By Jeff D'Andrea

Parenteau returns to P.A. one more time for Senator’s Cup

Apr 5, 2017 | 5:00 PM

After his Tri-City Americans were swept in the first round last Friday, Rylan Parenteau’s WHL career may have ended a little sooner than he wanted it to.

But exactly a week after his final major junior game, Parenteau will be back in the building where his WHL career began — the Art Hauser Centre.

The former Prince Albert Raider will play in the Senator’s Cup aboriginal hockey tournament, starting on Friday.

This will be the second time Parenteau will return to the Art Hauser Centre, since getting traded from the Raiders to the Americans on Oct. 13.

The first was the Americans’ 7-1 win over the Raiders on Jan. 6, along with fellow-former Raider Dalton Yorke.

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“That was a definitely a great experience,” Parenteau said, who has Métis roots on his father’s side. “It was interesting being on the other side of things, but it’s always fun to go back to the town you played in and basically grew up in.

“I just take this opportunity, playing in the Senator’s Cup is kind of the same in getting to play in Prince Albert again.”

Parenteau has participated in all three Senators’ Cups since the inaugural tournament in 2015. He’ll be suiting up for Île-à-la-Crosse this time around.

“It’s definitely fun just to come out and obviously represent my heritage and play with these guys that I’ve grown bonds with over the years,” Parenteau said.

Parenteau broke into major junior hockey with the Raiders, who drafted him in the third round of the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft. Parenteau made his first 103 appearances with the Raiders, before the move to the Americans. Statistically, Parenteau’s best season was his last full year with the Raiders in 2015-16 in which he was nominated as a WHL Eastern Conference All-Star, putting up 25-17-5-1 record, with a .913 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average.

He was also voted as the WHL’s hardest working player that year as a member of the Raiders.

As would be no surprise, Parenteau looks back fondly on his time with the green and gold.

“They meant the world to me. It’s such a great organization that brought me in and had a lot of faith in me,” Parenteau said. “They obviously helped me grow as a player and a person. I can’t thank [enough] the coaching staff, the scouting, the town, the fans, everyone, the billets and obviously my teammates over the years to help me grow into a solid junior hockey player for sure.”

As for what is next after the Senator’s Cup for Parenteau, “nothing set in stone.”

“It’s definitely a lot of planning and a lot of research into what my options are for next year,” he said.

In addition to his Senator’s Cup experience, Parenteau won the National Aboriginal Hockey championships in 2014 and was featured on APTN’s Hit the Ice documentary hockey show in the same year.

The Senator’s Cup will go on April 7-9 at the Art Hauser Centre in its third annual tournament.

jdandrea@jpbg.ca
Twitter: @jeff_paNOW.