GIVING HIMSELF A FIGHTING CHANCE KINGS BRAWLER PARROS, A PRINCETON GRAD, HAS WORKED HIS WAY UP.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Hockey is full of pressurized moments. Skating in alone on a breakaway. Killing a 5-on-3 penalty late in the third period. Threading a pass through traffic that could easily turn into a goal for the opposition.

For Kings forward George Parros, pressure was being just a few months out of high school, working as a runner on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade and carrying a ticket for a million shares of stock in his hands. In that situation, a mistake would have meant more than a turnover or a penalty, it might have ruined someone's financial life.

``Some days were hectic as hell,'' Parros said. ``It was pretty cool.''

It's difficult to think of a more unusual path to the NHL than the one taken by Parros, a 6-foot-5, 232-pound rookie brawler with a gentle demeanor and a degree in economics from Princeton.

Parros' degree had an emphasis in statistic analysis, so he knows just how unlikely it is that a gangly teenager who almost didn't play college hockey could end up in the NHL, and how improbable it is that a Princeton grad who should be wearing a suit to work this morning is instead trading punches on the ice.

``Before I got into pro hockey I always figured I'd get some sort of finance job, banking or whatnot, grind out a bunch of hours and try to make a lot of money later in life,'' Parros said. ``Being a broker had some interest to me, but as soon as I started playing hockey I didn't want to do anything else.''

It's been quite a journey. It started when Dan Cahoon, then the coach at Princeton, was watching a high school hockey game on TV one night and saw something in Parros, a mostly unrecruited senior.

``His name had never really crossed my desk,'' Cahoon said. ``I just happened to turn on that game on a whim and I could tell he had a good strong presence on the ice and that he could grow into that big body. I asked (assistant coach) Len Quesnelle to look at him, and then we found out he was a good student too.''

Straight A's, in fact, but Parros' hockey skills weren't quite as impressive, so Cahoon made a deal. Parros would play junior hockey for a year, then join Princeton. It sounded good to Parros.

``I wasn't planning on playing after high school,'' Parros said, ``but then Princeton came knocking on my door and I only lived an hour away from campus.''

So Parros went to Chicago to play for the Chicago Freeze of the North American Hockey League, and found himself with free time. Several players took side jobs, and Parros' interest in finance, and a family friend who worked as a stock trader, led Parros to a part-time job with the Chicago Board of Trade.

``The ticket orders came from the office down to the desk, and they would give them out to the runners to take them to the traders,'' Parros said. ``We'd wait for the trade to be executed, then write down on the card what happened and bring it back to the desk so they could report the trade.''

As part-time jobs go, it certainly wasn't pizza delivery, but then again, Parros was Princeton-bound.

Since Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, Parros couldn't afford to slack on academics. He took a tough course load and majored in economics, a path he said he now regrets because of its difficulty.

``I actually enjoyed the statistics stuff more than anything,'' Parros said, ``much more than all that macro and micro (economics) crap. I really liked the statistics stuff, it was cool.''

Cahoon, who left Princeton after Parros' freshman season, knew what his players were facing.

``Kids in that situation have to really augment their time effectively,'' Cahoon said. ``There's really no time to be relaxed. You have to schedule your time and organize things so that every moment you have is well-managed and you can move from one endeavor to the next. There's not much time to relax at all.''

Parros thrived, both on the ice and in the classroom, according to Henry Farber, who taught Parros in an upper-level class on statistical methods and also served as an academic advisor to the hockey team.

``Athletes tend to be masters of time management; they have to be,'' Farber said. ``I was always impressed with George's focus. Those players are practicing or on the road every day, and they have to have great focus. George did a good job, and I was happy to get to know him a little bit.''

Parros performed well at Princeton and was known for his big hitting, but he wasn't a classic brawler because fighting is not allowed in college. Parros finished with 20 goals in 111 career games and didn't score a goal as a senior but was team captain and was drafted by the Kings in the ninth round in 2003.

Then, Parros really started to use some of his smarts. At a developmental camp that summer, he looked around and realized that his skill probably wasn't going to get him to the NHL any time soon.

But he did have one thing: size. And he decided to take advantage of it, and become a ``tough guy.''

``Just looking at the big picture,'' Parros said, ``I thought about how there's only one, maybe two, tough guys on a team, and if one of those guys gets hurt they're going to need somebody. So I thought if I could figure out how to (fight), I might get a shot.''

After two seasons in the AHL, and plenty of advice from established brawlers, that chance came in September, when Parros made the Kings' roster during training camp.

His timing was good. With the new offense-first rules enacted this season, teams can't afford to employ a player simply because of his fighting skills, and Parros has other skills. On Oct. 20 at Dallas, he recorded a ``Gordie Howe Hat Trick'' - a goal, an assist and a major penalty for fighting.

``Players in (Parros') situation cannot be one-dimensional, and he's not,'' coach Andy Murray said. ``We think George has the ability to develop into a really good player.''

That's what Parros wants as well. Fighting is a means to an end, a chance to get his foot in the NHL door, but Parros looks forward to the day when he's not simply known as a brawler.

``Some nights I don't mind it,'' Parros said. ``If I think it's going to get the boys up on the bench or get a big roar from the crowd, it can be fun. I don't like doing it night in and night out.

``I've seen guys who started out as tough guys and eventually became role players on their teams, staples on the third and fourth line who didn't have to fight all the time. But you definitely have to earn your stripes first. So I'm fine with fighting for as long as it takes.''

It might take a little while longer, but that's OK. Parros, who turns 26 next month, has impressed the Kings and delighted his old comrades. Parros and Washington captain Jeff Halpern are the only two former Princeton players in the NHL and while Halpern isn't a fighter, he's known as a hard-nosed player.

``I was talking to Halpern the other day,'' Parros said, ``and he said, 'I tell my team that the two toughest guys in the league are from Princeton.' ''

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Kings forward George Parros worked at the Chicago Board of Trade after graduating from high school.

Photo courtesy Bernstein Associates

(2) Kings rookie George Parros graduated from Princeton, where he enjoyed statistics class, and he was once a floor runner for the Chicago Board of Trade.

Bernstein Associates

Box:

KINGS at EDMONTON

- Daily News