Marty Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I was just curious to see what people think of Parise's legacy at UND. Where would you rank him with the best that have come out of UND? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleed Green Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 My opinion, Parise would be second only to Hrkac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 It is quite likely that Zach will become the best NHL player to have come out of UND. Plus, he may have had the most "tools" of anyone who has played for us. However, I think Hrkac and James Patrick were better as collegiate players. Had Parise stayed another year or two, I am sure he would have been the best ever to wear the Green and White. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted March 30, 2004 Author Share Posted March 30, 2004 It is quite likely that Zach will become the best NHL player to have come out of UND. Plus, he may have had the most "tools" of anyone who has played for us. However, I think Hrkac and James Patrick were better as collegiate players. Had Parise stayed another year or two, I am sure he would have been the best ever to wear the Green and White. Agreed. I think you have to put Parise in the top 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Bundy Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I am a huge Gopher fan and for the most part hate UND, because of the rivalry and all, but I would have to say Parise is the best college hockey player I have ever seen. Wish him the best with the Devils and know he will excel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UND Fan Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I agree that Parise would be in the top three with Bob Joyce and Troy Murray not too far behind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U2Bad1 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I would put Panzer ahead of parise.. not because panzer is better but because he stayed 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superman0099 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 My top vote has always gone to none other than Karl. Parise, in my opinion, has the best combination of work ethic, talent, perseverance, and charisma that I've seen in the WCHA for a long, long time. It's hard to compare Parise to players like Hrkac, Patrick, and Troy Murray, because they played in a far different league; Arguably more talented, less defensive, and a more open style. It is interesting to think, however, what kind of impact Parise could have made in a league like that. One thing I am fairly certain of, is that Parise will be the best NHL player to come out of UND, aside from Eddie the Eagle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 It is quite likely that Zach will become the best NHL player to have come out of UND. He is a great player, but Belfour's numbers when he is done will put him in the top five of almost every goaltending category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Among forwards, I'd say Parise is the best Sioux skater since Hrkac. And that would put him tied for #3 all time, IMO with Panzer and Karl. #2 being Hrkac and #1 being Belfour (simply because he'll be the only Sioux player that I can name off the top of my head who will be heading into the NHL Hall of Fame once he hangs up his skates). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U2Bad1 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 IMO there is a different between best player and greatest sioux. Parise on my list is probably ont of the best players, but not even close to being the greatest sioux forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mksioux Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 A little perspective - Hrkac had more points in his sophomore season than Parise had in both his years combined. Yes it was a different era, but telling nontheless. IMO, Parise is behind many players in terms of where he will rank as a COLLEGE player, such as Taylor, Smail, T. Murray, Sykes, Patrick, Hrkac, Joyce, S. Johnson, G. Johnson, Blake, Panzer, Goehring, among others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoHawks! Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I have been watching the Sioux since 1986. It is so hard to compare players from different decades like Troy Murray, Bobby Joyce, Hrkac, Steve Johnson, Greg Johnson, Jeff Panzer, Jason Blake, Ed Belfour, Jon Casey....the list goes on and on and on. I think some of the players mentioned above had better college careers, but Parise may have the most successful NHL career of any Sioux player. We will have to wait and see. He has all the tools to become a great NHLer, maybe a superstar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanfromafar Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 A little perspective - Hrkac had more points in his sophomore season than Parise had in both his years combined. Yes it was a different era, but telling nontheless. IMO, Parise is behind many players in terms of where he will rank as a COLLEGE player, such as Taylor, Smail, T. Murray, Sykes, Patrick, Hrkac, Joyce, S. Johnson, G. Johnson, Blake, Panzer, Goehring, among others. I would agree. ZP has a ton of talent and hopefully a great NHL career ahead of him, but I would put him behind the players mentioned above. In addition, if Bo stays next year, I would put him ahead of Parise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggin42 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 ZP was certainly the most visible and reputable Sioux player while wearing the uniform. Hrkac got a lot of attention, but not as much, I don't believe, as ZP. Troy Murray was an excellent 2-way player, but he stayed only 2 years as well. He scored 90+ points and won the Selke with the Blackhawks. Dave Christian arguably had the best NHL career of all Sioux forwards, and don't forget he switched to defense and led Team USA in assists in the 1980 Olympics. Christian was named the Captain of the Winnipeg Jets at age 22 and scored his first goal something like 10 seconds into his first NHL game. He's in the US Hockey Hall of Fame, but his stats as a Sioux don't really jump out. ZP certainly will be mentioned in the same breath as all of the great Sioux players. One last thought. Do you remember in February when the Sioux were slumping and CB said something like "everybody gets into the habit of standing around and watching Parise and forgeting to play their own game?" Guess that won't happen anymore. Thanks, ZP, for every shift you skated as a Sioux, for you seemed to skate each one harder than the one before. Good luck w/ NJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 A little perspective - Hrkac had more points in his sophomore season than Parise had in both his years combined. Yes it was a different era, but telling nontheless. Actually Hrkac had 116 points his sophomore season and Parise had 116 combined his two seasons - 61 and 55 - but the point stands. The problem though with the comparison is Hrkac had 54 points his freshman season, which is seven less than Parise's first year. Hrkac's sophomore season actually came after being a year away from UND, which would be the equivalent of a junior season if he would've stayed for his second season. It is very difficult to speculate as to Parise's potential scoring next season as a junior, but with the talent UND returns (hopefully anyway), if ZP was reunited with BB and BM I think they all three would have put up some very high numbers. Hrkac numbers? - doubtful - but higher than we've seen in some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mksioux Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Actually Hrkac had 116 points his sophomore season and Parise had 116 combined his two seasons - 61 and 55 - but the point stands. Woops, thought ZP had 60 last year. The problem though with the comparison is Hrkac had 54 points his freshman season, which is seven less than Parise's first year. Hrkac's sophomore season actually came after being a year away from UND, which would be the equivalent of a junior season if he would've stayed for his second season. It is very difficult to speculate as to Parise's potential scoring next season as a junior, but with the talent UND returns (hopefully anyway), if ZP was reunited with BB and BM I think they all three would have put up some very high numbers. Hrkac numbers? - doubtful - but higher than we've seen in some time. Yep. But the fact is, Hrkac came back for his defining season and ZP didn't. It's possible ZP may have scored 90 points next year and won a NC...which would have drastically changed my analysis and put him instantly into top-3 status in my mind. But he's gone, and IMHO is not a top-10 Sioux player of all-time on an overall career level. Close, but not quite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 IMO there is a different between best player and greatest sioux. Parise on my list is probably ont of the best players, but not even close to being the greatest sioux forward. I completely agree with this. For the Gophers Grant Potulny will go down as one of the greatest Gophers ever. Many other far more talented Gophers will come and go, few if any will accomplish what GP did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 What's weird is it doesn't seem all that long ago that we were arguing about whether Blais was overhyping Parise before he even started his first season. Now he's gone after two seasons and we're arguing about how good he really was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDrizzle40 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 I would put Panzer ahead of parise.. not because panzer is better but because he stayed 4 years. I'll have to agree with u2bad1. Zack was a great talent but I don't think he had as great of an impact on his teammates as Panzer did. Without Jeff, B Lundbohm and Bayda would of never been able to put up the numbers they did. Lundbohm left early the next year because he knew this and we all know Bayda struggled the next year. Plus Panzer has one championship to his name. That's more than Zack can say. IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmail Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 IMO, Parise is behind many players in terms of where he will rank as a COLLEGE player, such as Taylor, Smail, T. Murray, Sykes, Patrick, Hrkac, Joyce, S. Johnson, G. Johnson, Blake, Panzer, Goehring, among others. Great list... I was thinking of many of these names when I opened the thread. He certainly is among the great ones, though, if not above a few of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 OK, forgive me for not completely fawning over Zach Parise like some of the people on the board. Here's his legacy at UND: 0 NCAA titles 0 WCHA Final Five Playoff Titles 1 WCHA Regular Season Title 1-2 post-season record Hardly the stuff of "legends." If you want to make a case for him being a fabulous player, that's fine. I completely agree. It was a pleasure to watch Zach handle the burden of being THE #1 guy night in and night out, the media pressure, the fan expectations, etc. But to compare him with Jeff Panzer, Aaron Schweitzer, Karl Goehring, Troy Murray, Tony Hrkac, Matt Henderson, Ed Belfour, and plenty of others who stepped it up and took their team to a different level (that being an NCAA title) is a different story. I'm sorry to say, folks, but Zach's legacy as a Sioux will be as player with exceptional talent and skill who made the players around him better. However, to call him the greatest Sioux player ever? Sorry, I don't buy it. Tony Hrkac may not have been a "great" NHL player, but there's NO QUESTION that he is the greatest Sioux player of all-time. Think of all the athletes over the years and what separates the "good" or even "really good" from the "great." It's taking your team to the top. I wish Zach the best and I think he will be a phenomenal pro player, but in my mind, when I think of his Sioux career, it will always be the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons and "what might have been..." Michael Jordan was never "great" until the Bulls won an NBA title. Charles Barkley is STILL not considered an elite player because he never won the title. Steve Yzerman was beloved by the Red Wings, but now he's seen as the ultimate captain for his three Stanley Cups. Had Zach Parise stayed another year and left school 5 minutes after winning NCAA title #8 next season, I would have smiled and said "thank you" and appreciated what he had done. His promise and expectations as a player would have led to the ultimate prize as a college hockey player...the NCAA title. And THAT would have been a fitting end to the Zach Parise Sioux legacy, not this. I can't say I blame him...an NHL contract, signing bonus, etc. And if his name gets etched on the Stanley Cup in June, I'm sure he'll have no regrets. I do wish him the best, but it's a disappointing day for the Sioux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoteauRinkRat Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 The best thing about watching Parise over the last couple of years is he lived up to all the hype that surrounded his debut as a Fighting Sioux. A lot of players would have collapsed under that type of pressure, but he really showcased his skills as a hockey player over his two years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Coteau, I concur 100%. A lot of kids with that kind of pressure fold like a pup tent under it. Take a look at some of the top-tier NHL draft picks of years gone by...Brian Lawton, Patrick Stefan (yes, he's STILL with Atlanta), Radek Bonk, Alexander Daigle, just to name a few. At this point, I think you can even put Eric Lindros on that list of major disappointments. Zach's college career is no indication of what he'll do in the pros, but strictly on the basis of name and expectations coming INTO college, he certainly lived up to the hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioSiouxFan Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 If you judge by the excitement on the ice in a college game, I can't see how you can beat Hrkac. How many times did he lift an opponant's stick, steal the puck and score, sending the crowd into a frenzy? Parise is a great player too, but I don't think he quite got to the level of Hrkac in college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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