Russ Parent (born May 6, 1968) is a Canadian retired ice hockey

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who was an All-American for

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

Career

Parent was a high-scoring defenseman in his final season of junior hockey, recording nearly 2 points per game in 1986. The gaudy numbers convinced the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

to select him with their 11th round selection in the

1986 NHL Draft The 1986 NHL Entry Draft was the 24th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 21, 1986, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 252 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the revers ...

. Parent joined the program at

the following year and lucked into one of the most dominant performances by any team I the history of college hockey. UND became the first team to win 40 games and were led by all-time single-season scoring champion

Tony Hrkac Anthony John Hrkac (; born July 7, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player of Croatian and Ukrainian ancestry who played eighteen seasons of professional hockey. Playing career Collegiate Hrkac was drafted in the second round, ...

as well as future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Ed Belfour Edward John Belfour (born April 21, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Belfour was born in Carman, Manitoba and grew up playing hockey. He played junior hockey for the Winkler Flyers before going to the University of ...

. The Fighting Sioux won the

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

with Parent serving mostly as a depth defender. With many of the principle players leaving after the season, North Dakota declined sharply after 1987. parent remained with the team for the next three seasons, trying to rebuild the team into a contender. The Fighting Hawks finally began to resemble a championship team in his senior season. While serving as an

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

, Parent led the nation in points (tied) and assists by a defenseman and was named an All-American. Parent helped the Sioux return to the national tournament again but they were knocked out in the first round. He finished out the season with three games for the Canadian national team. Parent began his professional career the following season after heading to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. He played for the Ayr Raiders in final two seasons for the team and then transferred to the

Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League. History ...

. In his first season he produced more than two points per game and helped the team qualify for the

British Hockey League The British Hockey League was the top-flight ice hockey league in the United Kingdom from 1980 until 1996 (with a short break between 1981 and 1982), when it was replaced by the Ice Hockey Superleague and the British National League. The league r ...

. He continued to be a key contributor for the Bison for the next three years and is still fondly remembered by supporters of the club. He moved on to the

Fife Flyers Fife Flyers is the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK, established in 1938. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy which has a capacity of just over 3000 (seated and standing). They joined the EIHL in 2011. ...

for the 1997 season and helped the team win a league championship. After a successful career in the UK, Parent returned across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and played four years of AA hockey with the

Monroe Moccasins The Monroe Moccasins were a professional ice hockey team that played in the Western Professional Hockey League. Based in Monroe, Louisiana from 1997 until the end of the 2001 season, the team played its home games at the Monroe Civic Center. H ...

. He retired following the 2001 season.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parent, Russ 1968 births Living people Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Canadian ice hockey defencemen Winnipeg South Blues players North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Ayr Bruins players Basingstoke Bison players Fife Flyers players Monroe Moccasins players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions New York Rangers draft picks Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Scotland Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in England Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States