Zach Parise, American ice hockey player
Zachary Justin Parise (born July 28, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey left winger for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild. Parise captained the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games.
Parise's father, Jean-Paul, was a professional ice hockey player who played for Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series, and for the Minnesota North Stars for several years, and his brother Jordan Parise is a retired professional hockey goaltender. He was an alternate captain for the United States at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the captain at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Parise is of French-Canadian heritage.
Parise played midget AAA hockey for Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, before spending two seasons at the University of North Dakota, where he was twice nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top college ice hockey player in America.
He was drafted by the Devils 17th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft and turned professional after his sophomore season, spending one year playing for the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League (AHL). Parise joined the Devils for the 2005–06 season. Parise's best NHL season was in 2008–09, when he was the League's third-leading goal scorer (45) behind Jeff Carter with 46 and NHL leader Alexander Ovechkin with 56, while ranking fifth among all NHL players in points with 94.
Parise has represented the United States at several different events. He helped the USA ice hockey team win a gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Championships, where he was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, Best Forward, and earned a spot on the Tournament All-Star Team. Parise was an alternate captain for the American team at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and scored the tying goal late in the gold medal game against Canada to send it to overtime. Parise and his teammates won a silver medal. After the tournament, Parise was named to the Tournament All-Star Team. Parise was also named captain for the 2014 Winter Olympics.