The notion that Calgary Flame’s star rookie defenceman Zayne Parekh, has an attitude issue has been floating around for a few months now, dating back to last season.
Parekh recently found himself at the forefront of a social media post claiming he wasn’t pleasant to interact with.
“Just bumped into Zane (Zayne) at my regular lunch spot didn’t run up to him. Ask for a picture autograph minding my own business until he was ready to leave and walked past me I told him to have a good year and hopefully the Flames make the playoffs. and let me tell you the ego on this kid to completely blow me off head back down to his phone and walk past me the arrogance is unreal acting like he’s the best defence to ever touch the ice. Won’t be a one line nhl player with that attitude the other players that I’ve bumped into our way more humble and down to earth were super nice Surprise me with how nice he acts on TV. The superstars would never. What NHL players have you guys bumped into irl that we’re rude and arrogant?”
This post picked up a surprising amount of traction within the Flames community, reigniting a debate from last season about Parekh’s attitude.
The “Robot” Incident
During a 2026 World Juniors media scrum, Parekh made a comment about NHL players having bland personalities when asked about his laidback personality, with Parekh stating:
“It’s more (from) watching NHL guys be robots and not having any personality,”
“I think you need some personality. It’s kind of the best way to grow the game. I don’t want to come in here and be a robot. When I’m in Calgary, I definitely have a lot of guys that are telling me to give really simple answers, but here I can kind of do what I want.”
These comments were blown way out of proportion, and landed Parekh in very hot water in the Flames dressing room.
After the backlash from both his teammates and the Flames fanbase, Parekh formally apologized, saying:
“I think some things got spun out of proportion, probably worded things wrongly,”
“But obviously it wasn’t my intent in the words I said, and I sincerely apologize to the Flames organization and my teammates. At the end of the day, that’s not acceptable and that can’t happen.”
Both the Flames aswell as Parekh wish this situation wouldn’t have garnered so much interest from the media.
Parekh has had a lot of unjust ridicule on his on ice play, and now after these comments his attitude.
Why the ridicule is unjust
Back to the recent situation, Parekh reportedly Ignored a member of the community when out in public, with the individual then posting about it on social media.
Fans were split in response, with many coming to his defence, with others questioning the rookie’s ego.
What’s not being said, is that Parekh or any other player on the Flames roster is not required to interact with every member of their community who recognizes them.
The men who play on the ice, are just people off the ice, like me and you. they aren’t always going to be in the mood to be hounded for photos, autographs and a conversation.
The ridicule of a young kid who’s recently experienced what it’s like to be recognized in public and treated like a celebrity is completely unjust and not warranted.
It’s easy to forget that when rumours are floating around about a younger NHL player “having attitude issues” you’re dealing with just that, a young NHL player.
Zayne Parekh is 20 years old. He’s just a kid. He will continue to grow and mature as both a player on the ice, and as a man outside of it.
