Zach Parise

Zach Parise

Zachary LeBron Justin Parise (born July 28, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey left winger of French-Canadian origin, and alternate captain for the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the New Jersey Devils, where he served as team captain. Parise's father, J. P. Parisé, was a professional ice hockey player who played for Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series, and his brother Jordan Parise is a professional hockey goaltender.

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 pro 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 league leader Alexander Ovechkin with 56, while ranking fifth among all NHL players in points with 94.

Internationally, Parise has represented the United States at several different events. He helped the Americans win a gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Championships, where he was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and 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.