J.P. Parise

Infobox Ice Hockey Player
position = Left Wing
shot = Left
height_ft = 5
height_in = 9
weight_lb = 180
played_for = Boston Bruins
Minnesota North Stars
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Islanders
Cleveland Barons
league = NHL
nationality = CAN
birth_date = birth date|1941|12|11|mf=y
birth_place = Smooth Rock Falls, ON, CAN
career_start = 1963
career_end = 1979
draft =
draft_year =
draft_team =


image_size = 180px
halloffame =

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

Playing career

Juniors and minor leagues

Signed by the Boston Bruins as a teenager, Parise 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 Parise 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, Parise 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 Parise 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 semifinals, where the Isles lost in a hard fought seven game series to the eventual Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers; Parise 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. Parise 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, Parise 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, Parise 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, Parise retired to Minnesota, where he coached high school hockey.

On April 23, 2008, Parise 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 NHL All-Star Game in 1970 and 1973.

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

* Parise's sons Zach and Jordan are current NHL players with the New Jersey Devils organization.

External links

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