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For Parise, U18 Worlds & Grand Forks a Perfect Combo

By Todd Kortemeier - Special to USAHockey.com, 03/21/16, 5:00PM MDT

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This year’s U18 worlds begin next month in North Dakota

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- When the IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship rolls into Grand Forks, North Dakota, next month, the event will have special significance to Zach Parise.

Long before he became a standout forward for the Minnesota Wild or the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team captain, Parise helped Team USA win the same U18 event in 2002.

And soon after that tournament, he went to Grand Forks to play two memorable seasons for the University of North Dakota.

“It’s a great place to play hockey,” said Parise, who was a top-three finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award in 2004. “The community there is so passionate and so behind the hockey team, and about the school. Their rink is unreal, 12,000 fans; it’s just fantastic, it’s great.”

That rink is Ralph Engelstad Arena, home of the Fighting Hawks and site of most of next month’s U18 tournament games, including the final. The event, which includes 10 teams, runs from April 14-24.

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A Minnesota native, Parise was a 17-year-old senior at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minnesota, when he first pulled on a Team USA jersey at the 2002 tournament in Slovakia.

“It was nerve-wracking. I think it was the first time I’d played in a world championship against the best of the other countries,” Parise said. “It was fun to play those games with that much on the line for your country.”

Team USA had it all on the line in the tournament’s last game against Russia. Under the rules of the tournament, the U.S. needed to win by two goals to claim the gold medal. That led to the unusual sight of the Americans pulling their goalie despite being up 2-1. With thirty seconds left, Parise notched the gold medal-winning goal.

“It was awesome, and the way it ended was great,” Parise said. “It’s something that I hadn’t experienced before. We had a great time and, you know, because we won, that made it all that much better.”

Parise has gone on to a stellar career, both in the NHL and with Team USA.

He’s played in two IIHF World Junior Championships, three IIHF Men’s World Championships and two Olympic Winter Games, including helping Team USA to a silver medal in the 2010 Games.

Meanwhile, he played seven years in New Jersey after the Devils picked him in the first round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft — leading the team to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final — before signing with the hometown Wild in the 2012 offseason.

Yet for Parise — and fellow Team USA mainstays, including Ryan Kesler and Parise’s Wild teammate Ryan Suter — that 2002 U18 tournament was the starting point.

“I think that group of players was, if I remember right, a majority of the same guys we won the World Juniors with, so it’s kind of been that group of players, same age, who have moved on,” said Parise, noting the 2004 squad that won the first World Junior title in Team USA history.

“A bunch of us played in world championships together, and a handful of guys were on the Olympic team too, so we’ve kind of gone from playing together on the Under-17s, 18s, all the way up to the Olympics. So it’s been a fun group of players to experience all that with.”

The U18 World Championship has proven itself to be a launching pad for many other NHL stars, including Alexander Ovechkin, Patrick Kane and Evgeni Malkin.

Parise has some advice for this year’s participants.

“I would say to enjoy it,” he said. “You know it’s special. You never know when you’re going to get that opportunity again; enjoy the fact that you are one of the best 12 forwards or six, seven D that are on the team or for your age group that are in the country.

“It’s a special thing, and like I said, you never know if you’re going to get the chance to represent your country again, so enjoy it.

“It’s an awesome experience.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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