Colton Parayko is living the dream.
The St. Albert minor hockey product is a National Hockey League rookie playing like a veteran on defence for the St. Louis Blues.
Parayko, who turns 23 on May 12, fired his second playoff goal in Monday's thriller against the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in St. Louis.
The first defenceman in team history to score a goal in game seven made it 2-0 at 13:43 of the opening period against netminder Corey Crawford, as the Blues went on to win 3-2 and will now play the Dallas Stars in the next round.
It was also Parayko's third point of the playoffs after producing nine goals and 33 points in 79 games and was an impressive plus-28.
“You can't quite believe you're here playing against guys you grew up watching. It's surreal,” Parayko told Sportsnet.ca.