Parise Following in Father's Footsteps with Islanders

Zach Parise has plenty of connections to the New York Islanders.
The Minneapolis, MN, native knows fellow Minnesotans Anders Lee and Brock Nelson. Parise played with defenseman Andy Greene for six years in New Jersey, culminating with a trip to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. After signing with the Minnesota Wild in 2012-13, Parise played one year with Cal Clutterbuck and suited up for Team USA at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with Kyle Palmieri.

There's also the connection to Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello, who selected Parise 17th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
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In short, Parise will have plenty of ties to the organization when he arrives on Long Island, but safe to say, his oldest and most personal connection to the Islanders is a familial one.
J.P. Parise, Zach Parise's father, played 240 games for the Islanders over four seasons from 1975 to 1978. He recorded 171 points (73G, 98A), which puts him in a tie for 52nd on the franchise's all-time scoring list. When Zach makes his Islanders debut, he and J.P. will be only the second father-son duo to have played for the organization, after Steve and Jeff Tambellini.
"I've always said he loved his time out there and was able to make an impact," Parise said via an introductory Zoom with reporters on Friday. "Hopefully I'm looking forward to doing the same type of thing."

The elder Parise, who was acquired from the Minnesota North Stars for Ernie Hicke and Doug Rombough on Jan. 5, 1975, helped shepherd Bill Torrey's young core, along with Jude Drouin, who was also acquired from Minnesota two days later. Budding Islanders superstars like Denis Potvin credited J.P. Parise with helping them develop as players and eventually champions.
"J.P. was one of those veteran guys who kept us loose," Potvin said on Talkin' Isles. "One of the things that helped us grow as a team was that Bill Torrey wanted to insert these guys along the way like J.P., Jude Drouin and our captain Ed Westfall."
"They couldn't have been better for us as young guys to lead the way," Potvin added. "In terms of growing as a team where we finally became Stanley Cup champion, I give a lot of credit to those older guys in the 1970s who helped mold us."
Zach Parise said whenever he encountered Potvin or Bobby Nystrom, who the Parise's stayed with on Long Island when Zach was young, they'd regale him with stories of his father and what he meant to them.
"When Denis Potvin was calling our games, I'd chat with him after the game as well and always spoke really highly of my dad," Parise said.
While J.P. Parise was a productive player during his Islanders tenure, he's best remembered for scoring the series-clinching goal over the New York Rangers in 1975, with Drouin notching the primary assist. Parise's OT winner in Game 3 - 11 seconds into the extra frame - propelled the Islanders to their first-ever playoff series win, cementing himself in team lore. Zach said there were photos of the iconic moment in the family home growing up.
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"He talked about it a lot," Parise said. "That was a big part of his career, that time out there. For the Islanders, knocking off the Rangers at that time, the success they ended up having after that. For a while, he had the quickest OT goal in the playoffs and liked to brag about that. That was a proud moment for him being a part of that team."
This isn't the first time Parise he and his father's hockey lives have intertwined. J.P. was the hockey director at the esteemed Shattuck St. Mary's prep school, where Zach holds the single-season scoring record with 178 points (77G, 101A) in 67 games. (Zach is also tied for second - with Sidney Crosby - with 162 points in 58 games the season prior.) Zach played nine seasons with the Minnesota Wild from 2013-21, while J.P. played nine seasons with the Minnesota North Stars from 1967-75. Parise said his mom was excited about his decision to play for the Islanders, as it brought back good memories of her time on Long Island.
J.P. Parise passed away in 2015 and Zach has since paid tribute to his father on the ice, notably wearing J.P.'s green-and-yellow CCM gloves and vintage helmet during warmups during a Minnesota North Stars throwback night in 2017. Regardless of whether Zach has any of his father's old Islanders memorabilia, playing for team his father spent the second-most time with during his career feels full-circle for himself and the Parise family.