JP Parise passes away

Mike Russo has the story out of Minnesota that JP Parise passed away last night at the age of 73.

Former North Star J.P. Parise, father of Wild winger, dies at 73

				Former North Star J.P. Parise, father of Wild winger, di... J
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Mike notes that his former North Star teammate (and current Wild radio analyst) Tom Reid will deliver the eulogy at JP's funeral.

Parise, who arguably scored the goal that made the Islanders THE ISLANDERS also has an unwanted distinction as he is by far and away the most successful Islander player to pass away.

Parise is the 10th former Islander to pass away and is the first to neither play for the 1972-73 squad or to be killed (Karpovtsev and Vasicek) in the Lokomotiv plane crash in 2011.

As an Islander, JP played in 240 regular season games, tallying 73 goals and 98 assists.  He also played 41 playoff games, scoring 16 goals and adding 18 assists.  In that 1975 playoff series with the Rangers, he scored twice -- the first Islander playoff goal ever scored at the Coliseum (in game 2), and the series-clinching goal 11 seconds into overtime at Madison Square Garden in game 3.

May he Rest in Peace.

 

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick