For Brett Parnham, it was never a question of whether or not he had the talent to be an elite scorer in the Ontario Hockey League, it was more so a question of when he would reach that plateau during his time in the OHL. After three seasons in the league, the 20 year old was primed for a big season in 2008/2009 and the Orillia, Ontario native’s season was nothing short of spectacular. However getting to that point was not easy for Parnham as we take some time to reflect on the 20 year old’s career in the OHL, and how the culmination of his hard work and persistence has paid off with professional opportunities waiting ahead.

After breaking into the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves, the expectations have been high for Parnham. While Tier Two teams are no longer eligible to carry 15 year old players on a regular card, Parnham was part of the last age group that was able to do so and instead of playing Minor Midget during his 2004/2005 OHL draft year; he opted to spend the season playing in the OPJHL with the Huntsville Otters. Parnham explained the reasoning behind his decision, “I felt it would better prepare me for the Ontario Hockey League, and give me a step up on most of the other guys in the draft who were still playing in Midget. Playing for Tom McCarthy (Former Huntsville Head Coach) was also really beneficial to my development.” While many players before Parnham struggled playing junior hockey as a 15 year old, Parnham relished the opportunity as he notched 12 goals and 30 points to finish 6^th on the team in scoring.

OHL scouts quickly took notice of Parnham’s successful season and many had the 5’9 165 lb center pegged as a consensus first round pick in the 2005 OHL Priority Selection, with some whispers even putting him inside the Top 10. Parnham’s draft day wait did prove to be minimal as the Sudbury Wolves picked up the talented pivot with their first round selection, 13^th overall. With many young players being drafted into the OHL, there is always a crucial decision to be made over whether their development would best be served by playing Major Junior, or pursuing the NCAA route. With Parnham this was no different as he admits that “I was never really interested in the NCAA before the draft, but after I got drafted I did check out Ohio State and then I had a decision to make. In the end I felt that the OHL was the right place for me, however.”

When Parnham broke into the OHL during the 2005/2006 season, the Wolves had high expectations that Parnham’s offensive flare would ease his transition into the league. After tallying Sudbury’s lone goal in the first game of his OHL career, the fans were no doubt intrigued with the potential of their newest 16 year old first round pick. Unfortunately this goal proved to be one of the lone brightspots in his brief term in Sudbury as the Wolves shipped Parnham off to the Oshawa Generals in exchange for Gary Friesen just before the season’s trade deadline. After arriving with the rebuilding Oshawa Generals, Parnham found a bit more success picking up 1 assist in his first 3 games before suffering a broken leg in practice that put him on the shelf for 6 weeks. After making a quick recovery from an injury of that severity, Parnham rebounded to score 4 points in the remaining 9 games for a total of 5 goals and 9 points on the season.

With a shaky rookie season behind him, Parnham was quick to re-focus for the upcoming 2006/2007 season. “My first season in the league was definitely a learning curve. I had to adapt to playing at a higher level and the strength and the speed of the game was something that takes some time to get used to. I knew that I had to become stronger in the off-season and work on my speed in order to be successful in the league.” With the Generals set to build upon the young core in place, Parnham was promoted into a top six role with Oshawa, centering their second line. A year proved to be a big difference for him as he piled up 23 goals and 48 points in his second year in the league before adding another 4 goals and 6 points in 9 playoff games before the Generals were ousted by the Belleville Bulls.

With the Generals in position to ice one of the best OHL teams in 2007/2008, expectations were high on Parnham to prove that he could center one of the top two lines on a contending team in the league. Despite playing on a team with a top line featuring players like John Tavares and Brett MacLean, Parnham acknowledged that there is still a lot of pressure to produce on a regular basis. “Being a stronger team we had to have scoring coming from different lines every night, especially when most teams focused in on our top line. Any great team needs quality secondary scoring so obviously there was a lot of pressure for guys like me to make regular contributions.” Parnham once again increased his numbers, eclipsing 30 goals and 60 points for the first time in his OHL career en route to a 32 goal, 66 point regular season. With the Generals in position to contend for the OHL title, they eventually met up for another dance with the Belleville Bulls, only this time in the Eastern Conference Finals. On paper, the series looked like it had all the makings of a classic, but in reality the Bulls made quick work of the Generals taking a three game lead before booking their ticket to the OHL Finals with an 11-0 romp of Oshawa in Game 5. “Obviously we really underachieved in the playoffs, and looking back it still stings to know we were that close. Belleville had a great team, but we definitely should have made that series a lot closer then it was.”

Being left to pick up the pieces heading into 2008/2009, the Generals still were able to ice a fairly competitive roster come opening night. In addition to Parnham, the Generals also retained John Tavares (NYI 1^st 09) as well as defensemen Michael Del Zotto (NYR 20^th 08) and Calvin de Haan (NYI 12^th 09) as well as a fairly solid cast of complementary players. This year was in particular of major significance for Parnham as many felt that he was finally at the point where he was ready to establish himself as one of the elite centers in the OHL. After a tumultuous season which saw the Generals at one point in fourth place in the Eastern Conference before moving both Tavares and Del Zotto, Parnham was able to prove that he was indeed among the cream of the crop in the OHL. Despite not having premier talent on his wings, Parnham was only one of two players in the entire league to reach the 50 goal plateau and finished second in the league to his former teammate John Tavares. He also finished the season with a career high 76 points, good enough for 17^th in OHL scoring. As a testament to his character, Parnham was also named as the captain of the Generals following the trade of John Tavares, and never gave up on the team despite the Generals only winning 7 games following the trade.

While Parnham’s 2008/2009 season in the OHL didn’t bring the team success he wanted too, you can’t argue that his season was no doubt memorable as a result of the personal accolades he was able to accomplish. But like any true leader, he doesn’t look at the game that way, he remembers the last season as the year that Oshawa missed the playoffs, not the season where he scored 50 goals. For this reason it’s a bit surprising Parnham never heard his name called in any of the past three NHL Entry Drafts. While he was never really on the radar in 2007 or 2008, after his impressive season last year, there was some talk that he might just hear his name called in Montreal. Like many young players, Parnham admits that initially he was disappointed that he went undrafted, “I thought getting drafted into the NHL meant a lot more then it does, especially when you’re playing in the OHL where everybody is basing opinions on what kind of statistics you’re putting up.” However after going through three drafts, Parnham now understands that going undrafted doesn’t put an end to professional opportunities. “I think looking back on it now, it’s a bit of a blessing in disguise. I’m starting to realize that now as a free agent, as long as I’m playing well and there’s a couple of teams that are interested in me, there are definitely opportunities out there and maybe I can pick a situation that better suits myself as opposed to being locked into one organization.”

Those opportunities are beginning to make themselves available as Parnham has been on the radar of several NHL teams as well as clubs across Europe. While definitely undersized for the pro game, Parnham is a good skater that has strong offensive instincts. He’s got a very good shot and knows where to be on the ice to score goals, which is a big reason why he was able to pot 50 of them despite playing on one of the worst teams in the OHL last year. After skating in Tampa Bay’s rookie camp last summer, Parnham was invited to Los Angeles’ camp this season and will also be headed to Ottawa’s in September. “My plan is to stay over here in North America right now and hopefully get a shot at the NHL someday, but if that doesn’t work out I’m not ruling out going over to Europe at some point in my career, either.”

It looks like Parnham’s career in the OHL has come to an end at this point with the 20 year old almost certainly destined for some type of professional hockey this upcoming season. Whether or not Parnham has the talent to crack the NHL remains to be seen, but there is no denying Parnham’s professional demeanor and the amount of class he displays on a regular basis. And with that, as Parnham closes one chapter on his hockey career, he will embark on a brand new challenge, and one can hope that for a kid with his positive attitude and work ethic, this chapter can be even more successful then the last.

Tags: Brett Parnham

About the Author: Scott Campbell

Scott, 23, is the Managing Editor for TSR after helping to found the site in 2009. A 2010 graduate from Laurentian University's Sports Administration program, Scott currently attends Indiana State University as a graduate student majoring in Sports Management.