Zach Parise, along with fellow Olympians Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund, was given the day off today by the Wild, but the veteran winger and United States captain wanted to clarify comments he made after the Americans' loss to Finland in the bronze-medal game.
Parise was quoted as saying the Americans were "passive" and sent one guy in on the forecheck and allowed the Canadians (in the semifinals) and Finns to break out of the zone easily because of that.
It was construed by some in the media and by fans as Parise taking potshots at coach Dan Bylsma and his system.
Via email today, Parise said that wasn't the case.
"I liked his system, along with each of the other players. His system didn't have anything to do with why we didn't win a medal," Parise said. "I wasn't even misquoted, someone just took a response to a different question and made it sound like I was referring to him. I was asked about how we played in a particular game and I said we were passive as a team, not playing a passive system. We seemed slow as a group that particular game. Dan did a great job coaching us and preparing us for all of the games, along with the other coaches. They put in a lot of work and it's unfortunate someone would say different."
Parise, who was pursued by the Penguins before he chose Minnesota two summers ago, said he had a good relationship with Bylsma throughout the Olympics and the months leading up to it. That included phone calls and meetings.
"He always asked for the opinion of the players on different things," Parise said in the email. "And on the ice he let us play and demanded us to work. He was always detailed in his approach and his meetings and like I said earlier we were more than prepared from a scouting standpoint for each game."
Parise spoke Sunday with Penguins GM Ray Shero, also the associate GM for the U.S. during the Olympics (became acting GM when David Poile was struck by the puck in Minnesota on Feb. 6), to clarify his comments and to assure Shero that they were not meant to take aim at Bylsma.
