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Ford is noticing the prize at Jets Camp
Ice Hockey

Ford is noticing the prize at Jets Camp

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NHL debut is not much more photo perfect than the Parker Ford has enjoyed.

As fate would have, the product of Rhode Island was suitable in his first NHL match against the Boston Bruins – the team for which he grew up.

That would have been memorable enough, but Ford has added to the pleasure for himself and those present in TD Garden when he scored on Joonas Korpisalo as part of a third period of four goals in a 6-2 victory for the Jets.

Mike Deal / Free Press

Winnipeg Jets Forward Parker Ford has an extra jump in his step after repairing a injury in the upper body that required surgery.

After Ford had experienced his interviews after the game and took a few moments to try to make the moment soak, he was SerenAded by a large group of his supporters in the Arena before getting his teammates on the bus.

“They sang my name when I came out,” Ford remembered during a one-on-one interview during the Jets training camp. “I didn’t think many people chased, because you usually have to pass everyone. I think I only gave five or six flace out, so it was really cool to see that many people chase and just give everyone a hug. It just made it much special, who could share that time with everyone.”

Ford, who is expected to arrive on Tuesday in an exhibition match against the Edmonton Oilers in Canada Life Center, would appear in two more games with the jets before he was returned to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

The NHL experience had given him a little extra bouncement in his step, but he suffered an injury in the upper body that required surgery.

Instead of thinking about when his next NHL opportunity could come, Ford has adapted his sights to a quick recovery.

“You start playing every game and then you are suddenly out for the rest of the season. It was difficult,” said Ford, who was signed with the Providence College Friars after four seasons as an unknown lecture -free agent. “If you are injured, you try to do different things. Returning as quickly as possible and just achieving small victories. That’s what it came to. Have a goal day to day and try to achieve as well as possible. They are not the same goals as when you are healthy, but that’s just how the game goes.”

There is no doubt that the timing was a shame for Ford, because he was prevented from getting another shot before the Stanley Cup play -offs arrived.

“Yes. It was just about the last shift of the game. It was just a funky game,” said Ford, who came to the Jets Taxi Squad at the beginning of May but did not see a play -off action. “I don’t know. It was just one of those things. Injuries seem to happen if you expect the least. I didn’t know how bad it was in the beginning and then I came shortly after (it was).”

Ford has been fully recovered and after a strong off-season of training he is ready to try to tackle his next goal-that is to become an NHL rule.

Although there seem to be not many openings that are available at the big club, Ford is not worried about who he might have to jump on the organizational depth card.

“It’s just another process of setting goals,” said Ford. “But that next step proves that you are proving a player of every day. Not only a few games here and there. Everyone here in the camp, they are fighting for jobs. I have done it in the last two years, try to earn my stripes. That is something I have to take the next step, to show that I can be here every day.

“Of course you see boys coming and going. That comes in the game, but at the end of the day it’s just motivation,” Ford said. “You want to be that guy. I want to be that guy to make the team and fight for that place. I can almost see it every day. I just have to come there.”

Ford knows the style of the game he has to play to improve his chances to achieve that goal.

When he is at his best, the spicy attacker plays with incredibly high intensity and completes all his checks while he has the opportunity to offer some secondary scoring.

“My teammates and the coaching staff know what I bring every match and for my entire career I have been a consistent player. I had an identity,” said Ford. “And for me to stay here, I have to stick to my identity and be one of the best guys. That works hard, does all the little things well and plays on both sides of the puck.

“I am fighting for a Bottom-Six place and your job (in that role) is about bringing energy to the team. It may not be target score, but it can be a big hit or a blocked shot, even a smart game. That is what I think I can bring the team.”

Ford, who became 25 in July, was overwhelmed by the number of people who stopped him at home in Rhode Island in the summer to share their own personal stories about where they were when he scored his first NHL goal.

“The story of everyone hearing about how they looked at it, how they heard about it, that was more special for me than looking at the repetition of the goal,” Ford said. “You set that goal (of scoring an NHL target) for your entire life and then you finally arrive. You get there and then it is” what now? ” That is the reflective process.

“How do we continue from here? It’s the same as with the team. How do we get better? After the success of Jets last year, how can we get better? It is a similar process of how I will take the next step, that’s what I want to do.”