Reverse Retro sweaters provide personal connection for two Wild forwards

ST. PAUL -- For many Wild fans who have purchased the team's Reverse Retro jerseys or even admired them from afar, the not-so-subtle tribute to the Minnesota North Stars is personal.
Those fans maybe remember heading to Met Center to see a game in person, or have fond memories of the club's Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1991. Maybe they owned a Mike Modano jersey back in the day or had a wore a sweet North Stars starter jacket out on the playground at school.
The green and gold color scheme hits purists in the State of Hockey squarely in the feels.

But for a couple of Wild players, the North Stars tribute really is a family affair.
Forward Zach Parise grew up just down the road from Met Center in Bloomington, son of longtime and Stars fan favorite J.P. Parise, who like Zach did Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche, skated on NHL ice with a green and gold No. 11 jersey flapping in the breeze.
"The color scheme's awesome," Parise said. "I think for all of us North Star fans here in Minnesota, you feel like it's been a long time coming that we add a little bit of that into the jerseys and into the team."

Perhaps the highlight of the whole uniform set are the gold stars that adorn the breezers on each side.
While the sweater itself is based off the 1978 North Stars jersey, the stars on the pants is a tribute to later Stars teams. The 1978 team had simple gold and white stripes on the sides of those breezers, but the stars were taken from the more modern pants, once the club added black to its color scheme in 1988.
Regardless, it's a really classy and unique touch that is a favorite of Parise's.
"The breezers are great," he said. "They did a really good job with them to pay a little tribute to the North Stars for a lot of us [who] grew up watching them here. I think it's a great thing."

Zach never got to see his dad play for the North Stars, or for the four other NHL clubs he played for in his 14-year NHL career that ended with a 57-game run back in Bloomington in 1978-79. It'd be five more years before Zach was even born.
J.P. was an assistant coach for the North Stars until Zach was almost four, but where Zach said many of his childhood Stars memories came from were at his own home.
"We had, from my dad's playing days, we had a lot of the North Stars memorabilia around the house," Parise said. "A lot of his old gear and pictures. So, for me in particular, to be able to wear those colors, it will be fun."
Like Parise, Nick Bjugstad has family ties to the old North Stars as well. His uncle, Scott Bjugstad, was a ninth-round pick of the club in 1981 and began his NHL career in the team's legendary North Star 'N' sweater in 1984.
Scott, a New Brighton native who played high school hockey at Irondale before embarking on a three-year collegiate career at the University of Minnesota, played five seasons with the hometown North Stars before moving on to stints with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

Scott's 317-game NHL career concluded just a few months before Nick was born, but Scott served as one of the most important figures in Nick's life growing up.
Nick would one day wear the same No. 27 that Scott wore at the U of M, and now will get a chance to wear the same green and gold colors Scott wore with the North Stars.

"My uncle has been an idol of mine since I was a child," Bjugstad said. "I never got to actually see him play in the NHL, I've seen highlights. But he's been a mentor and a close family member of mine that is a big reason why I am here.
"I wear 27 in his name, and I know he didn't wear 27 with the North Stars, but at the Gophers he did, I think it's gonna be awesome putting those colors on."