Don Parsons is a retired professional ice hockey player. Parsons is noted for being a prolific goal scorer who briefly held the modern minor league goal-scoring record from 2008 to 2010.

Early career and college

Parson started playing hockey as a defenseman for Archbishop William High School in Braintree, Massachusetts

Braintree, Massachusetts

The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...

 because of a lack of defensemen on the teams that he played on. Although he wanted to play forward, he continued to play defense as a member of the UMass-Lowell hockey team from 1988 to 1992, where he scored 18 goals in 107 games.

Professional

In Parsons's rookie season, newly hired rookie head coach Nick Fotiu asked Parsons if he wanted to make the move from playing defense to playing forward. Parsons agreed, and scored 27 goals as a member of the Knights' third line. Parson signed with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks

Tallahassee Tiger Sharks

The Tallahassee Tiger Sharks were a minor professional ice hockey team that played in the ECHL from 1994–2001. Under this period they served as a minor league affiliate to New York Islanders , Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens....

 for the 1994-95 season and scored 41 goals. The following season, he signed with the Johnstown Chiefs, reuniting him with former coach Fotiu and he had his first fifty goal season, accomplishing the feat with a four goal night on the final game of the season. Parsons would leave the Chiefs that season and sign with the Baton Rouge Kingfish. He would later be traded to the Louisiana Ice Gators, where he would later have his second fifty goal season while in the ECHL.

Parsons signed with the Flint Generals of the United Hockey League. After one season with the Generals, Parsons signed with the Memphis Riverkings

Memphis RiverKings

The Mississippi RiverKings are a professional minor league ice hockey team. The RiverKings are a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League, playing their first nineteen seasons from the 1992–93 season to the 2010–11 season in the Central Hockey League The Mississippi RiverKings...

, where he stayed for six seasons.

On December 26, 2008 Parsons broke the modern minor hockey record for goals scored by registering his 678th goal against the Flint Generals

Flint Generals

The Flint Generals were a professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan.They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center in Flint, Michigan....

. Parsons finished his career scoring 682 goals. His record was eclipsed by Robin Bouchard

Robin Bouchard

Robin Bouchard is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played sixteen seasons of minor league hockey. He holds the modern-era minor league goal scoring record, scoring 687 goals while playing in the ECHL, CoHL, United Hockey League, CHL, and the modern-day IHL.-ECHL:Bouchard...

 who scored his 683 career goal on March 20, 2010 against the Quad City Mallards

Quad City Mallards

The Quad City Mallards were a professional ice hockey team competing in the AA level United Hockey League. The Mallards played their home games at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. Their team colors were forest green and burgundy. They won the Colonial Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2001,...

 of the IHL.

Parson was waived by the Bloomington PrairieThunder on January 6, 2009. Both management and Parsons announced that it was done for salary cap reasons.

Retirement

Parsons's #13 was retired by the Memphis Riverkings in a pregame ceremony on March 14, 2010. He is the second such honoree in the team's history, joining the late Scott Brower

Scott Brower

Scott Brower was a professional ice hockey goaltender.-Early career:Brower was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 12th in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft...

.

Personal

Parsons currently lives outside of Lancaster, PA and is married to his wife Kristen, and have three children: Abby, Maggy, and Maddox. They met while Parsons was a member of the Johnstown Chiefs.

Awards

CHL

Central Hockey League

The Central Hockey League is a mid-level professional hockey league, owned by Global Entertainment Corporation. Its current champions are the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, which defeated the Colorado Eagles four games to three in the 2011 playoffs....

• 2000-01 Joe Burton Award
  Joe Burton Award
  The Joe Burton Award is awarded annually to the Central Hockey League's scoring champion. The award was named after the CHL's career point leader Joe Burton who played 11 season with the Oklahoma City Blazers accumulating 985 points...
  
   (Scoring Champion)
• 2001-02 Most Valuable Player
• 2001-02 Most Valuable Player, Playoffs
• 2002-03 Most Valuable Player
• 2002-03 Joe Burton Award
• 2003-04 Man Of The Year
• 2004-05 All-CHL Team

Records

ECHL

ECHL

The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...

• Most consecutive 40+ goal seasons (4) - 1994-99 (Nashville, Tallahassee, Johnstown, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

External links

• Don Parsons at EliteProspects.com