The first thing you notice about Colton Parayko is that you can’t help but notice Colton Parayko.
And for the Blues, that was a problem.
Thus, their pursuit of the young lad from St. Albert, Alberta, is like a chapter from an Ian Fleming novel. It begins with Parayko playing for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. That’s not exactly Siberia, but on the hockey landscape it’s close.
Then one day the Blues got a tip, essentially from a Russian spy.