Jason Zucker

Early life

Zucker, who is Jewish, was born in Newport Beach, California. His mother, Natalie Zucker, is a former competitive figure skater, and his father, Scott Zucker, is a general contractor who built ice rinks and roller rinks when Jason was young. He has two older brothers, Evan and Adam, and a younger sister, Kimmie, and brother, Cameron.

When he was two months old, Zucker and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Zucker moved to Los Angeles for hockey for two years when he was 11, and to Plymouth, Michigan, when he was 15 so he could play with the Compuware AAA Minor Midget Team, and finally to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for two years. He attended Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

He has three tattoos: on his back, “USA” (a nod to his playing for the national team); on his chest, “Game Time” (in memory of his best friend, Nick Scheafer, who died in 2010 at the age of 19 in a car accident); and on his left arm, written in Hebrew, “In pursuit of perfection” (in honor of his Jewish heritage).

Playing career

Zucker played in the 2009 World Juniors and 2010 World Juniors for Team USA, and won gold medals in each event. He was also a member of Team USA's bronze medal-winning team at the 2011 World Juniors.

Playing for the University of Denver in 2010–11, he was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Year, and was also named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team and 2nd All-Star Team. In his two seasons playing for Denver, he had 45 goals and 91 points in 78 games. He turned pro following the 2011-12 season.

He was drafted in the second round (59th overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the first Nevada-raised draft pick (and, subsequently, player) in NHL history. Zucker signed his entry-level contract with the Wild on March 27, 2012. He made his NHL debut in a victory against the Florida Panthers on March 29, 2012. He scored his first NHL goal against Petr Mrazek on February 17, 2013, in a Wild win over the Detroit Red Wings.

The lockout-shortened 2012–13 NHL season saw Zucker split time between the Minnesota Wild and the Houston Aeros. He appeared in 20 regular season games with Minnesota, and played mostly on the team's second line alongside Matt Cullen and Devin Setoguchi. He wore number 16.

On May 5, 2013, Zucker scored at 2:15 of the extra period to give the Wild a 3–2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, to pull within 2–1 in the Western Conference quarterfinal series.

On March 26, 2014, Zucker underwent successful surgery on his left quadriceps to repair a tendon. He missed the remainder of the 2013–14 season, but was ready for the start of the 2014–15 campaign.

In 2014-15 he scored 21 goals in 51 games, 10th in the NHL, with a 16.9% shooting percentage. On October 25, 2015, he set a Wild team record by scoring 10 seconds into a 5-4 win against the Winnipeg Jets (Zucker later tied his own record in a game against the Colorado Avalanche in April 2017). The only other NHL players who have scored within the first 10 seconds of two different games are Montreal’s Bobby Rousseau (once in 1962–63, and once in 1965-66) and Yvan Cournoyer (both in 1973–74).

In 2015-16 he played in a career-high 71 games, and had 13 goals and 10 assists. In June 2016 the Wild re-signed him to a two-year, $4 million contract.

Personal life

Zucker married Minneapolis-based sports & entertainment journalist and television personality Carly Aplin in the summer of 2016. Aplin is a television host for the Minnesota Timberwolves Entertainment Network (T.E.N.) and a reporter for CBS Sports and Fox Sports North.