Zach Parise was named captain of the Devils on Wednesday; that was the easy part. In this interview, Parise discusses his comeback this season after surgery for a torn meniscus in his knee and his approach to handling questions about being in the final year of his contract.
Before training camp a year ago, you and your pal Kyle Okposo took batting practice with your hometown baseball team, the Minnesota Twins? Did the knee injury from last season make you take a pass on BP this year?
Nah. My health is good. It had more to do with our Twins’ having a rough season. As pro athletes, we figured it wouldn’t be right for us to be out there having a blast on the ballfield when the Twins were going through some bad times. Hopefully next year they’ll be back on top and we can have some fun again. That was a real thrill for me.
So let’s talk about the knee. Would you say you’re 100 percent going into the opener against the Flyers on Saturday?
No question in my mind. It feels good. More importantly, it’s out of my head. I worked hard to get it to this point and got great treatment and advice from the trainers and medical staff. With each exhibition game, I felt more confident and like I had added energy. I’m ready to go and can’t wait for the games to start for real.
You were around the team for most of last season while you were injured, but it can’t be the same emotionally as being in the lineup and contributing.
You really miss the little things. Like you said, I was around, but it’s so different when you’re not throwing on the jersey before warmups. You miss all the little things about being on the road with your friends and trying to be better than the other team. I’d always heard athletes say this, but now I know the feeling. When you’re away from the game for just about the entire season, you appreciate your team and everything you have even more.
You came back to play one game late in the season, which I admit surprised me. In hindsight, was it the right thing to do?
Absolutely. No one has any regrets with how we handled it. The one game I came back for, that’s when we were fighting for our playoff lives. I told everyone then that I was good enough to play. We ended up losing the game and were eliminated from getting a playoff berth, so we all got together and decided the smart thing to do was to shut me down. I’m glad I gave it my best shot, and shutting down for the last few games of the year gave me a jump-start on my off-season training. It was not a fun process, but every step of the way I feel we did the right thing.
It’s one thing to be asked every few weeks by the New Jersey and New York beat writers you deal with on almost a daily basis. But I’m wondering if you have an answer about your contract status prepared when you visit the hockey-mad cities like Toronto and Montreal during the season. You have to know you’ll be surrounded at the morning skates.
[Laughs] That’s a good point. I haven’t prepared anything, no. I guess I’ll just tell them what I tell everyone else: “I’m not worried about it, I’d like to stay and I’m sure something will get worked out, but my focus is on our team and this season.” That’ll have to do.
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