Zach Parise is a professional ice hockey left winger of French-Canadian origin, and alternate captain for the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League. He has also played for the New Jersey Devils, where he served as team captain. Parise's father, J. P. Paris, 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 spent 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 200506 season. Parise's best NHL season was in 200809, 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.

A highly offensive forward, Parise played two seasons at UND capturing numerous honors including; WCHA Third Team All-Star (2003), WCHA All-Rookie Team (2003), WCHA First All-Star Team (2004) and NCAA West First All-American Team (2004). In his two seasons of collegiate hockey, Parise registered 116 points (49-67-116) before making his professional debut in 2004-05.

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 20 quarterfinal win over Switzerland.[36] 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 Sidney Crosby goal 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.

On July 4, 2012, after becoming an unrestricted free agent, Parise signed a 13-year contract with the Minnesota Wild. The move represented a homecoming for Parise, who grew up in the Twin Cities and whose father J. P. Parise once captained the Minnesota North Stars.

Olympic Sports, Hockey