Mark Parrish, an eight year NHL veteran in his first season with the Minnesota Wild, compares his new team with the two past Stanley Cup champions, Tampa Bay and Carolina. Parrish admired the team unity, skating and work ethic of the Lightning and Hurricane. “I see so many similarities between those teams and this team,” Parrish said. “It makes me real excited to imagine what this team can do.”
No NHL team started better than the Wild, 8-1 after the first nine games. The team made good on the opportunity to play its first five games at home, winning all five, then winning two of three games on its first road trip and returning home to win again on Wednesday night. Still, Parrish knows with so much winning comes a challenge, too.
“One of the biggest things, especially when things are going well early on when we seem to be getting all the (right) bounces, is (that) almost a complacency starts to set in,” Parrish said on Tuesday. “A confidence that we don’t have to go out there and play the same hard working game that we have been playing the last eight games. It’s important to remember how we won those games. Yea, we have some more skill than they have had (here) in the past, but it’s still (necessary to have) that determined defensive minded Wild hockey. We have to keep that mindset through 82 games.”
Parrish said coach Jacques Lemaire works at keeping the team focused. Parrish, 29, also said as one of the “older guys” on the team he has a responsibility to keep teammates “on board” (focused).