The Minnesota Wild are still licking their wounds after a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, ending hopes of pulling off a major upset of the NHL’s second highest finishing team.
However on Saturday, they did get a little bit of good news.
Marco Rossi was drafted by the Wild with the 9th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, but his career was put in jeopardy after a scary battle with COVID-19. Competing with Austria at the World Junior Championship, Rossi was experiencing a ton of fatigue despite being cleared from his positive test. As it turns out, Rossi had developed myocarditis.
Myocarditis is the inflammation of a heart muscle, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. This leads to less oxygen being distributed throughout the body, which explain why the usually-spry Rossi felt like he couldn’t handle hockey.
"The doctors told me if I played one more game in the World Junior Championship, this could have ended completely different," Rossi explained to The Athletic’s Michael Russo.
"Every night, before sleep, I was really sad and always crying because I was scared of that. I told my parents, 'Could you sleep right next to my bed and be here 'til I fall asleep?' And every day I woke up in the morning, I was so glad that I woke up. It was really hard."
On Saturday, Marco’s father Michael shared of video of Rossi skating on ice for the first time since the World Juniors.
Marco also shared a photo to his own social accounts, representing the Wild and expressing delight to be back on the ice.
These are the kinds of stories we can all get behind. Here’s to hoping the recovery process continues to progress well!
(H/T Michael Rossi, Marco Rossi, The Athletic)
