While we wait for Zayne Parekh to get healthy and back into the lineup for the Calgary Flames, Eric Francis of Sportsnet reported today that the Flames will be loaning Parekh to Team Canada for the upcoming World Junior Championships.
It has been a bit of tough sledding for Parekh to start his NHL career, as he has to deal with the brain-numbing decisions of head coach Ryan Huska to continue to keep him out of the lineup and not use Parekh’s services accordingly. Now he is dealing with an injury that he sustained a couple of weeks ago against the Chicago Blackhawks. A chance for him to play a ton of minutes in some high-leverage situations for Team Canada should be a boost of confidence for the 19-year-old.
A chance to dominate
Parekh will be one of the top dogs at the tournament, and after dominating junior hockey last season, he will get the chance to go and be one of the leaders both on and off the ice for the Canadian squad. He hasn’t gotten a ton of minutes or special teams time thus far in Calgary, but you know that Parekh is going to get every opportunity to be the leader on the backend, and he will eat a ton of minutes.
Parekh will have the chance to boost his confidence, get more touches on the puck and hopefully take what he got at the tournament back to Calgary to prove he is an everyday player and a game changer at that.
Redemption
After being snubbed from the team last year and watching them lose early in the tournament for the second year in a row, redemption will be on Parekh’s mind as he will show why he should have been at the tournament a year ago.
You know Parekh is going to walk into this with a chip on his shoulder and ready to prove everyone wrong, even those in Calgary who have refused to play him the way they should. It will be a good time for us fans to see Parekh on one of the biggest stages, and we will be able to see all the potential we have in him. At the end of the day, it will probably be the most exciting thing that we get out of this season.
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