wild/nhl

ssssoooooooooooooooo, your saying there still is a chance?

Maybe Fletcher needs to look at trading Latendresse before next season. As great as he's shown he can play - in the half dozen games he's played since he got to Minnesota - he's a huge liability due to constant injuries and being sidelined. I've said it before...how many racehorse owners would keep lame horses in their stables? Let him go for what can be had....if he eventually and FINALLY recovers someday and goes on to be a superstar then good for the team who gets him. The Wild doesn't need to keep paying his salary and medical bills. Same can be said for Butchie....I like these two as much as anyone and it would be sad to see Bouchard leave, but facts are facts and these repeated injuries are going to plague them the rest of their careers.

Have him go back to north dakota...don't want him.

I don't believe there is a team in the league who wouldn't want Parise. There are a few who wouldn't be able to afford him, however. I had some minor paperwork to do before the Wild game on Thursday, so I decided to watch the Devils game. For all his talent, there aren't many players in the league that work harder than Parise, at both ends. He goes out of his way to go scrap along the boards for pucks, is not shy about mixing it up down in front of the crease, puts forth the extra effort on the back check, and knows how to create and finish. (At least that is how he has played the half-dozen times or so that I have watched him this year.) What is not to like?

strib1991: You answered your own statement....he's a huge liability due to constant injuries and being sidelined. I've said it before...how many racehorse owners would keep lame horses in their stables?......Why would anyone else want to pick up a lame under performing racehorse? Trading a concussion liability is virtually impossible.

My 'there's still a chance' moment comes from an in-game interview with J.P. when the Devils were in MN. (And I realize this is far from rock-solid.) J.P. (as you would expect from any parent) said something to the effect of 'It would be great to have Zach playing more games here at the Xcel'. The thing is, 1) it was said very matter-of-factly, not wistfully, and 2) he then qualified it with a 'of course the final decision will be up to Zack.' Just seems to me that if J.P. didn't consider it to be a possibility, the qualifier would have been on the wishful part of it and not on the final decision part of it.

russo: So this Parise talk is your fault? Shame, shame, shame. You nailed it with the argument trading would be silly, because what we would give up, would make this team less attractive to be on. Opening the vault to sign via free agency him is the best option, after they get out from under those big, under performing contracts.

"I mean, I know Minnesota's the greatest place on Earth and all, but ..." Oh, Snap! Now I know why you went back to colorado after tha Dallas game, want to let that one blow over, eh? I think if Zach makes is to FA, which I suspect he will, the Wild will have a good shot at signing him. The future will be key though so can't trade away granlund or any other big prospect (like zucker, I suspect Coyle could be had). Also, managing to get into the playoffs this year would go a long way towards convincing Parise that the future is bright. . .

I'm afraid the only Parise coming to Wild is the old man- J.P.. Love to watch Zach locally but I'd think he'd more likely be with Wings. He didn't leave home at 14-15 years old only to end up not having an annual chance at the Cup. Wings committment to excellence give that chance to any of their players. He won't get that if he comes here because the resources required to get him here would preclude Wild from paying a supporting cast. I could see the Leafs MAYBE only because of tradition and that Toronto is the center of all that is ice hockey- even though not an annual chance at the Cup. But if he were to lead Leafs to a Cup he'd be as revered as George 'The Chief' Armstrong in Ontario for life.

minneg56 .....agreed. Parise NEEDS to compete and WIN. Minnesota would not be near the top of a list of teams that he would be able to help win it all. by the way, Mr. Russo - I don't think you are to blame for the infatuation about Parise. The same people that think Leddy is the direct link to a Stanley Cup championship are quick to manifest any concept that has a remote link to Minnesota. We would all think it would be awesome to have the same 1980 Miracle happen again in the 2010's, but the landscape is completely different now then it was then and in reality, these players with the strongest drives know that the window isn't open very long for the biggest paydays and/or the shot to be on a championship team.