The spotlight shone bright on rookie sensation Colton Parayko during a breakthrough season with the St. Louis Blues.
The six-foot-six tower of power from St. Albert was the centre of attention on the blueline in his National Hockey League debut and the focus will intensify with Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
“It’s pretty crazy, obviously,” stated Parayko, reflecting on his life-altering experience, starting with his first NHL goal in his third game with St. Louis and ending two wins away from going to the Stanley Cup final.
“It’s something that happened so fast. You’re just in a whirlwind and you kind of go with the flow,” he explained. “Now, that I kind of look back on it, it’s kind of cool seeing just the things I got to see and got to experience, obviously playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, scoring my first NHL goal, playing my first NHL game and making a great St. Louis team. There were so many cool things and things that you dream about as a kid that just happened at once. It was definitely obviously exciting.”
Parayko, who turned 23 on May 12, shared his excellent adventure with the Gazette after participating in the first annual Merch Madness Cup golf tournament, hosted by the St. Albert Junior B Merchants on Friday at the Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club. He was joined by Rob Brown and Taylor Fedun in the Beat the Pro tee-off competition on certain holes.
In the NHL, Parayko teed up the puck with a cannon of a shot that drew comparisons to Al MacInnis, a Hall of Famer and vice-president of hockey operations for St. Louis, who was the first person to inform the former midget 15 Flyer and midget AA Crusader he was selected by the Blues in the third round, 86th overall, in the 2012 NHL entry draft.
Marshall Davidson, an amateur scout for St. Louis, lobbied hard for the Blues to draft Parayko after watching him play for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
It was a steal of a deal for the Blues, who inked the captain of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks to a two-year entry-level contract after his junior season in March of 2015.
Parayko was assigned to the Chicago Wolves, the American Hockey League affiliate for St. Louis, and collected four goals and three assists in 17 league and five playoff games.
Last fall at training camp, Parayko led the Blues’ defencemen in assists with six in the preseason and was rewarded with a spot in the Oct. 8 season-opening lineup against the Edmonton Oilers, a 3-1 win in St. Louis.
The swing through Alberta by the Blues was memorable as Parayko beat Calgary Flames’ netminder Jonas Hiller twice from the point in the second period. He broke a 2-2 on the power play and scored the eventual 4-3 winner with 32 seconds left in the frame.
“My first goal I will remember it forever. It was in Calgary on the power play, a wrist shot from the point, top left. I will never forget it,” said Parayko, who had his parents, two sisters and brother in attendance to celebrate the milestone.
Another of the many “cool” experiences for Parayko was playing the Oilers at Rexall Place in front of a legion of family and friends
Asked about his Welcome to the NHL moment, Parayko replied: “One pretty cool one was when we were playing in Chicago, obviously an intimidating building, and we went into overtime so it was three-on-three and I remember I was on the ice and (Patrick) Kane, Jonathan (Toews) and (Brent) Seabrook were on the ice too. Those three guys are kind of the guys you watch growing up and just to have that happen is pretty cool.
“We also have some world class players on our team and when I showed up to training camp and saw those players was pretty exciting too.”
Parayko drew rave reviews while recording nine goals and 24 assists and was a plus-29 in 79 games and in the playoffs scored twice and added five assists in 20 games as the Blues lost the Western Conference final in six games to the San Jose Sharks.
“Obviously we had a very good team so it’s kind of tough when you kind of go so far and you work so hard as a team,” Parayko said of the playoffs. “It’s tough to describe. You’re on such a high and then all of a sudden you just hit a wall. Obviously you want to be on a high until it’s over.
“It was a great run. Obviously my rookie year was exciting and to be part of such a great group was one of the best things and I’m looking forward to the next few years.”
A few days after the Blues were eliminated by the Sharks, Parayko was among the last seven players named to the U23 Team North America roster, consisting of Canadian-born and American-born players. It’s the only team in the tournament with an age limit.
Parayko joins Aaron Eckblad, Shayne Gostisbehere, Seth Jones, Ryan Murray, Morgan Reilly and Jacob Trouba on defence.
Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Oilers, Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabres, Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and Auston Matthews are also on the team for the Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 tournament at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
“We have a great team. Obviously we’re young and we’re going to be good so I’m looking forward to it for sure,” said Parayko, who competed in the 2011 World Junior A Challenge with Team Canada West.
Parayko plans to take a week and a half off “to regroup” before preparing for the upcoming season through the training program provided by the Blues.
“I just have to see how the body feels. Coming out of college, I played around 35 games (a season) and going into a 99-game season it’s a lot of hockey so obviously I have to manage my body the best way I can and just go from there,” said Parayko of the NHL grind. “I didn’t feel actually that bad for as many games as it is. We have good trainers so when you have the opportunity to work with a great group of guys and a great group of staff like that, it obviously makes everything a lot easier.”
The biggest learning curve for Parayko was to be mentally and physically ready for a full 82-game schedule.
“I ended up playing 79 and that’s a lot of games so just to make sure you’re bringing your A game every night is obviously important,” said the candidate for the NHL All-Rookie Team.
In August, Parayko will graduate from university with a degree in business administration and during the playoffs he made headlines when it was revealed he was trying to finish three courses online: international business, a business continuity strategy course and a sports marketing course.
“It kind of takes your mind away from hockey and obviously the playoffs are pretty heavy on the mind and when you have a chance to get away from things it’s nice,” said the Paul Kane High School alumnus.
