"We were born with a stick and a pair of skates, on the ice we cut our teeth,
We took our knocks in the penalty box, our mother was the referee.
This sport was here before we came, it will be here when were gone,
The game’s in our blood and our blood’s in the game,
Lay us down under a frozen pond.
We will fight to the end, we will stand and defend our flag flying high and free,
We were born a child of the strong and Wild, in the state, the state of hockey!”
Such words are the opening two stanzas of the popular anthem of the Minnesota Wild, and the words ring no truer than when coveted free agent Zach Parise—a Minnesota native and Shattuck St. Mary’s graduate and former player at the Faribault, Minn. private prep hockey school—proved his loyalty and came home amidst the calls of 20 other suitors.
The first person we ought to thank would be former Minnesota North Stars general manager Lou Nanne for making the wise decision to acquire J.P. Parise from the Toronto Maple Leafs nearly 35 years ago which, in doing so, allowed his son, Zach, to be born in Minnesota. ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Joe Mikolai
Zach Parise’s Loyalty to the Minnesota Wild a Rare, Refreshing Quality
July 7th, 2012 by Joe Mikolai Leave a reply »
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