Zach Parise Makes Statement On His Future Plans

It took Zach Parise eight months to make the decision on whether to return for his 19th NHL season. Now it's taken him just five games with the Colorado Avalanche to decide on whether he'll be back for his 20th: And it's a big N-O. 

“Yeah, this is it,” he said. “This is it.” Tom Gulitti reported on NHL.com on Thursday that while Parise changed his mind midway through the past offseason, partly at his wife's insistence to give it one more shot at a Stanley Cup, this time it's a done deal.

"Towards the end of the summer I got that itch once guys started to ramp their training up to get ready for camp,” the 39-year-old Parise said. “In the back of your mind, you’re thinking, ‘I can still play.’” And his wife gave him the final push: “Alisha was really encouraging,” Parise added. “She kind of was the one saying, ‘You’ve got some people willing to give you an opportunity to play half a year. You’ve got to do it.’ So, at that point, I was like, ‘All right. Let’s do it one more time.’”

Parise has toiled away on the Avs' third line for the most part, and has averaged 12:44 of ice time in his five-game return thus far, while recording one goal. 

For now, he's thrilled to be back playing, giving it one more run, and his Colorado teammates are loving having his extensive experience to lean on. "Someone that knows what he's doing, someone that's played with so much experience and is just a good hockey player,” Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano said. “He's been good. I think it's going to take him a little bit of time before he can get up to full speed as he probably wants. But coming in halfway through the season, he looks pretty good."

In 1,229 NHL regular-season games across 19 seasons, Parise has 430 goals, 450 assists and 880 points. He's added another 80 points in 111 career playoff games.

But the magic number he's still looking for is "one." As in one Stanley Cup. 

Photo: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports