Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/81890
WILD SIDE WALK ON THE BY JESS MYERS Sitting in a motorized wheelchair, as the guest of honor at a fund-raiser that would net more than $120,000 for his medical bills by the end of the night, was Jack Jablonski, the 16-year-old from the Twin Cities who was paralyzed in a junior varsity hockey game last winter. I t was a warm July evening, and on the concourse of the Minnesota Wild's home rink, one could barely make his or her way through the crowd. And at the center of all the congestion were arguably the three best-known names on the local hockey scene these days. earlier, didn't even work here, and who seemingly overnight had become the spotlight attractions in a region where hockey is a big part of everyday life. The Wild's July 4th signing of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to massive free agent deals re-ignited the fire for the NHL game in the self-proclaimed State of Hockey. On this night, that renewed mania for the home team and its newest stars was evident, as Stanley Cup winners and Miracle On Ice players were acknowl- edged, but the autograph lines for Parise and Suter stretched seemingly around the rink. Flanking him on both sides were two men who, a few weeks There was a honeymoon of nearly a decade when the NHL returned to Minnesota via the expansion Wild in 2000, as no seat inside the Xcel Energy Center went unsold for the franchise's first 409 games (preseason, regular season and playoffs). But all honeymoons come to an end, and empty seats had started to pop up in bunches at Wild games as the team went four sea- sons without a trip to the playoffs. The lead owner Craig Leipold and general manager Chuck Fletcher knew that a bold move was needed, both from business and hockey standpoints. When NHL free agency opened on July 1, the two biggest names available were Americans. Suter, 27, had just completed his seventh season on the Nashville Predators' blue line. Parise, also 27, had just help lead the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals. The pair had been fierce rivals in Junior hockey and again in college, as Suter went to the University of Wisconsin while Parise 16 Over the years, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise have teamed up on international ice. After their blockbuster free agent signing, the young Americans will look to re-energize the Minnesota Wild. SEPTEMBER.2012 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS BY Getty Images