It was Oct. 2, and Zach Parise was in absolute agony due to a herniated disc that was pushing on a nerve.



Before each season, Wild players and their significant others have a team get-together. Despite the pain he was in and the fact that earlier in the day general manager Chuck Fletcher announced that Parise would miss at least the first two games of the season, Parise didn’t want to miss out on the gathering.



So, Parise laid down in the back of his Chevy Tahoe and his wife, Alisha, drove the two of them to dinner. The Wild winger will never forget the look on the faces of the young valets at Bellecour in Wayzata when his SUV came to a stop.



Just imagine the trunk popping open, and rolling out like an old, rolled-up rug was none other than … Zach Parise.



“They couldn’t believe their eyes,” Parise said, laughing, of the stunned valets.



At dinner, Parise could never get comfortable. He had to eat standing up:...