Wild hopes weekend in Iowa can build Greenway's confidence

ST. PAUL -- The Wild has a plan in place for Jordan Greenway. Even if those plans are subject to change.
The Wild assigned Greenway to Iowa of the American Hockey League on Friday with the hope that he'll play in each of the team's games this weekend and re-join the NHL squad on Sunday for a quick back-to-back trip to Vancouver and Edmonton early next week.
That's the plan for now, according to Wild coach Bruce Boudreau, who hopes Greenway can use the few days in Iowa to re-gain the kind of swagger he had entering training camp following a dominant performance at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament last month.

"The confidence that he played with in Traverse City, when he had the puck he could pretty well do whatever he wanted to do with it, he's just a little tentative," Boudreau said. "Not that the American league is easy, but if he played more and got to kill penalties, because we want him to kill penalties here and got on the power play because eventually we want him on the power play here, these are things that can help for a couple days."
"I don't think it ever hurts a first-year player basically 14 games into his pro career to go down and get a couple games."
Boudreau was clear in indicating that his plans for Greenway could change depending on how things go for him in a pair of games against the Colorado Eagles.
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The games Friday and Saturday nights will also mark the second and third games in three nights for Greenway, so Boudreau said he didn't expect Greenway to practice in Vancouver on Sunday, even if he is back with the team.
"It's his first year and I believe that he's playing 10, 11 minutes a night. If we could get him, play 20 minutes in the next two games, then he'll fly to Vancouver with us and go from there," Boudreau said. "Obviously I stayed in that league way too long, but when I'd go down, it was great for me. the competition is really good, but at the same time, if he does well, he can gain confidence and come back where he wants to shoot the puck a little bit more than he's been shooting it right now."

With Greenway in Iowa, the Wild is expected to activate forward Joel Eriksson Ek off injured reserve in time for its game Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. Eriksson Ek has missed the past six games with a lower-body ailment but skated without a no-contact jersey in practice for the first time on Friday at TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center.
Eriksson Ek played on a line with Charlie Coyle and Matt Read -- previously Greenway's spot -- and said he's feeling much better after a couple weeks of rest and rehabilitation.
"It feels better every day," Eriksson Ek said. "You want to play games but it's a part of hockey with injuries. You just want to fight through."
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