Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise was named captain of the U.S. men’s hockey team for the Sochi Olympics on Friday.
Wild defenseman Ryan Suter and Los Angeles Kings center Dustin Brown will be the alternate captains. Four years ago at the Vancouver Olympics, Parise was an alternate captain and scored a goal that sent the gold-medal game into overtime. The U.S. wound up with the silver medal that time. Parise’s experience on the national team goes all the way back to 2002, according to the Associated Press. He is excited about being captain of the U.S. team.
''It's a special thing to be named captain of any team, but when it's a national team, an Olympic team, it's extra special,'' Parise said. ''We've got a lot of players who are great leaders. I'm going to get a lot of help. I'm going to need a lot of help. It's very humbling.''
This won’t be the first time that Parise has been a captain. In 2011-2012 he was the captain for the New Jersey Devils, who made it to the Stanly Cup final that year. In his two seasons with the Wild, he has been an alternate captain.
Parise, who missed a month due to a foot injury, recently returned to the Wild lineup. On Tuesday he had two assists and scored the game-winning goal against the Anaheim Ducks. On Thursday he had two goals and two assists against the Colorado Avalanche. Parise has 18 goal and 16 assists in 41 games so far this season, according to NHL.com.
The U.S. team isn’t considered to be a favorite for the gold medal, however they are expected to be in contention. The U.S starts the Olympics on February 13 against Slovakia.