Injury threatens to sideline Parrish

Wild left winger Mark Parrish suffered an upper body injury during Thursday's victory at Edmonton and is "doubtful" to play tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.

By Michael Russo, Star Tribune

Last update: March 3, 2007 - 6:06 PM

BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Wild left winger Mark Parrish suffered an upper body injury during Thursday's victory at Edmonton and is "doubtful" to play tonight against the Vancouver Canucks, coach Jacques Lemaire said after Saturday's practice.

"He's still a little stiff," Lemaire said.

Parrish said the injury is not serious.

Lemaire said the March captaincy would be divulged to the players before this morning's skate. It's not known if Parrish, February's captain, will be retained or if Lemaire will pick a new captain.

The Wild went 8-2-2 with Parrish as captain, and Lemaire continues to rave about his game. Parrish had two goals and seven points last month.

Goaltenders work out

Goalies Niklas Backstrom, Josh Harding and Manny Fernandez practiced for the second consecutive day Saturday, but Lemaire wouldn't announce his starter.

"[Tonight], we'll see who's going to play, but [Backstrom] looks like he's ready to go," Lemaire said. "It's been two days since he went on the ice, and things look really good. I don't know yet if he'll be playing, but he'll be dressing.

"Harding's playing really well. We'll have to make decisions. I have to check how Fernandez is. If Fernandez is ready, maybe he'll be dressed."

Backstrom pulled a groin Wednesday at Calgary. Harding filled in admirably, then stopped all 30 Oilers shots for his second career shutout Thursday.

• Minor league goalie Miroslav Kopriva was returned to AHL Houston.

Fundraiser in works

Harding's website, www.fundthefight.com, is up and running. The site is still under construction, but after the season, he'll auction off his helmet and game-used sticks from several teammates and opponents (Carolina's Cam Ward, Vancouver's Markus Naslund, to name a couple), to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Harding has been wearing a new helmet with pink ribbons on the side, his nickname, "Hards," on the front and the saying, "Fund the Fight, Find a Cure" on the back. This is to honor his 26-year-old sister, Stephanie, who has breast cancer.

Michael Russo • mrusso@startribune.com

Recent Minnesota Wild stories

Kiprusoff's 38 saves, Iginla's 2 goals give Calgary a 5-2 win over Maple Leafs - March 3, 2007

Kiprusoff's 38 saves, Iginla's 2 goals give Calgary a 5-2 win over Maple Leafs - Jarome Iginla scored two goals and Miikka Kiprusoff made 38 saves and the Calgary Flames earned a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. More