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PITTSBURGH — When goaltender Jordan Parise faced shots from Jordan Staal, Sergei Gonchar and other proven NHL players during Monday’s scrimmage at the Mellon Arena, it was the first time in two years that he saw game action at an NHL training camp.
But it wasn’t the first time he faced NHL-caliber shots.
Parise, 26, does the latter with regularity, considering his younger brother, Zach, registered 45 goals with the New Jersey Devils last season. The elder Parise spends each summer preparing for the season playing shinny with a number of proven NHL stars, including his brother; Buffalo Sabres forward Drew Stafford and veteran Jason Blake.
The summer training regimen was part of Parise’s road to NHL success. He spent three seasons minding the net for the University of North Dakota and never earned a goals against average higher then 2.10. In 2006 he signed with the Devils and played in 32 games with Lowell in the AHL, posting an impressive 2.68 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
But at the beginning of the 2007-2008 season Parise’s road to an NHL career crumbled. During training camp with New Jersey, Parise blew out his hip during the first exhibition game. Uncertain of the severity of the injury, he went to Lowell for the regular season and tried to duplicate last season’s success.
But something was seriously wrong.
“I tried to play through (the injury) but I didn’t know what was wrong,” Parise said. “The trainers didn’t know what it was and my season was in a downward spiral from day one. Mentally it was tough.”
During the first five months of the season at Lowell, Parise appeared in 18 games and registered a mediocre 3.55 GAA and a .889 save percentage.
Even more concerning was the pain in Parise’s hip. He couldn’t close his legs to make a save and it got to the point where he could barely walk.
“I got an arthogram and found out I had a torn labrum in my hip,” Parise said. “I had surgery on it at the end of February and went through rehab for four months. As much as you don’t want to have surgery, it was good to know there was a reason why I was playing poorly.”
According to Pittsburgh goaltending coach Gilles Meloche, hip injuries aren’t uncommon for goaltenders like Parise who play a butterfly style. Marc-Andre Fleury, had sore hips last season and his new backup, Brent Johnson, had hip surgery last year.
“It’s a tough injury for goalies,” Meloche said. “With a butterfly goaltender there’s a lot of strain on the hips.” After his rehab, New Jersey extended an offer to Parise to come back for training camp in 2008. He declined and opted to play in the Austrian League instead.
He made the choice to spend a year overseas to get more playing time and start fresh.
“I just felt it was best for me to turn a page in my life and my career. It was something I had to do,” Parise said. “I appreciated the opportunity in New Jersey and everybody left on good terms. But I had to move on. I had to make sure I could still play.”
Now, back in North America Parise recently signed an AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and is using his time in Pittsburgh’s camp to prove to everyone that he can not only play, but excel.
After two days of camp, Meloche likes what he has seen from Parise.
“I remember Jordan a few years back at North Dakota when I was scouting. I liked him, but I lost track of him for a couple years,” Meloche said. “He’s looking good in practice and I’m happy with what I’m seeing from him.”
That kind of attention is all Parise is looking for as he works to re-establish himself as a legitimate goaltender in professional hockey.
“It was awesome for Pittsburgh to invite me to camp and give me a chance. They have an idea of where they want me to be, and the only thing I can do is play my best and hopefully turn a few heads. If I can do that then hopefully I succeeded at this camp. They’ve put a lot of trust and faith in me.”
And if Parise does make it to the NHL one day, he joked there is only one player he’d rather not face: his brother.
“One of the reasons I signed with New Jersey (in 2006) was to get a chance to play in the NHL and to not have to deal with him shooting on me,” Parise said.
“But if it did get to that point, even though we’re brothers, we’re still very competitive against each other.”
Training Camp Notebook
• During Monday’s scrimmage, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo scored on a slapshot from the point and Wade Brookbank added an empty net goal. The line of Matte Cooke-Jordan-Pascal Dupuis created the most scoring chances, and Kris Letang played a fast and physical game and threw several big hits.
• Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma said there is a lot of competition for the seventh defense spot on the roster, mentioning Ben Lovejoy, Nate Guenin and Deryk Engelland. Lovejoy was paired with Brian Strait during Monday’s scrimmage. Engelland skated with Chris Lee and Guenin spent time with Lane Caffaro during practice.
• Meloche took some time to work with John Curry in net during Monday’s practice and likes the way he is developing.
“John played here last year and proved he could play in this league,” Meloche said. “I think he is where we thought he could be at, and we’re happy with John’s progress at this point.”
• After Monday’s practice Sidney Crosby talked about the upcoming Black and Gold game to be played in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday. When informed the game was sold out, Crosby said, “I’m not surprised. We have great support down there.”