Minnesota Wild defenseman Zeev Buium has already carved out an impressive hockey resume.
The 19-year-old established himself playing at the University of Denver, where he won a National Championship in 2024 and was awarded the National Collegiate Hockey Conference player of the year in 2025. He was a Hat Trick finalist for the Hobey Baker Trophy and received NCAA all-tournament-team honors as well. He’s the fourth-top prospect in hockey, and he won gold with Team USA at the men's World Championship.
When Buium stepped on the ice for the Wild on April 20, 2025, he became just the ninth player in NHL history to go straight from college hockey to the Stanley Cup playoffs. But he also made some exclusive history.
Buium is believed to be the first NHL player born to Israeli parents. He credits his success and who he is to his family background and values.
“The way they raised us, the things we learned from them, the things we learn from them, their work ethic, the dedication, sacrifice, what it takes to get places you want to go… just so fortunate to have that in my life and my brothers, and grow up in a family like that,” Buium said in Stockhom at the World Championship. “When you're young, you don't really understand it, but then the older you get, you kind of realize how lucky you are, how much you cherish it.”
Sorin and Miriam Buium, Zeev’s parents, were both born and raised in Israel and immigrated in 1999 from Ashdod, a city in southern Israel, to San Diego.
In America, Sorin and Miriam raised three boys, Shai, Ben, and of course, Zeev.
Before the defenseman became a professional athlete, Buium’s parents used their Jewish heritage and Israeli background to teach him what it means to be a kind and successful person.
They fostered a loving and family oriented environment in their household, which Zeev is forever grateful for.
“Growing up in a household with an Israeli mother, most people wouldn’t understand how that is,” Buium said. “She’d do anything for all my brothers and I, and same with my dad. I’m very fortunate to have and do have the parents that I have. I couldn’t be more grateful for the people around me.”
Growing up, the Buium parents valued education, but they still embraced and supported their children's passion for hockey.
Buium said they would drive the three boys 112 miles each way, three or four days a week, for two years through their time playing in a youth hockey development program run by the Los Angeles Kings.
That supportive care that Sorin and Miriam showed helped elevate Zeev to the best possible person and player he could be.
“I think my parents grew up differently in Israel, and they shaped out pretty good,” Zeev said. “They just let us be us and figure out who we are. They were never pushy about anything, besides for school, we had to go to school.”
Coming from Israel, Sorin and Miriam knew nothing about the sport of hockey. Now, hockey is practically their entire lives.
The Detroit Red Wings drafted Shai Buium in the second round in 2021, while the Wild chose Zeev Buium with the 14th overall pick in 2024.
While the game of hockey means the world to Zeev, it’s his Jewish background and beliefs that will stick with him forever.
“I’m a proud Jew,” Zeev said. “I’m proud to be Jewish.”
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