I haven't talked much about Mark Parrish being put on waivers and then getting bought out, but there is plenty of buzz about it in the hockey community so I thought I better make a note of it. I even saw a special on him on Fox 9 News Sports Extra last night. He sounded bitter. He said he gave the team everything they asked for and then got stabbed in the back. I also got the feeling he wasn't too fond of Jacques Lemaire's leadership style. Mark Parrish said that Lemaire would often talk in general terms and not give enough specifics on what needs to be done to improve the game play and that Jacques wanted you to figure it out yourself. I can see both points of view on his leadership style, but from my viewpoint it seems like if you get on Jacques Lemaire's bad side, you stay on his bad side - no matter what. That can suck for a hockey player with potential like Mark Parrish.
Here is a comment from W1ldfan on the Parrish situation that I want to feature on the front page: Keep commenting Wild fans - let your voices be heard!
"Mark Parrish is the exact guy that could have made a huge difference in the Colorado Series. I know that he was hurt and so did everyone else. If a guy, that is considered a character guy, goes out in a series like that and just leaves it all out there taking and delivering abuse, while everyone KNOWS he is hurt a team will rally around that guy. Suddenly you have guys like Pav, Gabby, Skoula, Johnson, Butch and other players not known for being physical stepping that aspect of their game a little bit. You saw it in Rod Brind'amor with Carolina, in baseball you saw it with Curt Schilling with Boston and Gibson with the Dodgers in Baseball. If he had taken that role, he would have become a hockey god, right there with Neal Broten, in this state, but instead when talking about home grown Wild Hockey Players all attention will still turn to Darby Hendrickson."
Editors Comment: I don't think Mark Parrish and Neal Broten are even close comparisons, but I respect the point you are making.
Where will Mark Parrish end up? Vancouver Canucks? Nashville Predators? Tampa Bay Lightning?