from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

His eyes welled, his voice shook.

We don’t normally see Ryan Suter emotional, but the Wild’s rock of a defenseman fought back tears Friday as he talked about the loss of his father and best friend, Bob Suter, 10 days earlier.

“My dad, we were pretty close, so …” Suter said, needing a few moments to gather himself. “Just a really good guy, a hard-working guy. I’m going to miss him.”

Suter always goes about his business effortlessly on the ice. It doesn’t matter if he logs 30 or 35 minutes, his pulse never seems to rise above 30, his breathing never seems to get heavy.

It was the same thing Friday. It was obvious how much he’s hurting, yet Suter somehow located the ability to battle through and stand in front of reporters following the first day of training camp.

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