PARSONS TURNING PRO A STRONG POSSIBILITY

It is July, right?
Not May, when the playoffs are in full swing and championships are on the line at almost every level.
But for Tyler Parsons, the time of the year means nothing when it comes to honing his skills.
Watching the netminder run through a routine drill during this month's Flames development camp, it would appear the 19-year-old thinks he's in the dying minutes of a Game 7 in the playoffs and needs to make a save to keep his team in it.

He moved swiftly through the paint, extending his leg almost comically far to get a toe on what looked to be a sure goal.
That wasn't a one-off, either. Throughout camp, Parsons routinely made huge saves on high-percentage shots, completely dialed in on each and every puck that came his way.
So, to repeat, it is July, correct?
"Practice makes perfect. You practice how you play," he shrugged. "I've learned to compete in practice and sometimes you've got to slow it down a bit, when you're in a playoff push, but it's part of being an athlete, you compete in practice."
That kind of focus and dedication to his craft has played a key role in his swift development over the past two years.
Since the 2015-16 season, Parsons has won an OHL championship, a Memorial Cup and a gold medal for the Americans at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.

The next chapter, it seems, is turning pro for the 2017-18 campaign.
"I think he's done all he can do at the junior level," said Flames goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet. "For him now, it's just learning to become a pro. It's a different schedule; you're playing against men with experience. The key thing for us was just to dial him back and have him a little bit less aggressive. I think that's going to help him a lot at the pro level.
"He's made some adjustments to his game, which we've been stressing to him since we drafted him. That's going to help him translate to the pro level. Things like not being over-aggressive in certain situations … he still is at times but for him, he's such an athletic goalie that we want him to use it when he needs it and not rely on it. He's really been focusing on that, especially in the summers when it's easier to make those tweaks."
One of those adjustments he has been working on is staying on his feet instead of immediately dropping down when anticipating an incoming shot.

"As you move to the pro level, guys have more skill and they have more patience with the puck," Parsons noted. "Learning to stay on my feet more and get better on my feet will help me out a lot."
"It goes hand-in-hand with his depth," Sigalet noted. "If you're over-aggressive, it's a lot harder to beat plays on your feet. You're sliding more, you're relying more on your athleticism and the splits more in certain situations, especially off the rush on two-on-ones and three-on-twos.
"If he manages his depth a little bit better and is a bit more patient, he will have a better chance of beating plays on his feet."
Despite all signs pointing to a transition to the pro ranks this fall, Parsons isn't putting the cart before the horse. His focus right now is solely on his summer training regimen.
"I'm not too sure yet (where I'll end up) … I'm just going to keep working hard, on and off the ice, all summer and go into camp and see what happens. We'll go from there."