Bobby Parker . . . er, Chris Chelios
Nov 12, 2013 8:58:38 GMT -5
Post by franko on Nov 12, 2013 8:58:38 GMT -5
Playing in the NHL wasn’t Chris Chelios’ dream. It was Bobby Parker’s.
Parker was a defenceman from Moose Jaw, Sask., with enough of a future in hockey that a few colleges offered him scholarships. He chose United States International University in San Diego, Calif., where Chelios was enrolled and trying to make the team as a forward in the fall of 1979.
Chelios didn’t make it, and while the more accomplished Parker did, he decided the dilapidated facilities and life in California weren’t for him and went home to resume his career with the Moose Jaw Canucks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Before he left, Parker made a simple gesture that he attributes to fate.
“We were just on the beach one day and I recognized him. So I just walked over,” Parker said. “We just started chatting and he said his hockey was done. He was done, there was just a beer and pizza league there, like a senior league.”
When Chelios told Parker he just wanted to play hockey somewhere, Parker gave him the phone number of Moose Jaw coach Larry Billows. After some convincing, in part from Parker, Billows brought Chelios in as a defenceman even though he had never played the position before.
“They started writing in the newspaper, ‘We got this defenceman coming from San Diego,’ ” Parker recalled. “And I’m thinking, ‘Man he hasn’t even ever played defence.’ I had no idea what was going to happen.”
What followed was the start of a storybook journey that included 1,651 NHL games, three Stanley Cups and enshrinement Monday into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
the rest
Parker was a defenceman from Moose Jaw, Sask., with enough of a future in hockey that a few colleges offered him scholarships. He chose United States International University in San Diego, Calif., where Chelios was enrolled and trying to make the team as a forward in the fall of 1979.
Chelios didn’t make it, and while the more accomplished Parker did, he decided the dilapidated facilities and life in California weren’t for him and went home to resume his career with the Moose Jaw Canucks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Before he left, Parker made a simple gesture that he attributes to fate.
“We were just on the beach one day and I recognized him. So I just walked over,” Parker said. “We just started chatting and he said his hockey was done. He was done, there was just a beer and pizza league there, like a senior league.”
When Chelios told Parker he just wanted to play hockey somewhere, Parker gave him the phone number of Moose Jaw coach Larry Billows. After some convincing, in part from Parker, Billows brought Chelios in as a defenceman even though he had never played the position before.
“They started writing in the newspaper, ‘We got this defenceman coming from San Diego,’ ” Parker recalled. “And I’m thinking, ‘Man he hasn’t even ever played defence.’ I had no idea what was going to happen.”
What followed was the start of a storybook journey that included 1,651 NHL games, three Stanley Cups and enshrinement Monday into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
the rest