We’re still months away from it mattering again, but the rivalry between the Wild and Blackhawks came up in conversation between Wild winger Zach Parise and the guys from the Barstool Sports podcast.
The question for Parise: Are the Blackhawks in the Wild’s head?
“Probably, until we get past that hump in the playoffs,” Parise admitted. “We do not have any bragging rights against them. We’ve done okay against them in the regular season, but playoffs, man, they’ve just owned us.”
That is a fact. The Blackhawks knocked the Wild out of the playoffs in 2014, 2015 and 2016, winning 12 of 15 games in the process.
The regular season has been slightly better for the Wild, but when push came to shove this season it was again the Blackhawks usurping the Wild when in mattered en route to winning the Central Division.
Parise on Crosby’s injury
The big talker in the playoffs right now is whether Washington’s Matt Niskanen intentionally cross-checked Penguins star Sidney Crsoby in the head earlier this week.
“I think it was more of a reactionary thing from Niskanen and Sid was kind of falling down,” Parise said. “It’s easy to slow it down and watch where his stick went, but I think it was more of a reactionary thing when Sid was sliding into him. I don’t think he’s intentionally trying to get him in the face or the neck or head or wherever he ended up getting him. I don’t think he was doing that at all.”
According to the Washington Post, Niskanen will not be suspended. Crosby’s status is still unclear.
Is Parise a cake eater?
“No. Because I grew up in Bloomington,” said Parise. “I know I live in Edina now and when I was growing up we called them cake eaters. When we went down to the private school (Shattuck-St. Mary’s, where Parise attended high school) it was because my dad got the job, so we didn’t have to pay tuition as opposed to these other guys that were paying full tuition. I don’t think we were cake eaters down there, either.”
Parise agrees that everyone hates Adam Banks (Mighty Ducks).
