Parker Gahagen

Classroom

At the United States Military Academy, the classroom is made up of three pillars to achieve leadership excellence: academic, physical and military. Gahagen excels across all pillars at the Academy and is recognized by not only his teammates, but the academy’s leadership, for his accomplishments. Academically, Gahagen boasts a 3.332 grade-point average and ranks in the top half of his class. For this feat, he dons the golden “wreath” on his military uniform as the Superintendent’s Award for Achievement” to distinguish his top-20 percent ranking across all three pillars.

Militarily, he has had experience in many leadership development courses including “Officership” through which he learned what it means to be an officer and the work ethic and moral ethics it takes to succeed in leading a platoon on the battlefield. During his junior year, Gahagen was a First Sergeant for BEAST (freshmen basic training). He essentially was second in command of his company of plebes, and it was his job to ensure the execution of duties within the company. This included military training, physical training and disciplining his subordinates properly.

Character

From Head Coach Brian Riley: “Parker Gahagen is an outstanding young man who possesses great qualities as a goal tender and as a cadet-athlete at the U.S. Military Academy. His numbers in the net over the past two years prove that he is one of the top goalies in all of college hockey. More importantly, Parker is an outstanding leader of character. He possesses many great qualities. He is committed to being the best cadet he can possibly be across all three pillars and he is always accountable for his actions on and off the ice. I think the most amazing attribute that helps define who he is as a person and a leader is the fact that he is selfless. He cares more about others than himself and puts the team and his company above himself. Parker is always looking out for his teammates as well as his fellow cadets within the Corps.”

Community

Cadets partake in many events that involve the community and exemplify selfless service. Each year, the Army hockey team, including Gahagen, host several “Skate with the Black Knights” events where children from the community meet the team and are given tips regarding how to skate. The team interacts with the kids and inspires them in their athletic endeavors. Gahagen also is active with the team’s sled hockey partnership. The team plays on sleds with and against disabled athletes several times a year. They also invite sled teams out to various hockey games at West Point and showcase their skills in a friendly game after the NCAA contests. Gahagen partakes in the Special Olympics meet that is hosted at West Point each year at which he helps organizes the heats for the track and field events to get the kids organized and ready to compete. In the West Point Community, Gahagen and the team are part of the “Adopt a Highway” program in Highland Falls where they clean up trash along the roadside each year.

Competition

Army relies heavily on senior goaltender Parker Gahagen this season. Last year he earned a career-high 14 wins after posting a 14-11-9 record and led the NCAA in save percentage at .937. He set the Army record for single-season save percentage, recorded a 2.01 goals-against average (the second best in program history for a single season), and had a stretch of 13 games during the second half of the season in which he allowed no more than two goals per contest. Gahagen had a career high four shutouts last season, including three in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs, posting two of them in the first round series against AIC, including the deciding third game with a 4-0 win. He allowed only six goals in the six playoff games during the run to the AHA Semifinals and posted 30 or more saves in 19 games. He had a season-high 43 against Robert Morris on Feb. 13 and recorded 41 stops against the Colonials on Nov. 20. Following the season, he was named Army’s Junior Athlete of the Year.