J. P. Parisé

Jean-Paul Parisé (born December 11, 1941, in Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario, Canada) is a retired professional left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Minnesota North Stars and the New York Islanders.

Juniors and Minor Leagues
Signed by the Boston Bruins as a teenager, Parisé was assigned in 1961–62 NHL season to the Bruins' junior league club, the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association, where he played for former NHL player and future Bruins general manager Hap Emms. While he was not a promising scorer in juniors, he learned to play a diligent two-way game and became noted as a skilled penalty killer. He turned pro the following season and, in the days of the Original Six when big league jobs were few, spent most of the next five seasons in the Bruins' farm system. He started to find his scoring touch in 1964 with the Minneapolis Bruins of the Central Professional Hockey League, scoring 63 points in 72 games, and was named a Second Team league All-Star with the Bruins' Oklahoma City Blazers affiliate in 1966. He made his NHL debut the same season, playing in limited action in three games, followed by eighteen games in Boston the next season.

NHL Career
The following season saw expansion, and Parisé was drafted by the Oakland Seals. He was promptly traded to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, playing three for the Amerks (save for a single game with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Rochester's parent club) before being dealt again, this time to the Minnesota North Stars.

Returning to the site of his first professional success and playing on a line with centre Jude Drouin and high scoring right winger Bill Goldsworthy, Parisé finally became a star, playing six seasons and parts of two others in Minnesota. He was named twice to play in the NHL All-Star Game, and had his best professional campaign in the 1972–73 season, when he scored 27 goals and 75 points. The degree to which he was held in respect in the hockey world resulted in being named to play for Team Canada in the Summit Series in 1972. While during the series he played on a line with superstar Phil Esposito and scored two goals and two assists in six games, he was best known in the series for nearly attacking unpopular referee Josef Kompalla with his stick in the 8th game, holding back at the last minute from striking him and being ejected from the game in consequence.

At age 34, the North Stars felt that Parisé was aging, and dealt him to the New York Islanders midway through the 1975 season. He confounded all doubts, however, being one of the key players to not only lead the Islanders to their first playoff berth that season but all the way to the Stanley Cup Semi-finals, where the Isles lost in a hard fought seven game series to the eventual Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers. Parisé scored 16 points in 17 playoff games that year, second on the Isles only to Drouin, who had been acquired in a separate deal with Minnesota that season. Parisé played two and a half more seasons on Long Island, adding over 20 goals each of his full seasons and providing excellent defensive play.

Retirement
Halfway through the 1978 season, Parisé was traded one final time to the Cleveland Barons. The following year, with the demise of the Barons and their merger with Minnesota, his rights were assigned once more to the North Stars, where he played his final season before retirement, serving as the North Stars' team captain.

In total, Parisé played 890 games in the NHL, scoring 238 goals and 356 assists for 594 points, adding 706 penalty minutes. He also had 27 goals and 31 assists in 86 playoff games.

After his retirement, he served as a coach in the North Stars' organization, as assistant coach between 1980 and 1988, except for the 1984 season, when he was the head coach for Minnesota's minor league affiliate, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the Central Hockey League; he recorded a 35-35-2 mark as coach. Thereafter Parisé retired to Minnesota where he coached and was hockey director at Shattuck-Saint Mary's, where his son Zach Parise, Sidney Crosby, Jack Johnson and Jonathan Toews played.

On April 23, 2008, Parisé was named the head coach and general manager of the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League.

Achievements and Facts

 * Named to play in the 1970 and 1973 NHL All-Star games.


 * On April 11, 1975, Parisé scored a goal 11 seconds into overtime to give the Islanders a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers, clinching the best-of-3 playoff series for the Isles. It was the fastest OT goal in NHL history up to that time.


 * At the time of his retirement, Parisé was the North Stars' all time leader in assists, second in points, third in goals and fifth in games played.


 * Parisé's youngest son Zach is a current NHL player and his oldest son Jordan played pro hockey in Europe.