George Parros

George James Parros (born December 29, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), who currently serves as the head of the NHL's Department of Player Safety, with the title of senior vice president of player safety.

In this role Parros is tasked with determining the suspensions or fines handed out for various on-ice incidents in the NHL.

His primary role on the ice was that of an enforcer.

He won Rookie of the Year honors in 1994–1995, followed by All-State recognition as an upperclassman.

After high school, Parros attended an offseason event where he was seen by Princeton scouts.

He was given a chance to play hockey at Princeton University.

After graduating high school in 1998, he deferred admission to Princeton University to play junior hockey with the Chicago Freeze in the North American Hockey League during the 1998–99 season.

Playing in junior gave him a chance to improve his play and get a bit bigger.

During his 54 games with the Freeze in junior, Parros nearly averaged a point per game.

Parros played four years at Princeton University, where he totaled 52 points and 119 PIM in 111 games.

Parros was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the eighth round (222nd) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

After graduating from Princeton, he joined the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings' AHL affiliate.

He was named team captain for his senior season in 2002–03.

While at Princeton, Parros majored in economics and wrote his senior thesis on the West Coast longshoremen's labor dispute.

Parros remained with the team through the 2004–05 season.

His best season was 2004–05, when Parros had 22 points (14 goals, 8 assists) and 247 penalty minutes.

He was second on the team in penalty minutes that season.

He also appeared in three games with the Reading Royals, the Kings' ECHL affiliate, where Parros took boxing lessons to become a better fighter.

When Parros made his NHL debut with the Kings on October 5, 2005, he became the seventh Princeton Tiger to play in the NHL.

He scored his first NHL goal on October 20 against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

He recorded a goal, an assist and a major fighting penalty in the same game, an achievement known as a "Gordie Howe hat trick."

He missed a total of 21 games over two different stretches between November and January of that season.

However, he finished the 2005–06 season with two goals, three assists, and 138 PIM in 55 games.

He played in the most games for a Kings' rookie during that season, as well as leading all Kings' players in major penalties.

On October 2, 2006, he was waived by the Kings and picked up by the Colorado Avalanche.

He would play in only two games for the Avalanche.

Just a month later, on November 13, 2006, Parros was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a 2nd round draft pick and an option to swap 3rd round picks.

During the 2006–07 season, he scored just one goal against the Chicago Blackhawks.

He led the Ducks with 18 fighting majors during the regular season.

Parros was part of the 2007 Stanley Cup winning Anaheim Ducks.

A native of Washington, Pennsylvania of Greek descent, Parros grew up in Randolph, New Jersey.

He played for the (then Morris County, now) New Jersey Colonials and high school hockey at the Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey.

Parros was a member of the Anaheim Ducks team that won the Stanley Cup in 2007.

On June 12, 2007, coming off of the Stanley Cup win, George Parros and the Ducks agreed to a two-year contract.

The contract was worth 1.1 million dollars for two years.

Parros had 183 penalty minutes during the 2007–08 season, at the conclusion of which the Ducks would be eliminated in the first round of their Stanley Cup defense by the Dallas Stars.

His penalty minutes would drop to 135 the following season despite playing in an additional five games, while contributing five goals and five assists.

In 2010, he was chosen as the fourth-smartest athlete in sports by the Sporting News.

After the better part of 6 seasons with the Ducks, Parros left as a free agent and signed a two-year contract with the Florida Panthers on July 1, 2012.

On July 5, 2013, after one season with the Panthers, Parros was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Philippe Lefebvre and a 7th round draft pick in 2014.