Bay Area Thunder's Cole Parks takes a slap shot during a game in a previous season. (Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com)

By Lee Thompson | lthomps2@mlive.com

Follow on Twitter

BAY CITY, MI -- There must have been some magic in that Stevie Y helmet.

After all, since the day Cole Parks had The Captain's helmet placed on his head, he's led a charmed hockey life.

While Parks was just 3 years old and one of dozens of kids clamoring for Steve Yzerman's attention at an exhibition hockey game in 2004, it turns out -- whether by fate, fortune or happenstance -- that the former Detroit Red Wings great couldn't have picked anyone more appropriate to wear his helmet.

Some 14 years later, Parks is still showing his enchanted touch. Now a senior on the Bay Area Thunder hockey team, Parks scored three goals in a 17-second span in a recent game against Grand Blanc, recording the fastest hat trick in Michigan high school hockey history.

"We knew he got them fast," Thunder coach Rocco Cammarata said. "But I don't think anybody realized just how fast it really was."

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Parks scored with 5:19 left in the first period, then scored again at 5:10 and again at 5:02. In the bat of an eye, a flurry of goals had Parks destined for the record book. The fastest hat trick currently listed in the MHSAA record book is 23 seconds, registered by Ortonville-Brandon's Brett Loviska in 2011.

Scoring three times in 17 seconds may be a freak occurrence, but it is no fluke for Parks. The son of Craig and Kirsten Parks has been hooked on hockey since he was old enough to say "Gordie Howe." As a toddler he preferred Hockey Night in Canada over the Backyardigans and got more excited about a stick and puck than mac and cheese.

"He would say 'Daddy, dark out, hockey on,'" said Craig Parks. "I remember having to tell him 'No, the NHL is on strike, so there is no hockey.' But he said 'Dark out, hockey on.'

"So we went to the Canadian channel that was showing European league hockey, and he'd sit and watch that."

Don't Edit

Cole Parks poses at Bay County Civic Arena, home of the Bay Area Thunder. (Lee Thompson | MLive.com)

Don't Edit

Parks was already wide-eyed about hockey when his father took him to a Red Wings exhibition game in 2004. The arrived two hours before the game to get good seats, and Cole refused to move -- even for a bathroom break -- because he couldn't take his eyes off the ice.

"After the game, none of the players left the ice," Craig Parks said. "People were taking their jerseys off and throwing them on the ice, and the players would autograph them and throw them back.

"Then we saw Yzerman take off his helmet and sign it. He skated over to where we were and threw it into the stands -- and I caught it. All these little kids were looking at me waiting for me to give it to one of them.

"Then I realized 'Wait a minute, my own little kid is right here!' So I put it on Cole. Yzerman had a big smile on his face, but all the kids were saying 'Oh, man. He gave it to that little kid.'"

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

As a 5-year-old, Bay City's Cole Parks was already hooked on hockey. (Courtesy)

Don't Edit

That helmet still sits in a display case in the Parks home in Bay City. But the magic was only just beginning.

Cole's hockey passion found a new outlet when he began playing in house leagues at Bay County Civic Arena at age 4.

"I loved skating, I loved the cold... I just loved hockey," he said. "I could dress myself by the time I was 2. I only needed help lacing up the skates."

His family's home is situated on the Kawkawlin River, giving him a winter-round hockey playland right in his back yard. He utilized it to become a strong, fast and skilled skater.

"I would always shovel off a rink and play until I couldn't play anymore," Parks said. "Even when it got dark, I'd put a light out there and skate until 1 in the morning."

Don't Edit

Bay Area's Cole Parks skates past the bench of the Bay City Wolves during a previous season. (Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com)

Don't Edit

This marks his third season with the Thunder, the cooperative high school team featuring players from his school, Bay City John Glenn, as well as from Essexville Garber, Pinconning, Bay City All Saints, Standish-Sterling and Gladwin.

His overall ice skills make him well-suited as a defenseman for the Thunder, but he's also emerged as one of the team's top offensive threats. He's recorded 10 goals and 17 assists through 12 games this season.

But his big game against Grand Blanc at Flint's Dort Event Center didn't begin as a magical night. When Parks got off the bus, he realized his No. 9 jersey was sitting in his truck back in Bay City. Freshman teammate Trey Bultynck wasn't suiting up that night, so he thew Parks his No. 22 sweater.

"He told me to score a hat trick so he would get the stats," Parks said.

Don't Edit

John Glenn's Cole Parks poses for a portrait after winning the 2018 Bay County Golf Championship. (Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Parks delivered indeed. At 5:19 of the first, he took a feed from Jackson Raymond and beat the goaltender for his first goal of the game. By the time 17 more seconds ticked off the clock, Parks would have two more goals.

Each time, Parks won the faceoff, got the puck to Justin Raymond, then got it back for an immediate scoring opportunity.

"I told Justin I was going to dump it in fast to the corner," Parks said. "He just blew past the defenseman to the puck. I went straight to the front of the net, he fed it to me and I scored. Then we did the exact same thing again."

Parks was done scoring for the night, but the Thunder continued to pile up the goals in a 9-1 victory over their Saginaw Valley League rival.

Don't Edit

Cole Parks of the Bay Area Thunder (Lee Thompson | MLive.com)

Don't Edit

That's far from the first time Parks has exhibited his hockey magic. As a Mite, he once scored 11 goals in the Puck O' The Irish Tournament. As a Bantam, he scored six goals to rally his team from a 5-0 deficit to a 7-6 victory.

He's also shown a special touch on the goal course, where he captured medalist honors last spring in the Bay County High School Championship.

But the 17-second hat trick stands as something beyond special -- the NHL record is 21 seconds by Chicago's Bill Mosienko in 1952 -- and suggests there just might be something to that Stevie Y magic.

"Our coach had the stat book out after the game, so I asked him how fast they were," Parks said. "When he said 17 seconds, I just said 'No way.' I never thought I'd do something like that."