and 20 assists, while skating with right-handed Jared Spurgeon.

With the impending return of Marco Scandella to the lineup, however, Yeo decided to revert back to Suter-Brodin and Spurgeon-Scandella pairings from recent years.

Losers of six of the last seven, Yeo's basing the decision purely on trying to earn two points.

"That's our job as coaches is to decide what’s best for the group, and it's also our job to surround players and give them the best chance to succeed," he said. "We take all that into consideration (Suter wanting to play with Spurgeon) for sure, but ultimately we have to decide on what's going to help us win. That's first and foremost."

When asked if he was fine with the decision, Suter flatly said no, and hopes things go back to how they've been this season prior to the next game.

"We'll talk about it. We'll figure it out. Maybe for certain points you have to do this to play against certain guys and situations."

Minnesota's next game is Tuesday in Chicago, where all eyes will be on the defensive pairings.