VSN - Blast From The Past - Zach Parechkin

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

I flew over from Riga and landed at the Vancouver International Airport. After a 15 hour flight, I got off and stretched. I checked my watch. 7:00 PT. It’s been a while since I’ve been in Canada. The last time I was in Canada, I was with the Saskatoon Wild. I got in a taxi and arrived at Zach’s house. If you didn’t know, Zach Parechkin is one of the best two-way forwards in the history of the league. Knock knock. No answer. I waited for about 5 minutes and then Zach arrived, also in a taxi. We said our hellos and went in. Apparently, he just came back from a trip in Europe, where he explored Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and more. His wife and 2 kids came out of the car and I was introduced to them. He says he hopes to give them a hockey life like he had. We talked about hockey and……..hockey. (Man, I have no life.) We ate some dinner and continued talking. Exhausted, I went to sleep. I woke up at 7 in the morning. He was awake as well. We went for a run at 8 AM at Stanley Park and we ran the Seawall together. After, at 9, we returned and we had a “big eggy breakfast” at his house. Damn the cooking was good. Despite being retired, he likes to work out, so we went to the gym at 10 and had a 2 hour workout session. At 12, we just did whatever. He picked up the kids and I babysat them while he and his wife spent time together. Then, at 6 we went back to the gym for an hour. I swear, I saw 10 people there just taking selfies. People nowadays… After that hour, we went back to his home and he spent time with his family as I typed up this very article. Yes, as of typing this I am in Zach’s house. He tells me that he wants to get a job, preferably hockey-related. Maybe with the Vancouver Giants or Canucks or the Wolves (formerly the Meute)? Who knows.

 

After another night, I asked him the usual questions.

 

“What part of your career are you most proud of?” I asked.

 

His response was almost immediate. “The thing I'm most proud of, as you might guess, is my 3 Continental Cups. Being part of that storied franchise of the Toronto Legion where we won 3 in a row was like nothing else. No other team had done it in the VHL, and no team has done it since. Individual awards are great too, with 2 Scott Boulets, 3 Grimm Jonssons, a Daisuke Kanou, a Kevin Brooks, and a Brett Slobodzian Trophy. These things are what made me a VHL Hall of Famer.”

 

My usual negative self also asked, “What part of your storied career do you regret, if there is any?”

 

He thought about it. It was hard to think of something he could regret in my opinion. After a while, he said his answer. “The only things I regret are all the players I never got to play with in my time in the VHL. Players like Lord Karnage, Unassisted, or Aleksi Koponen are other HoF guys from my time, and that would be been great to play with them.”

 

Then, I asked him if he had tips for young players. He responded, “Well, as a player, I'd say just make your name known. Be a leader in the locker room. You don't want to give a team any reason to not like you, and be helpful. Nobody likes the selfish players with a big ego. Everyone is out there with the same goal.”

 

After one more day in Vancouver, and 3 boxes of Tim Horton’s donuts, I said my farewells. As of writing this, I am at the airport, trying to figure out how the hell I’m gonna fit 10 Tim Horton’s donut boxes in my suitcase.

 

Note: Not sponsored by Tim Horton's. (Anyone win anything in to Roll Up the Rim?)

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

@DollarAndADream What'cha think?

[Nykonax 1,566]

5 hours ago, SlapshotDragon said:

Nobody likes the selfish players with a big ego

uh oh

[DollarAndADream 3,357]

7 hours ago, SlapshotDragon said:

@DollarAndADream What'cha think?

Awesome! Great job, dude.

 

 

Also, maybe I went with you to Timmy Ho's.  

[McWolf 3,116]

I got my 3-free coffee streak broken today. What about you?

[Da Trifecta 1,902]

Nice Pearchicken article

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

On 3/4/2019 at 10:27 PM, Trifecta said:

Nice Pearchicken article

Sounds delicious