Rik Fedyck

Vancouver Giants hire Barclay Parneta as GM

The Vancouver Giants took a big step forward last season in the win column. Today they introduced the man they hope will continue that winning momentum.

Giants Majority Owner, President and Governor Ron Toigo introduced the new GM for the G-Men (Photo: Rik Fedyck)

Barclay Parneta was introduced Director of Hockey Operations and General manager at a press conference on Wednesday. The announcement took place at Pat Quinn’s Restaurant where Giants majority owner, President and Governor Ron Toigo introduced the new GM for the G-Men. “This is a great day for the franchise. A great addition and we look forward to growing the franchise with Barclay.”

“Sitting here in Pat Quinn’s, seeing the legacy, the tradition, the character and the type of person he stood for,” said Parneta. “It’s a really important part of the history of the Vancouver Giants, that really means a lot to me. It is something I want to be a very important part of what happens here.”

In a team release, Toigo said “Barclay comes to us with a proven track record of drafting, recruiting and developing players. He’s a highly-respected individual within the hockey world and we are very excited to have him back with the Vancouver Giants leading us into a very exciting chapter of our franchise’s history.”

With today’s announcement, Parneta becomes the third general manger in the franchise history of the Giants, replacing Glen Hanlon. Hanlon stepped down recently to pursue other opportunities after two seasons as the club’s GM. Prior to Hanlon, Scott Bonner was the GM from the Giants inaugural season in 2001-02 until the end of the 2015-16 season,

Parneta is familiar with the Vancouver club having spent three seasons starting in 2000 working as a scout with Bonner and describes the former Giants GM as a strong influence on his life. With a scouting career spanning 28 years, he also has experience as an amateur scout at the NHL level for the St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes before returning to the Western Hockey League in 2010.  Other roles have included positions with the Medicine Hat Tigers, as well as 10 seasons as the BC scouting director for the Tri-City Americans.

Most recently, Parneta has spent the last eight years with the Americans, working up to a role as Assistant General Manager and Head Scout which he has held for the last three seasons. Working closely with one of the longest tenured general mangers in the league in Bob Tory, Parneta’s duties included evaluating talent and preparing for the annual bantam draft. Some notable draft picks from this time include: Michael Rasmussen, Morgan Geekie, Dylan Coghlan, Parker Wotherspoon, and Brandon Carlo. “We are very proud of Barclay and the opportunity that has been afforded to him,” said Tory on Parneta’s new role. “He is a hard-working, loyal guy and brings passion to the rink daily.” When asked about a potential front office replacement for the Americans, Tory said “Plans are to start interviewing potential candidates and make a hire August 1 or sooner, from a short list of applicants.”

The Giants had said they were looking for their next general manager to have a strong scouting background and seem to found that with the hiring of Parneta. With the teams success last season, a seemingly wide-open BC Division and and a youthful roster, Parneta will look to build his own legacy and tradition in Vancouver.

Majority Owner, President & Governor Ron Toigo; new General Manage Barclay Parneta; Vice President, Operations
Assistant General Manager Peter Toigo (Photo: Rik Fedyck)