UPDATE 

Just to show you how I learned my lesson from that Florida incident, I plan to save this after I write it. It’s just passed 12 o’clock here on the East and it’s only a matter of time before I have to re-subscribe to my hotel high-speed. If I lose this, I’m not re-writing this time.

My prediction tonight: Mark Parrish jumps from eight minutes to 16 minutes. Just a prediction.

Josh Harding is in the cage tonight. Nik Backstrom in tomorrow in Hotlanta, I’d assume.

Chris Simon is out with the flu. Aaron Voros, scratched in two in a row, is back in. Kurtis Foster, who missed the last game with a back injury, will be scratched tonight as Sean Hill earned consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 10-11.

Jacques Lemaire was awfully chipper this morning. Of course, he always smiles and laughs in the morning. It’s after games where he doesn’t.

Wild players were going on and on about how great the ice is here in Raleigh. Maybe that’s why the Canes are such a great skating team.

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I figured I’d say howdie and admonish some readers/Wild fans. 

We’ve got that new feature on the Wild page, and I was reading some of the comments under the Internet posting of the Mark Parrish story.

I’ve got to say, to the people questioning “the timing of this story,” and calling it “ridiculous,” are you kidding?

The timing of the story is simple:

Mark Parrish, an established 20- to 30-goal scorer, has played two games in a row of 7-8 minutes. He’s started games on the fourth line for two months and counting.

My job is to inform Wild fans and Star Tribune readers as to why, and I tried to tackle that today. And if you questioned why it appears Parrish is in the doghouse, you now know why (whether you think it’s legit or not).

I’m not the one ripping Parrish in today’s story. So if you’ve got a beef, it’s not with me.

If anything, I did my best to even the story out by pointing out that when Jacques says Parrish has to show early he’s going to work hard, that’s awfully tough when Parrish’s first shift against Chicago didn’t come ’til 5:33 into a game, and it last five seconds.  

Things are black and white with Lemaire. To him, Parrish ain’t working. But the best quote of the story came from Risebrough. Parrish is banged up. In Risebrough’s eyes, he’s lost a step lately because of the injuries, and that’s what makes it appear to Lemaire that he’s not working.

I know Parrish is beloved in Minnesota, but take off the rose-colored glasses, look at things objectively and read the story again.

OK, off my chest. Breathe. Breathe.

How about them Chicago Blackhawks? They’re demolished by injuries to key, key cogs, but now have won nine of 12 after shutting out Anaheim last night in the second of back-to-backs in front of a rookie goaltender.

Four points back from a playoff spot.

Anybody see the Wild’s next home opponent, San Jose, has won seven straight? Last time the Sharks came to Minnesota was New Year’s Eve, and they were unbeatable on the road if I remember correctly.

By the way, Kent will probably write a story for Sunday on how the Wild absolutely stink at home. They haven’t played a good, complete home game since arguably Dallas in January, and this is a team that dominated at home last season.

So, Brutus01, if you question the timing of that story, I’m telling you now the reason why he’s writing it. This time maybe you’ll think about it logically and don’t shoot the messenger. 

To quote Jerry Stiller, aka George Costanza’s pop, “Serenity Now!”

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 9:01 am and is filed under Pregame skate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.