Calgary — Zayn Parekh is hoping his quick approach off the ice will help speed up his arrival in the NHL with the Calgary Flames.
The 18-year-old promising defenceman earned his high school diploma at 16 and was able to focus solely on hockey, playing the past two seasons with Saginaw in the Ontario Hockey League.
“I started a year early in the class of 2005 and did well from then on – of course,” Parekh said. “When I was in sixth grade, my dad came up with the idea to skip seventh grade and go straight to eighth grade, so I ended up with the class of 2004.”
“I finished four years of high school and earned more than enough credits to graduate. I've been playing hockey ever since. The last two years I haven't had to do anything in particular. I've had the luxury of getting up at 9 or 9:30, going to the rink and skating before everyone else.”
“For me, it was the best thing that's happened to me growing up, and I think it's just going to continue to be a great experience because I'm a hockey player at this point.”
So far, the move is paying off.
Parekh (6-foot-2, 179 pounds) set the OHL goals record by a 16-year-old defenseman with 21 points in 50 games in his first season with Saginaw in 2022-23, then led all OHL defensemen in goals (33) and points (96) in 66 games last season, winning the Max Kaminsky Award as the league's defenseman of the year. Those were the most points by an OHL defenseman since Ryan Ellis had 101 points (24 goals, 77 assists) in 2010-11.
