Zach Parise Had Another Complaint, Boo-Hoo

May someone get Zach Parise a baby’s bib before he cries all over himself? First, it was the “bullying” play of the St. Louis Blues. Now comes news that Parise complained about the Wild’s fans booing.

Early Friday, a tweet posted on @NHLonNBCSports revealed that the Wild’s alternate captain was taking the fan’s booing of the team’s power play not well.

The article derived from a story in the Minnesota Star-Tribune in which Parise states the fan’s reaction “…doesn’t help”.

In fairness, the Wild haven’t exactly looked like the Harlem Globetrotters running rampant on the Washington Generals on the power play this season. As of Friday, the team is ranked 29th with the man-advantage. The only other team they are ahead of are the Buffalo Sabres. On NHL.com, the Wild have had 78 opportunities on the power play. They have only converted seven of those into goals, which is 9.0 percent. The next team above them are the Nashville Predators, who are clicking at 11.7 percent. At home, the Wild actually have a higher conversion rate 16.7 percent (6 for 36 on the power play), as opposed to on the road where they are miserable 2.4 percent (1 for 42 on the power play).

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Yet, it is probably the inefficiency that is bothersome to Wild fans. Those numbers are still low for a team with so much talent. Aside from Parise, players such as Thomas Vanek, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville all are under-performing. The only players to score on a power play goal are Nino Niederreiter with four, Parise, Vanek, and Spurgeon with one. The rest of the team has zero.

But it’s not for a lack of trying. The Wild ranks eight in shots with 136 shots on goal on the power play. Also, they have had plenty of time with the man-advantage with close to 154 and a half minutes, which ranks them third in the league.

Still, it’s “what have you done for me lately” that matters to any hockey fan. In this case, the Wild have no produced not nearly enough to satisfy the masses in Minnesota. And the team knows that. Parise went on to to say in his interview:

"” … (The fans are) frustrated, and I understand that. And they have a right to be frustrated. We’re frustrated, and then when we get booed, we get more frustrated, and then it snowballs.”-Zach Parise, prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com, December, 2014"

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Eyes On Isles

Well, maybe the fans are trying to tell you something. The performance on the power play is below subpar and needs fixing, ASAP. Or, the boos will continue to rain down and may get louder. Ask any fan of the New York Rangers or the Philadelphia Flyers. They will tell you, point blank, that the power play is stinking up the joint. Parise was a New Jersey Devil for five seasons. He must have had a front row to other team’s power play woes. Especially in that hockey market, you need to perform.

It’s called tough love. The sooner Parise figures that out, the sooner he can block that out and motivate his teammates. The sooner the power play gets fixed, the sooner the boos will turn into cheers and everything will be alright.

For now, no sympathy for Parise. Man-up and get things going in the right direction.