Former New York Islanders forward J.P. Parise died Wednesday night at the age of 73 of lung cancer, as reported by The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). While younger fans know Parise primarily as the father of Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise, fans old enough to remember know that Parise scored one of the most important goals in Islanders history and made a huge impact on the team’s Cinderella playoff run of 1975.
The Islanders acquired Parise from the Minnesota North Stars on January 5, 1975 in exchange for forwards Ernie Hicke and Doug Rombough. Two days later, Isles general manager Bill Torrey acquired center Jude Drouin from the North Stars in a separate deal.
At the time, the Islanders were a young and improving team that lacked veteran leadership outside of captain Ed Westfall. The younger players weren’t sure how good they could actually be. Adding Parise and Drouin made an immediate difference for the young team.
Former Isles defenseman Jean Potvin recalled the impact Parise and Drouin had on the team.
“Jude and J.P. were leaders, not just good players. They gave us advice during fac ...
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Article written by Brad Kurtzberg
J.P. Parise Has a Special Place in New York Islanders History
January 8th, 2015 by Brad Kurtzberg Leave a reply »
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