Minnesota coach Mike Yeo played a hunch and decided to give No. 1 goalie Niklas Backstrom a rest for an Oct. 29th game against the Detroit Red Wings. Harding, starting just his second game of the season, stopped all 36 shots as the Wild beat the high-flying Wings 2-0. Two nights later he was back in the crease for a re-match against the Wings. Again, Harding was brilliant, stopping 36 of 37 shots in a 2-1 victory. Yeo, staying with his hunch, went with Harding for the next two games in which he allowed a total of two goals in wins over Vancouver and St. Louis.

The victory against St. Louis brought Harding full circle. It was the culmination of a year's worth of pain and suffering, both physically and emotionally. Harding's story is yet another example of why we love sports. We love them, in part, because of the personal stories of athletes who triumph over adversity, who endure personal tragedy and come back stronger than ever. Harding's is one of these stories.

It was a freak injury during an otherwise uneventful pre-season game against the Blues that Josh Harding's 2010-11 season was lost. And it began a most difficult year – a year in which Harding was forced to pull back and examine his life, his career, and how the two are intertwined.


" Flat on his back, Harding writhed in pain for several minutes before a couple of teammates helped him to the dressing room. Unable to put weight on the leg, Harding feared the worst. The next day, his fear was confirmed when an MRI revealed that he tore both the ACL and MCL in his right knee. His season was almost certainly over before it began."


It was Sept. 24, 2010. David Perron of the Blues was breaking down the right side. He unleashed a slap shot on Harding, who made the save easily. But there was a rebound. Minnesota defenceman Greg Zanon dove to clear the puck out of harm's way. At that exact moment, Brad Boyes was going hard to the net and tripped over the sprawling blueliner. He crashed hard into the goalie, landing directly on his right leg.

Flat on his back, Harding writhed in pain for several minutes before a couple of teammates helped him to the dressing room. Unable to put weight on the leg, Harding feared the worst. The next day, his fear was confirmed when an MRI revealed that he tore both the ACL and MCL in his right knee. His season was almost certainly over before it began.

There was a five-week wait for the MCL to heal itself. And then surgery to repair the ACL. The Regina native spent the next several months rehabbing the knee, wondering if he'd played his last NHL game. It wasn't as though he'd never play again, but rather whether there would be an NHL job waiting for him when he came back. He was, after all, in the final year of his contract with the Wild. The previous season was interrupted by a hip injury, and while he has showed flashes of brilliance throughout his career, he'd never established himself as anything more than a backup netminder. The Wild were under no obligation to bring him back. They could have declined to offer him a contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.

''I didn't know what my future was, to be honest with you, so I just focused on what I could control at the time,'' said Harding. ''I trusted the doctors and trainers and put in a lot of hard work. I didn't know if (the Wild) would bring me back, but I knew I could influence their decision if they saw me committed to getting back as soon as possible.''

Wild GM Chuck Fletcher offered Harding a qualifying contract offer of $740,000. By no means is it huge money for an NHLer, but it meant the club was serious about him. It meant they believed in him.



"I didn't know what my future was, to be honest with you, so I just focused on what I could control at the time" - Josh Harding


Teams, after all, don't usually line up to sign a goalie who missed an entire season because of injury. Ray Emery, a former No. 1 goalie, returned late last season with Anaheim after missing almost a calendar year with a career-threatening hip injury. He played very well for the Ducks, but no NHL team was willing to sign him to a contract prior to training camp. Emery attended Chicago's camp as a walk-on and played well enough to win the backup job. Bottom line: there are only 60 goaltending jobs up for grabs in the NHL, and securing one of them is the goal of every goalie playing professional hockey.

''They took a risk in signing me and I want to prove they made the right decision,'' said Harding. ''So far, things have gone well. I feel good physically. My body is holding up. The knee feels fine. I still need to improve on a few things, but that's all part of the process of coming back.''

Harding's physical recovery is only part of his remarkable comeback story. He's also endured a number of personal tragedies this year. In May, his grandmother passed away. Just a few days later, former Wild teammate Derek Boogaard was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment. And then in August, he was shocked to learn of the death of his friend and former Regina Pat teammate Rick Rypien. Just a few weeks later, he was again devastated when former Wild teammate Pavol Demitra was among those killed in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.

''It was definitely a long summer,'' said Harding. ''I had a heavy heart for sure. Everything that happened put things in perspective for me. It just makes you realize there's more to life than hockey. In the end, it's just a game.''

Harding has found a way to honour the memory of his grandmother and former teammates. His grandmother's name is etched on the front of his mask while his teammates names and numbers on emboldened on the back. Harding has long been a goalie who's used his helmet for positive causes. When his older sister Stephanie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, Harding wore a pink mask to raise awareness of the disease. Today, Stephanie is cancer-free.

Over the years, goalie masks have evolved from an essential piece of protective equipment to a vehicle for goalies to express themselves. Harding's his first mask designs paid tribute to some of his favourite old-time goalies. The pink mask honouring Stephanie was the first one to garner attention, but there have been others: After a fire destroyed the team's equipment truck and everything in it, Harding decided to commemorate the unfortunate event on his mask, complete with flames, a fire truck, and the seal of the Ottawa Fire Department. He also had a mask that paid tribute the 13 victims of the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse.

''(The mask) has become a way to remind myself that there are other things in life more important than hockey,'' he said. ''It helps keep me grounded during difficult times. When I have a bad game, it's not the end of the world. I just move on and get ready for the next one.''

Harding isn't going to get swept away by success. And make no mistake, he has been brilliant. He has a 4-0-1 record this season. His goals-against average is 1.18; his save percentage .965. But he's under no illusion about his role with the Wild. He still considers himself the backup goalie. Backstrom, he says, is a great goalie who deserves to play the majority of the games. There is no goaltending controversy in Minnesota. End of story.

''I don't even think about being the No. 1 goalie,'' he said. ''My role is as a backup goalie. My job is to be ready to step in at any time. If I spend time thinking about my playing time, then I'll lose my focus. (Backstrom) is an incredibly great goalie. He deserves to be the starter – he's earned that right.''

At 27, Harding is still a fairly young goalie. He has many years ahead of him. Someday, he may earn the right to be the No. 1 goalie with the Wild, or with another NHL team. But for now, he's content to enjoy the ride, knowing full well that life is fragile, and that everything can be taken away in an instant.