Parayko chases Cup
Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues is doing his very best to bring the Stanley Cup to St. Albert.
Parayko, 25, is sixth on the Blues in playoff scoring with 11 points in 20 games after Monday’s 4-2 loss to the host Boston Bruins in the opening game of the Stanley Cup final.
Parayko was plus one with two shots on goal and two hits while leading the Blues in ice time with 26 minutes and 11 seconds.
Parayko is also tied for fifth among NHL defencemen in playoff points and ranks second to teammate Alex Pietrangelo’s 13 points for blueliners on the Blues.
The St. Albert minor hockey product is plus seven in the playoffs.
Game two goes tonight at 6 p.m. in Boston.
In his fourth NHL season, Parayko scored a career-high 10 goals while finishing with 28 points and was plus 20 in 80 games as the Blues went from dead last in the standings on Jan. 2 to finish tied with the fourth-most points in the Western Conference, en route to the team’s first Stanley Cup final since 1970 and the fourth in franchise history.
Parayko’s career stats are 29 goals, 131 points and 89 penalty minutes in 322 games in the regular season, plus five goals and 23 points in 51 playoff games.
The six-foot-six Parayko was the third-round (86th overall) pick of the Blues in the 2012 NHL entry draft and after his third season with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks made his NHL debut Oct. 8, 2015 against the Edmonton Oilers.
The 2016 All-Rookie Team selection was the eighth-place finisher in Calder Trophy voting for the NHL’s rookie of the year as the second-highest vote getter among defencemen.
Parayko’s international background includes the 2017 and 2018 IIHF World Championships with Team Canada – he was a tournament all-star two years ago with three goals and four assists in seven games as Canada lost the gold-medal game 2-1 in a shootout to Sweden in Cologne, Germany – 2016 World Cup of Hockey with the North America U23 team and the 2011 World Junior A Challenge with Canada West while playing for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The former bantam AAA Gregg Distributor Sabre, midget 15 Flyer and midget AA Crusader in the St. Albert Raiders Hockey Club signed a five-year contract with an average annual value of $5.5 million in July of 2017.
Meanwhile, the head coach of the Blues is Craig Berube of Calahoo. Berube replaced Mike Yeo, who was fired by the Blues on Nov. 19, and under his watch the team went 38-19-6 to clinch third place in the Central Division.
Berube also coached the Philadelphia Flyers from 2013 to 2015 while going 75-58-28 before he was relieved of his duties on April 15, 2017.
Berube played in 1,054 regular-season games with five NHL teams between 1986 and 2003 and amassed 3,149 penalty minutes for seventh on the all-time list.
Rugby finals
The metro Edmonton high school rugby finals Thursday at Ellerslie Rugby Park will feature the Sturgeon Spirits in the division two men’s championship match.
Sturgeon (6-0) tackles the Archbishop Jordan Scots (5-1) at 6:15 p.m.
In Monday’s semifinals, Sturgeon won 52-14 against the St. Francis Xavier Rams (2-4) and the Paul Kane Blues (3-3) lost 60-17 to the Scots.
The women’s finalists were decided in Tuesday’s semifinals, as Sturgeon (4-2) battled the Bellerose Bulldogs (4-2) in division one and the Paul Kane Blues (5-0) scrummed down against the Scots (2-3) in division two. Scores were unavailable at press time.
The last match before the playoffs in division one was 48-12 for Sturgeon, last year’s league finalist and Tier 2 provincial gold medallist, against Bellerose.
The women’s finals are 4:15 p.m. in division two against the defending champion Harry Ainlay Titans (3-2) or Memorial Marauders (4-1) and 4:30 p.m. in division one against the Jasper Place Rebels (6-0).
In last year's finals, Sturgeon lost 29-20 to the Bev Facey Falcons and Paul Kane dropped a 27-12 decision to the Titans.
Premier soccer
One of the three St. Albert Impact premier women’s teams in the Edmonton District Soccer Association was victorious Sunday.
Down by a goal at halftime, Impact 3 (3-2) rallied for the 2-1 decsion FC Excelsior (0-4) at ESA Complex.
Gracie Hausch scored the equalizer and Hayat Abuaker netted the winner in the 80th minute.
Chloe Eaton, a U17 goalkeeper, recorded her second win in a row filling in for Michelle Brodeur.
Meanwhile, Impact 1 (2-3) suffered a 6-0 setback to Northwest United 2 (5-0) at ESA Complex and Impact 2 (1-2) lost 4-1 against the host Scottish Angels SC 2 (3-3) as Ava Bourbonnais scored the lone goal.
Impact 2 was coming off a 2-1 loss to Northwest, last year’s EDSA pennant winner and provincial champions. Impact 1 finished second to Northwest in the EDSA table and at provincials.
Tuesday’s scores between Impact 1 and Sherwood Park Phoenix 1 (3-0), Impact 2 and Futbol United/Powerplay FC (3-0-1) and Impact 3 against Northwest were unavailable press time.
Sunday’s matches are Impact 2 against Victoria 2 (0-3-1) at 2 p.m. at Goldstick Park and Impact 3 versus Phoenix at 5 p.m. at Millennium Place.
Kids of Steel
Online registrations end Monday for the 28th annual St. Albert Kids of Steel Triathlon.
The June 9 competition at Fountain Park Recreation Centre is hosted by the St. Albert Triathlon Association.
Athletes between four and 19 years old can participate as an individual or as a team on a swim-bike-run course varying in distance according to age group.
The youth/junior/U21 triathlon is also a draft legal race for athletes 14 to 24 years old.
Visit www.zone4.ca to register.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Wietske at [email protected] or visit www.stalbertkidsofsteel.com.
Combo camp
Spots are still available for the volleyball and basketball sessions at the 10th annual Hawks Combo Camp Aug. 21 to 23 at the SkyDome.
The purpose of the camp is to prepare 12-to 15-year-old males and females for school volleyball and basketball club team tryouts.
Volleyball is 9 a.m. to 12 noon and basketball is 12:45 to 3:45 p.m.
The volleyball camp is split into competitive and recreational sides and each one is capped at 14 players for 28 in total and both are co-ed.
The competitive side is designed for athletes who have played on their school’s senior teams or present club players and attention will be placed on position specific skills and game play.
The recreation side focuses on introductory concepts and fundamentals for young players.
The registration fee is $110 for one session (nine hours of instruction) or $200 for both (18 hours of instruction) and all players receive a T-shirt.
Registration, waiver and payment will be processed on a first come, first served basis.
To register, email John Dedrick at [email protected].
