Parise's pedigree figures well for Team USA
30.12.2003. MacKinnon, John. National Post
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| Зак Паризе |
HAMEENLINNA, Finland - Team USA sniper Zach Parise is a blue-
chip prospect with a blue-collar attitude and an international hockey
pedigree as red as the Maple Leaf.
His dad, Jean-Paul Parise, played for Canada in the epochal 1972 Summit
Series between Canada and the Soviet Union and became infamous for
raising his stick, woodchopper style, over the head of referee Josef
Kompalla of East Germany. It was a gesture of frustration over
questionable officiating and young Parise has installed the image as
his computer screen saver, a gesture of pride and mischievous humour.
It's a reminder that his dad was part of something special, even if it
happened 12 years before he was born, and the image isn't exactly Paul
Henderson exulting after the series-winning goal. The young Parise is
unique on Team USA in grasping what that series meant.
"The American kids, they don't understand how important that was and
how much of an impact that had on Canadian hockey," said Parise, a Val
Kilmer look-alike, whose easy-going manner belies a fierce competitive
spirit. "When you're walking around with that kind of label around
Canada and everything, you kind of want to live up to the expectations
and hopefully follow in the footsteps.
"I think, if anything, it's helped, without a question."
J-P Parise was a bit player on that 1972 team, but Zach, who was born
in the United States, is the go-to guy on an American team that is
loaded with talent and favoured to win the gold medal. He says being
the marquee player is no burden.
"Not at all. I like it, if anything," Parise said. "For a player like me, that's what I want.
"I want to have that label as the key guy, and when the game's on the
line, I want the coach to look down the bench and put me out there.
That's the kind of player that I am, that's the kind of attitude that I
have."
He's certainly delivering. Entering play yesterday, Parise led all tournament scorers with four goals and six points.
Parise wants the puck and knows what to do with it. More important, he
wants to win and knows a fair amount about that, too. He scored the
winning goal for Team USA with less than a minute remaining in the
gold-medal game against Russia at the 2002 world under-18 championship.
He's also an alumnus of the highly regarded Shattuck-St. Mary's hockey
prep school and plays for U.S. college hockey power North Dakota.
Thanks to a core group of young, but talented and internationally
experienced players, the Americans believe they have assembled the
right blend of skill, size and experience to win the world junior
championship for the first time.
"I think we have that [mix]," Parise said. "We've got good goaltending,
we've got guys that want to win, we've got guys that compete and
they're in it together. There's no individual efforts at all.
"So, hopefully, that's what's going to separate us."
If they do, their victory won't resonate with Americans the way
international victories do with Canadians, and Parise knows that, too.
The tournament goes unnoticed in the United States.
"It's terrible. It's horrible. It bothers me really bad. For the
Canadians [hockey] basically revolves around the world juniors at this
time of year. That's what everyone looks forward to. It's frustrating
that we don't get the kind of attention that they do.
"It [the lack of attention] doesn't help, by any means, but I think
we're so used to it that we just kind of block it out. It doesn't
really affect us."
Win or lose, the future seems fairly secure for Parise, a first- round
draft choice of the New Jersey Devils. It's a future built, in large
part, on a hockey foundation built at Shattuck St-Mary's, which is
still a second home to Parise.
"It was awesome, going there," Parise said. "I had probably the best
coaching I've ever had with Tom Ward [who] taught me a lot of things
about the game, about the mental part of everything, and being a leader.
"I got all the ice time I could ever dream of. I got the key to the
rink and skated whenever I wanted. That was the best part, that was the
major draw there."
Parise also got the key to the Zamboni and learned how to drive it
because, "I was tired of skating on the ice after someone else played.
I was tired of skating on bad ice."
When his college season is over, Parise will head back to Shattuck,
where he works at the summer camps, "... just working around the rink,
driving the Zamboni."
Talk about being able to do it all, someone suggested to him.
"It's a great package," Parise said, laughing in agreement.
He's not the only one laughing. So are the Devils. When the junior
tournament has played out, Team USA may well be laughing, too. All the
way to a gold medal.
Первая страничка молодежных чемпионатов мира 2004 года
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Подгруппа А - подробнее
Россия, Словакия, США, Швеция. Австрия |
Подгруппа В - подробнее
Канада, Финляндия, Чехия, Швейцария, Украина |
За 7-10 места - подробнее
Швейцария, Швеция, Австрия, Украина |
1/4 финала - подробнее
Финляндия - Россия
Словакия - Чехия
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1/2 финала - подробнее
Канада - Чехия
США - Финляндия |
Финал - подробнее
За 5 место. Россия - Словакия
За 3 место. Финляндия - Чехия
За 1 место. Канада - США |
| Страничка статистики |
Молодежные чемпионаты мира (до 20 лет) 2004 года.
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