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1-On-1 With Minnesota Wild's Zach Parise

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Wild started training camp this weekend, and their season opener is just two and a half weeks away. It is a season filled with promise and high expectations after the team's exciting run to the Western Conference semifinals a year ago. David McCoy sat down with Zach Parise to talk about their Stanley Cup goals, their brutal schedule and who Parise predicts is about to have a breakout season.

Q: You guys go into training camp here as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. How does that change from years past or situations you've been in in the past? Is there any sort of different approach at all?

A: I think there's probably 30 teams, or 25 teams that are coming in on Day 1 and thinking and hoping that they're a Stanley Cup contender. But you don't want to get too far ahead of yourself. I mean, there's a lot of work, we can't fast forward to the playoffs. We have to get there. It's going to be really hard to get there. We learned a lot last year of how hard it is to get there and to get past the first round, and I think, internally, we want to build on that. We want to continue to play well and get in the playoffs again and hopefully go further.

Q: If you guys are to take that next step, what needs to be better than it was last year? And do you feel like you've done that?

A: We've got to score more goals, there's no secret. We weren't exactly, at times, filling the net last year. We've got to create more offense, to get more chances. And I think we defend really well, we play really well without that puck, but if we can get that Goals For, Goals Differential a little more in our favor and a little more in the Goals For category, that's gonna help us a lot.

Q: And that's why you guys brought Thomas Vanek in...

A: Anytime you can add a guy that's proven consistently that he scores goals, it's going to help your team. He's a great player. Of course he's known for his goal scoring abilities, (but) I think he's a really underrated playmaker too. So in my opinion, we got the best free agent in the offseason. And I think everybody should be -- and is -- looking forward to seeing him play with us.

Q: You guys have got a lot of young players on this team who are very talented and showed a lot of flashes last year. Is there one guy that you predict is about to have a real breakthrough season?

A: Each one of them showed the potential and the ability that they have, at different times last year. I think because I got to play a lot with Granlund last year, I really think that he's going to have a very good season. It was tough for him at first, but I think as he learned throughout that lockout season, and then last year with how well he played in the Olympics, and then through the rest of the regular season for us, I think he's going to really pick up where he finished the season.

Q: You said at the beginning of this interview that about 25 teams feel like they have Stanley Cup aspirations. I think your coach said something along the lines of 'I feel like we're a Stanley Cup contender, I'm also deathly afraid of us missing the playoffs.' You're in a very good conference, in a very, very good division, you know that you're going to get a really tough battle every night out. How do you guys navigate what you're about to face this season schedule-wise?

A: It's going to be tough. There's no question we're going to have to be very sharp. And we're not going to be able to afford to go on extended losing streaks, because especially early, you don't want to find yourself playing catch-up. You look at those other teams in our division, you feel like, who are they going to lose to? But you know what, we feel like we're just as good as those teams, and we can play with those teams. But that's easy to say right now. We have to go out and do it, we have to make sure that we keep developing.

Q: When you and Ryan Suter were signed here a couple years ago, a lot of people looked at this like, OK, this is a team that's poised to really make a run here. Do you guys feel like you are there, at this point, this season?

A: I hope so. I think we feel like we are. Since we came here a couple years ago, I think the moves that Mr. Fletcher made has made in the offseasons, whether it's free agents or during the season through trade, I think, and on top of that, the development of the guys from the minors in to where they are now, we feel good about it. We feel like we're playing the right way and doing the right things. But again, there's going to be a lot of really good teams that are going to miss the playoffs. And we have to make sure we're not one of those.

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