Weekly Rookie Player Highlight:

[Joker_TM 42]

 

Rookie Goalie Alex Parise makes waves in short first season:

 

                     

Rookie goaltender Alexander Parise joined the Minnesota Storm late towards the end of season 78. He joined the team after a dominant start to his sophomore season in the Western Hockey League with the Victoria Royals going 31-19-6 with a 0.899 sv% and 6 shutouts, with stats like that it wasn’t a surprise to see this young prospect moving on to the VHLM to finish out the season with the Storm losing their back up goalie. Alex finished his short rookie season with a 6-1-1 record with a 0.838 sv% and 1 shutout in his second game between the pipes.

 

This young goaltender hails from Victoria, B.C.  Canada, he started his career in the WHL unlike most top prospects who come to their teams through the bantam draft. Alex went undrafted in his bantam draft class as he had a rough start to his season prior to the bantam draft. From that point he put in some serious work and joined the junior A Cowichan Express of the BCHL where he very quickly proved he was the number 1 goaltender. He impressed everyone in his rookie season in the BCHL and was invited to training camp with the Victoria Royals that following summer, He attended and made waves with his bravado. Not only did he talk the talk, he walked the walk and impressed the coaching staff and management to join the team the following season as the back up goalie.

 

With the S79 dispersal draft coming up in the VHLM it will be interesting to see where this young goaltender will end up. He had a solid showing this season with the few games he was between the pipes, and my sources have informed me that the Philadelphia Reapers organization contacted Alex with some pre-draft interview questions. That is the only report I can confirm as of now, I have heard from other sources that teams in the league have been talking about this rookie goalie and have pinned him as the underdog. This will be an awkward time for Alex as the current team he is playing for cannot guard him from the draft and they are strapped for picks in this draft. But with their current #1 goaltender Dexter Vaughn most likely heading up to the show next season they will be hurting in their goaltending department. Whether this will be enough to keep Alex on the Minnesota club or not is yet to be seen, I have reached out to Alex and got a quote from him on this situation “I'm just happy that they(Minnesota Storm)gave me a shot this season and I would love to stay with the organization, but I understand that management has their own plans for the draft and if I have to leave I will be sad. I came here to play in the VHLM and would love for it to be with Minnesota. ”.

 

At the end of the day we can all make assumptions as to what will become of this rookie goaltender, but I foresee a bright future for this young man and a long career in the VHL when he makes it to the show. For this week this is Rookie’s Weekly signing off read next week for another rookie showcase.   

          

Edited June 29, 2021 by Joker_TM