Zach Parise

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.

Zachary Justin Parise (born July 28, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey left winger for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He has previously played for the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, and New York Islanders.

In his first game with UND, Parise scored 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 eighth 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 four times, and WCHA Offensive Player of the Week once.

After the season, he was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, the only freshman nominated that year as well as the first-ever UND freshman nominee.

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, Parise 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.

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.

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).

After his freshman season, Parise was eligible for the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Heading into the Draft, he was ranked as the ninth-best North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.

NHL teams had concerns about his size, but were impressed by his skill and work ethic.

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 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 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.

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 captained the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games.

Parise was also named captain for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Parise played midget AAA hockey for four seasons for the Shattuck-St. Mary's Sabres in Faribault, Minnesota, where his father J. P. worked in the hockey program.

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 University of North Dakota 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 ten nominees for the Hobey Baker Award, and was one of three finalists, losing out to eventual winner Junior Lessard.