Parise Takes On Captaincy

After four straight seasons of productivity, consistency, and responsible play, the New Jersey Devils have names all-star American born forward Zach Parise team captain. Becoming the ninth captain in team history, he will follow in the footsteps of great veteran leaders such as, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Patrik Elias, and Jamie Langenbrunner, all of which he has either played with or learned from personally in the organization.

While team veterans Elias and Ilya Kovalchuk have been capitans, the choice was pretty clear for New Jersey as Parise has the perfect resume to lead the younger and rebuilt look of the franchise. At +62 in his young career, he has shown an incredible ability to lead his team with great two way play while scoring 30 or more goals in his last four full seasons (the only Devil to do so). Coach Peter DeBoer attributes the decision preparation and on ice example.

"We have the luxury of having a lot of leadership candidates, a lot of good options. When you look at Zach as a coach, this guy plays the right way, he prepares the right way,” DeBoer explained. “He handles himself the right way. There’s really not a lot of flaws in his character or in how he plays the game. I’ve always been a believer that your best players, if you’re going to win, have to be your most honest players and people. I think he fits that category.”

Parise isn't the loudest guy in the league yet insists he knows how to lead after observing the leaders of the Devils past. He will let his play do the talking.

“They were good in the room,” Parise said. “They were liked by all the guys. They always did the right thing. They stood up for teammates. They played hard on the ice and they were good with young players. They were good with the young guys on the team, which I think is really important, too. I remember when I first came here, when I first signed, Scotty wasn’t playing. He had me over for dinner at his house and we were skating together all the time. Things like that are things that I learned from being here, how to treat the young players. I’ve been around some pretty good leaders and learned from them... It’s not necessarily always vocal. If you feel things need to be said, then there’s a time and a place for that. It’s easy to lead and it’s easy to be a captain when you’re winning and things are good, when everyone’s having a good time. I think it’s important, when things aren’t great, to maintain that level and be a leader in that way, not let your game change and still lead by example on the ice.”

He shouldn't have a hard time with that approach. One of the most underrated and dangerous forwards in the league, he has scored 94 points in a season and was a huge part of Team USA in the 2010 Olympics. He assisted on Patrick Kane's trying goal with only 22 seconds left to force overtime, which saw USA awarded the silver medal. His play has taken him this far and he will his best to not play the game any differently.

"Nothing’s going to change; everything will be the same. My goals, personally, are just to keep doing the same thing and more so, lead by example and help get this thing going in the right direction, which I think we are.”

-Dustin Lundberg