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Wild warmly welcome Backstrom back (Parise’s less kind, though)

Hey, there are limits to how polite you can be to a teammate-turned-opponent.

So far, the Minnesota Wild are presenting a different take on “Minnesota Nice.”

On one hand, the franchise provided a great nod to Niklas Backstrom as he dresses for the Calgary Flames, acknowledging a run that made him the Wild’s franchise wins leader (among other categories):

On the other, there’s the actual playing part, and the Wild simply can’t afford to do him a solid.

Zach Parise has been particularly effective so far against Backstrom, scoring two goals in less than a minute against the goalie he likely saw frequently in practice.

If the Flames don’t watch out, Backstrom might struggle to finish the night against his old cronies.

Update: Parise managed a first-period hat trick in this one. Harsh. You can see the videos at the top of this post.