June 11, 2015

Orono High School names Parrish as head boys’ hockey coach    

Mark Parrish, who has a resume full of both professional and amateur hockey experience, has been named head coach of the boys’ hockey team at Orono High School.

“He brings extraordinary playing experiences with him,” said OHS Activities Director Bucky Mieras, “and I believe he has the personality to translate those experiences into a coaching career.  I was happy to see the high level of excitement he had about the opening.”

Parrish began helping with the team toward the end of this past season.  “A few weeks after the season ended, I missed it and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be involved with the team again,” he explained.

Parrish has played for seven professional teams from 1998 to 2011, including three years with the Minnesota Wild (2006-2008).  In 2002, as a player for the New York Islanders, he was selected to play in the All-Star Game.

Parrish’s USA Hockey career is equally as impressive.  He played in the World Junior Championships for two years, including the 1997 team which was a silver medalist, and the World Championships for three years.  He was named one of the top three players in the 2005 championship in Innsbruck, Austria.

His amateur experience includes playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds and St. Cloud State University, where he was named to the NCAA All-American 2nd Team after the 1997 season.

“I’ve been fortunate to accumulate a wealth of hockey knowledge throughout my career and saw how eager the kids were to learn,” said Parrish.  “I felt it was the perfect time to start passing on that knowledge.”

He is running the team’s summer training program, which Mieras says will give him a “great opportunity to get to know the kids and prepare them for the season.”

Parrish will not only be a coach in the district, but a resident of the district.  His family is in the process of moving.  Parrish and his wife, Nicholle, have a daughter Gianna, 7, and a son, Turner, 5, as well as a miniature dachshund named Guinness.

Parrish was the top choice of a committee assembled for the purpose of selecting a new boys’ hockey coach.  In addition to Mieras and OHS Principal David Benson, members included Pete Eckerline, Doug Erickson, Chris Lewis, John Quinlivan, Tom Renard and Paul Vieth.  Members represented the high school and all levels of hockey in the community.

“My goal for Orono, every year, will be to have the hardest-working, most honest and most respectful team in the state,” Parrish said.         

For more information, please contact the OHS Athletic Office at 952/449-8414 or 952/449-8409.

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Orono Public Schools serves 2,760 students in grades K-12 from the communities of Independence, Long Lake, Maple Plain, Medina, Minnetonka Beach and Orono.

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Orono Public Schools

DISTRICT OFFICE    685 Old Crystal Bay Road North    Long Lake, MN 55356

www.orono.k12.mn.us