Zach Parise

Zachary Justin Parise (born July 28, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey left winger and an alternate captain of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Prior to turning pro, Parise played two seasons for the University of North Dakota, where he was twice nominated for the Hobey Baker Award given to the top men's collegiate hockey player. He played high school hockey for Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota. Parise was drafted by the New Jersey Devils 17th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He turned pro after his sophomore season, and spent 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 Most Valuable Player, Best Forward and had 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 to send it to overtime. Sidney Crosby scored during extra time, and Parise and his teammates won a silver medal. After the tournament, Parise was named to the Tournament All-Star Team.

Parise's father, J.P. was a professional hockey player who played for Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series. His brother Jordan is a professional hockey goalie.

Amateur
Parise played high school hockey for four seasons for the Shattuck-St. Mary's Sabres in Faribault, Minnesota, where his father J.P. worked in the hockey program. During his final two years (2000–01 and 2001–02) at Shattuck-St.Mary's, he scored 146 goals and 194 assists in 125 games. While playing for the Sabres, Parise twice participated in the Mac's AAA Hockey Tournament held in Calgary, Alberta. In 2000 and 2001, he was named the tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) as well as being named to the tournament All-Star Team. He was the top scorer at the 2001 tournament. After his senior year at Shattuck-St. Mary's, Parise was named the school's Best All-Around Athlete.

Parise played NCAA hockey for the University of North Dakota (UND) starting with the 2002–03 season. In his first game with the Fighting Sioux, Parise scored a three goals, becoming only the second freshman to record a hat trick since 1988. During his freshman season at UND, Parise led the NCAA in rookie scoring (26 goals and 35 assists), and finished 8th in the national scoring race. He captured a number of awards during the season, including being named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Week 4 times, and WCHA Offensive Player of the Week once. After the season he was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, he was the only freshman nominated that year, and the first UND freshman nominee ever. Parise was named UND's Male Rookie Athlete of the Year after the 2002–03 season. In addition to these honors, Parise was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team and the All-WCHA Third Team. Parise was also named the recipient of the Jeff Anderson Hockey Scholarship, given to the MVP as voted by his teammates.

After his freshman season, Parise was eligible for the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Heading into the draft, he was ranked as the 9th best North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Heading into the draft, teams had concerns about his size, but were impressed by his skill and work ethic. At the draft, the New Jersey Devils traded to obtain the 17th overall pick from the Edmonton Oilers and used it to select Parise.

Parise returned to UND for his sophomore season after being drafted. Along with teammates Brandon Bochenski, Matt Smaby and Drew Stafford, Parise helped the Fighting Sioux to the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA Regular Season Champions. Parise was named a First Team All-American after the season. He was named as one of the 10 nominees for the Hobey Baker Award, and was one of three finalists, losing out to eventual winner Junior Lessard. Parise was also named to the All-WCHA Academic Team, and the WCHA All-Tournament Team. After his sophomore season, Parise was named as the winner of the Cliff (Fido) Purpur Award, awarded by the coaching staff to the player who exemplifies "the characteristics of Purpur, a former UND coach, of hard work, determination and being a creator of excitement on the ice."

Professional
After his sophomore season at UND, Parise chose to forego his final two years of NCAA eligibility to sign a professional contract with the Devils. He signed an entry-level contract with the Devils on March 29, 2003. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Parise spent his first professional season in the American Hockey League with the Albany River Rats. He was assigned to the River Rats on September 16, 2004. In his first professional season, Parise scored 18 goals and added 40 assists. He was chosen to play in the 2004–05 AHL All-Star Game.

Parise made his debut in the NHL at the start of the 2005–06 season. In his rookie year, Parise played in all but one game, totaling 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points. He became just the 12th player for the Devils to score a goal in his first NHL game. Parise scored his first career playoff goal against the New York Rangers in game three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

To open the following season, Parise set a franchise record for scoring the quickest season-opening goal, 26 seconds into the first game. For the season, he nearly doubled his scoring output of the previous season, totaling 62 points. Parise was chosen to play in the NHL YoungStars Game during the All-Star weekend, where he scored two goals and four assists and was named the game's MVP. Heading into the 2007–08 season, Parise and the Devils agreed to terms on a new, 4-year contract on August 1, 2007. Parise led the Devils in scoring during the 2007-08 season with 65 points. On November 30, 2007, in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Parise got his first National Hockey League natural hat trick.

On October 3, 2009, Parise was named an alternate captain for the Devils. Parise had a breakout season during his 4th year in the NHL, which saw the Devils increase their scoring output by nearly half a goal per game, breaking away from the team's image as a mostly defensive team. While playing in all 82 games, Parise scored 45 goals and added 49 assists for 94 points. Parise finished 5th overall in league scoring, and was 3rd in goal scoring, behind only Alexander Ovechkin and Jeff Carter. During the season, Parise was selected to represent the Eastern Conference at the 2008–09 NHL All-Star Game. After the season, Parise was chosen as one of three nominees for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. He was also chosen to the NHL's Second All-Star Team, and named the Devils team MVP.

During the 2009–10 season, Parise played in 81 games for the Devils, finishing with 38 goals and 44 assists. Parise struggled at times, going 12 games without scoring at one point before recording two goals against the Atlanta Thrashers on December 28, 2009. During the playoffs, Parise and the Devils were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals by the Philadelphia Flyers in five games. Parise scored one goal and added three assists in the five playoff games. At the end of the season, Parise was selected as the Devils team MVP, for the second year in a row.

On July 4th, 2012, Parise signed a 13-year, $98 million contract with the Minnesota Wild along with another top free agent, defenseman Ryan Suter. Parise was born in Minnesota and his father J.P. Parise was once the captain of the Minnesota North Stars. Due to the 2012 NHL Lockout, Parise's debut was delayed until January 19, 2013. In his debut, Parise recorded two assists to Dany Heatley. Parise got his first goal with the Wild on January 20 during a 1-0 win over the Dallas Stars.

International
Although Parise's father J.P. played internationally for Canada during his hockey career, Zach and his brother Jordan are American citizens. Parise's international career started at the Under-18 level, where he played for the United States during the 2002 IIHF World U18 Championships. Parise finished the tournament 14th overall in scoring with 7 goals and 3 assists in 8 games and the United States won the gold medal.

Parise next represented the United States at the Under-20 level, playing at the 2003 World Junior Championships. Team USA finished in fourth place and Parise scored 4 goals and added 4 assists to finish 8th in tournament scoring. The following year, at the 2004 World Junior Championships, Parise led the Americans to their first ever gold medal at the tournament. He scored 5 goals and added 6 assists and was awarded the Tournament MVP, Best Forward and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team.

In 2005 and 2007, Parise played for the United States at the World Hockey Championships, although he did not suit up for the full slate of games in either event. In 2008, Parise served as an alternate captain for the American team at the World Championships. He was named Team USA's Player of the Game against Germany during this tournament, and he was also selected as one of the team's Top Three Players at the end of the tournament by the coaching staff.

On January 1, 2010, Parise was named to the 2010 Men's Olympic Hockey Team, and was later named as one of the team's alternate captains. Parise scored both of Team USA's goals in 2-0 quarterfinal win over Switzerland. In the final against Canada, Parise scored a game-tying goal with 24 seconds left in the 3rd period to send the game into overtime, although Parise and his teammates had to settle for the silver medal after a goal by Sidney Crosby during overtime. For the tournament, Parise finished third in the tournament in scoring, and he was named to the Olympic All-Star team with countrymen Ryan Miller and Brian Rafalski.

Personal life
Parise's older brother Jordan is a goaltender who has played in the Devils system in the past. He is sponsored by Easton Hockey. Parise gives his time to New Jersey's public library system, and serves as a Library Champion, a program which promotes the importance of reading to children.

Regular season and playoffs
Statistics Source 

International statistics
Statistics Source