REPORTING TIMELINE
Star Tribune staff writer Michael Russo (above) tracked the Wild's pursuit of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter from the minute free-agency opened at 11 a.m. last Sunday. Some highlights:
Sunday: Sent 30 e-mails to sources. Debunked Twitter rumors.
Sunday night: Confirmed Wild was on each player's short list.
Monday: Sent 10 e-mails to each camp. Eventually reached sources at each camp by phone and confirmed the Wild was still involved. Debunked Twitter rumors.
Monday night: Exchanged text messages with Parise, who said he was headed home in the morning from his agent's office in Toronto.
Tuesday morning: Staked out Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with two other Star Tribune reporters, found Parise on an escalator and interviewed him. Debunked Twitter rumors.
Tuesday afternoon: Tracked a private plane with a planned route from St. Paul to International Falls, Minn., to Madison, Wis., all places tied to the story. Waited for the plane to return to St. Paul Downtown Airport and saw the Wild's owner, general manager, coach and an agent get off.
Tuesday night: Verified with a source that Parise and Suter were communicating with each other and wanted to play together.
Wednesday morning: Source said a deal was being worked out but said hold off on reporting that. Soon, source said Suter had signed, then a few minutes later said Parise had signed. The news was then posted on startribune.com.
