Parros '03 relishes job as an NHL enforcer

He smacks guys down with his bare fists for a living. He's got the build of a fighter too, lean and muscular despite being six feet five inches tall. But George Parros '03 is not the kid who scared you in grade school and took your lunch money. He's a well-spoken Princeton graduate, and right now, he's pulling in almost half a million dollars a year, with at least four months off every summer. Want his job?

Despite the money, you probably don't, because as an NHL "enforcer," Parros earns his bucks by fighting at the command of the coach of his team, the Los Angeles Kings. An opposing player hits one of the team's big scorers and out Parros goes to battle. The game is boring, or the team unmotivated? Parros gets a tap on the back, and he jumps over the boards to pick a fight with the other team's tough guy, someone who probably runs at least the 230 pounds that he does and who also hits people for a living.

It sounds like an unappealing way to make a paycheck, but Parros actually likes it, describing himself as someone to whom violence comes naturally. However, Parros is not a born thug, more a made one.

"I've always played a physical role," he explained. "But in college hockey, there's no fighting."

He was recruited as a Princeton Tigers forward, playing at the University from 1999-2003, because he could complement his size with a scoring touch. The fighting would come later.

After finishing high school in Morristown, N.J., he was recruited by several schools, including Harvard, Holy Cross and Dartmouth.

They wanted him for his abilities as a playmaking forward and occasional goal scorer, not because his game was particularly brutal.

So why did Parros choose the Tigers? His family, which lives in Randolph, N.J., thought it would be nice if he were nearby, though the decision to attend Princeton was ultimately his.

"They visited with me, and also checked out the option of my going to Junior A hockey. I ended up getting early admission, then spending a year in Chicago (in the NAHL with the Freeze)."

After that, he began his Princeton degree, enrolling in the fall of 1999. He had his best hockey season his junior year, scoring nine goals and adding 13 assists in 31 games. His final campaign saw him post much weaker numbers, with just seven assists and no goals, though he did serve as team captain during his senior year.

Graduation came, he grabbed his A.B. in economics, and off he went. No one would have predicted at that point that he would make the NHL. But he wasn't ready to give up on the dream, though not many from the Ivy League have made hockey's big league.

"Jeff Halpern ['99] came from Princeton," Parros said, "but we didn't play together there."

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Halpern has 87 goals and 127 assists in 438 NHL games with the Washington Capitals. That kind of offensive output was never promised by Parros, however.

When he went to the minor leagues, playing with Manchester in the American Hockey League, his role was undefined. His first season, he got just three goals and six assists.

A regular job beckoned, the kind with suits and ties and resumes. Then designated enforcer Ryan Flinn, a bruiser at 6'5" and 248 pounds, and scary-looking to boot, got hurt.

"Last year, Flinn got injured in Manchester," Parros explained recently at the Kings' practice facility near Los Angeles, "and that gave me the role." He puts on something between a grin and a grimace at the memory.

He stepped up to his new job. Pretty soon, he'd had nearly three dozen fights and recorded almost 250 minutes in penalties. He also notched 14 goals and eight assists, not Halpern-type numbers, but enough to get the notice of the team that had his NHL rights. The Kings had drafted Parros with their ninth choice, 222nd overall, in the eighth round in 1999, before he enrolled at Princeton.

With the NHL back from its lockout season, Parros started with the club for 2005-06, scoring his first goal in just his eighth game, against Dallas. He went out with an ankle injury shortly thereafter. Reenter Flinn.

His old teammate got in a fight minutes into a game against Chicago. Trying to land a punch, he slipped and ended up cracking his head on the ice. Taken off on a stretcher, he left a pool of blood behind. He'd suffered a head injury. Reenter Parros. This was a good thing for the team, because Flinn didn't make it off the injured reserve for the rest of the season, suffering from post-concussion symptoms.

Does Parros worry that a similar injury could fell him, maybe creating lasting effects?

"You can't worry about that. You just go out and do the job," Parros said. He added that he's an engaging and personable fellow, something which he says is common among the brawlers in the NHL.

"You'd be surprised if you talked to the other tough guys in the league," he said. "Actually, they are some of the nicest guys around, totally different than when they're on the ice."

Parros finished this season having appeared in over 50 games, scoring two goals and three assists. His nearly 150 minutes in penalties are probably more telling.

It might not have been the career his professors prepared him for, but sum it up this way: Parros is living large in California, and making tons of money to boot. It's more than most recent college grads, even those with Princeton degrees, can claim.

But don't get too envious. He says that there's not much public recognition of who he is when he ventures out in Southern California.

"Sometimes, when a few of us are out together, especially in Manhattan Beach (in LA's south bay area, where a lot of the Kings live), people know who we are," Parros said. "In Manchester, we were like rock stars. The whole town knew you whenever you went anywhere."

Then there's the risk of serious injury and the somewhat unpalatable task of mixing it up every time he goes to work. All of this means that his is not exactly the job description you'd seek out on one of those recruiting websites. Still, Parros is proud to be where he is and hopes to stay for a while.

Parros is under contract with the Kings for another year. In that time, he plans to work on aspects of his game other than fighting. He'd rather prolong his career that way than be scrapping so much. Plus, being recognized for his offensive play would elevate his playing minutes, which averaged about five per game this season.

Despite his summer conditioning schedule, Parros will make time for one important off-season activity: Reunions. Look for him. He'll be the big guy with the perfect smile. And if you talk to him, you might find out that he's a lot more approachable than you'd imagine, given the kind of work he does.