Zach Parise Wife, Kids, Dad, Family, Bio, NHL Career

Quick Facts

If you are making a list of top players in the National Hockey League (NHL); then your list will never get filled without mentioning Zach Parise. The hockey star has joined the long list of those who have carved a niche for themselves courtesy of his extraordinary balling skills. He is currently associated with the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League and has equally played for the New Jersey Devils.

After he was chosen by the New Jersey Devils in the NHL draft of 2003; Zach led the Devils to the Stanley Cup tournament in 2012. Although his team advanced to the finals, they eventually lost to the Los Angeles Kings in six games. In addition, Zach has been a part of the United States National Hockey team and has featured in various international competitions. Learn more about his bio, NHL career, and his family below.

Zach Parise Bio

The hockey star was born as Zachary Justin Parise on 28th July 1984 in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. He is one of the two sons born to J.P. Parise and his wife Donna Parise. Born into an athletic family, Zach’s father and his brother also played in the National Hockey League. This led the young Zach to also trail the same path starting from a very young age.

Zach Parise attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s Sabres located in Faribault, Minnesota. There he began his youth career under the guidance of his father. Playing for the school team, Zach had a record of 194 assists while scoring 146 goals in 125 games in the last two seasons of his youth career. He led the team to participate in the Mac’s AAA Hockey Tournament where he was named the MVP of the tournament. In addition, Zach finished the 2001 season as the top scorer and was honored with the school’s Best All-Around Athlete.

Soon after he completed his high school, Zach enrolled at the University of North Dakota where he continued his collegiate career. In his first season, the left winger was the school’s Male Rookie Athlete of the year while being named to the All WCHA Rookie Team. He equally received the Jeff Anderson Hockey Scholarship after scoring a total of 26 goals while making 35 assists in the season. Following his impressive performance in his freshman year; Zach was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the NHL Draft of 2003. He was the 17th player to be selected overall; nevertheless, he chose to return to North Dakota for his sophomore season.

As a sophomore, Zach led the North Dakota’s team to the win the WCHA regular season and also led them to participate in the MacNaughton Cup competition. At the end of the season, the star was given the Purpur Award for his excellent performance. He was also named to the WCHA All-Tournament Team as well as All-American First team and WCHA All-Academic team. Meanwhile, Zach decided to forgo the rest of his collegiate career while joining the New Jersey Devils in the professional league.

NHL Career

Joining the New Jersey Devils team, Zach Parise penned down his rookie contract in March 2004. He completed his first season with the Albany River Rats team. There he notched a total of 18 goals while making 40 assists during the 2004/05 season. The following season, Zach returned to the Devils teams; thus making his NHL debut in the 2005/06 season. At the end of his rookie season, the player had scored 14 goals for his team.

During the 2006/07 season, Zach participated in the All-Star weekend where he was named the MVP of the game. He also had a total of 62 points in the season. He signed a four-year contract extension with the Devils in August 2007 and during the 2007/08 season; the player scored his first hat trick and also had a total of 65 points at the end of the season. At the end of his four-year contract with the Devils, Zach signed another one-year contract with the team and after the 2011/12 season; he left the Devils. and signed up with the Minnesota Wild.

Zach signed up with the Minnesota Wild in 2012 and has completed over four seasons with the team. Arguably, he has become one of the key stars in the Wild team and has been making strides in the league. He tallied 300th career goal in their game against the New York Islanders in 2016.

Family: Dad, Wife, and Kids

Like we mentioned above, Zach came from an athletic family. His father, J.P. Parise was a former hockey star who played professionally in the National Hockey League as well as the American Hockey League. Just like Zach, he was also a left winger and he played professionally from 1963 to 1979. Notably, he was a part of the Canadian Team that featured in Summit series in 1972. As a coach, Zach’s dad thought him and his brother everything they knew in the game right from the inception of their amateur careers.

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His older brother Jordan Parise also pulled giant strides during his stint as a goaltender in the Hockey League. He completed his professional career with the Waterloo Blackhawks and Chicago Steel as well as the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. Sadly, his father passed away on 7th January 2015 after suffering from an advanced stage of lung cancer. Asides from Jordan; Zach has two step-siblings from his father’s first marriage.

While he is enjoying a burgeoning career, Zach Parise is also active off the pitch. The star is a happily married man and is a father of two children. The left winger married his long-term sweetheart and the love of his life named Alisha Woods in 2012. Two years after their wedding, the amazing couple welcomed a set of twins named Emelia and Jaxson in January 2014. They have been living happily ever after and there is no sign of marital issues between them.

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