An Interview with Kyle Parker, a Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues Fan

A FanSided GonePuckWild follower, Kyle Parker is a fan of the Wild from farther than most of us. During his recent trip to the Twin Cities, we caught up.

For a while, I had seen Kyle Parker mention that he would be in town for Tuesday nights hockey game against the Blackhawks, you can read about that game here, and he saw an exciting game, a 3-2 OT win.

The next day, I reached out to see if he would mind answering a flurry of questions. Here’s the interview:

GonePuckWild: Hey Kyle, I think it’s awesome that you traveled so far to visit town and watch the Wild. Would you be comfortable with an interview?

Kyle Parker: Yeah absolutely.

GPW: Awesome, appreciate that. Just a couple of questions we’ll have you answer. What got you to be a fan of the Minnesota Wild?

KP: I never had the opportunity to have a chance to watch or follow the North Stars. My first favorite team was the Blues, who I’m still a fan of. When the Wild came back in 2000, it gave me the perfect chance to follow a new Minnesota franchise.

GPW: Any particular player that was an early favorite?

KP: Marian Gaborik is by far my favorite but I also was a fan of Wes Walz, Darby Hendrickson, Mark Parrish, Manny Fernandez, Richard Park, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Brent Burns.

GPW: How do you keep up with the Wild as a satellite fan?

KP: NHL Center Ice

GPW:  What brought you back to Minnesota to come to a pair of games?

KP: I usually don’t come back to MN very much bc of my job but I was fortunate to schedule in some early vacation time to catch a game. The last time I was at the XEC, I was 16 and the Wild were still in the Northwest Division so it’s been long since overdue.

GPW: Who’s your favorite player on the current roster?

KP: Jason Zucker but still a huge fan of Zach Parise and Eric Staal.

GPW: What do you think the Wild should do at the trade deadline?

KP: I don’t think they need to make a major move if Guerin feels the need to. I trust his decision making over Paul Fenton and Chuck Fletcher. They’re in a fairly decent position but time will tell.

GPW: What prospect excites you the most, outside of Kaprizov?

KP: At the moment, I’m very intrigued to see how well Matthew Boldy and Marshall Warren do at BC. Adam Beckman, Alex Khovanov, Shawn Boudrias, and Damien Giroux are all having great years in juniors. I truly feel that the Wild have a very bright future ahead of them, based on the talent they’ve been drafting.

GPW:  What’s your outlook on the franchise?

KP: Overall, very positive. I don’t think they’re ready to contend for the cup yet but give them about 3-4 years and I think you’ll see this team flourish. I have faith.

GPW: Saw you made it to Gophs-Badgers, how was that game?

KP: Haha it was awesome. Not the biggest basketball fan but I do love seeing the Gophers whip up on Wisconsin as they did.

GPW: Favorite non-Wild team?

KP: The Blues

GPW: Saw the Official Wild account give you some love, how was that?

KP: It was pretty neat. I enjoyed that 15 seconds of fame.

GPW: When should we expect you back for more Wild games?

KP: Probably not the rest of this season but I have been making plans already to come up for the big game at Target Field next year.

GonePuckWild: Kyle you’re an absolute gem. Thanks for taking the time to travel up here to watch the Wild and for answering our questions.

Kyle Parker: Haha, the pleasure was all mine. Thank you

Kyle would end up going to the game last night and seeing an exciting 4-1 win, including two fights.

One with Jason Zucker, where he probably lost his first career tilt:

And The Mighty Moose, Marcus Foligno destroying *checks notes* Zack MacEwen?

Thanks again to Kyle for answering our questions.

Your Minnesota Wild play tonight against the Dallas Stars. It will be Zach Parise’s 1000th NHL game.