All that’s left for Colton Parayko to do in his last season with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons is to win the Alberta Junior Hockey League championship.
The 18-year-old defenceman from St. Albert is scholarship bound to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks next season, played in the inaugural World Junior Club Cup in Omsk, Russia and celebrated a gold-medal victory by Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Parayko told the Gazette after the Oil Barons edged the St. Albert Steel 3-2 Sunday at Performance Arena. “To get the gold medal was unbelievable. Russia was pretty cool as well.”
Parayko signed a letter of intent with the Nanooks after his rookie season with the Oil Barons.
“I went for a fly down and I really liked it there. I met some of the guys and they were really good to me. I enjoyed the time I had when I was there,” said the former Paul Kane High School student.
He broke into the AJHL after a season of midget AA with the St. Albert Crusaders and contributed three goals and nine assists in 42 games with the Oil Barons. In the playoffs he added two goals and one assist in 12 games.
“My skating is a lot better now and also my vision for the puck,” said Parayko, who is a hair short of six-foot-five. “I’ve grown into my body a bit better, too. I had a quick growth spurt I guess over the summer two years ago.”
Prior to the start of the AJHL season, the Oil Barons represented the Canadian Junior Hockey League at the World Junior Club Cup and went 1-4 during the two-week trip. In exhibition action they doubled Atlantas Moscow 4-2 and lost 7-0 to CSKA Moscow. The under-21 tournament saw the Oil Barons lose 3-0 to Dinamo-Shinnik of Belarus, 3-2 to the Malmo Redhawks of Sweden and 4-1 to HC Energie Karlovy Vary of the Czech Republic.
“It was really good. They all had good teams and were all strong,” Parayko said.
“It was a pretty cool trip. There were lots of things there you wouldn’t see over here so it was really crazy.”
Parayko was also one of seven AJHL players, including Canmore Eagles’ forward Connor Hoekstra of St. Albert, on the Canada West roster at the recent World Junior A Challenge in Langley, B.C.
Canmore bench boss Andrew Milne, a former St. Albert Saint who played his minor hockey in St. Albert, was also an assistant coach.
“It was a pretty cool thing to put on that jersey and represent your country and then winning it was just another great thing as well,” Parayko said.
In the preliminary round Canada West lost 2-0 to Sweden and 6-1 to the United Stets before catching fire in the playoffs with victories of 4-1 against the Czech Republic in the quarter-final, 2-1 in overtime against Sweden in the semifinal and 4-2 against Canada East for the gold.
“It was really good competition with lots of good players. There were some NHL draft picks out there too so it was a good level that you wanted to compete at,” said Parayko, who was pointless in five games in the tournament. “I just did what I had to do, I guess. The gold medal game was maybe my best game.”
Parayko believes he is a better player from the experience gained in Russia and the World Junior A Challenge.
“You have to elevate your game to make those kind of teams and when you come back you have to keep your game elevated the whole time,” he said. “In Russia we played a few different countries and we did that in Langley too, so it really helped to learn new styles and different plays.”
This season Parayko has contributed three goals, all on the power play, and seven assists in 20 games with the Oil Barons.
“It’s been going good. I just hope it continues.”
The Oil Barons (22-3-2) vaulted into top spot in the north past the AJHL champion Spruce Grove Saints after beating the last-place Steel.
“It was the third game in two and a half days for us and we found a way to win. It doesn’t matter how ugly it is, a W is a W,” Parayko said. “We’re doing really well. We just took over first place and we don’t want teams to take it away from us so we have to work hard to stay in first.”
