Cam Fowler is 33 years old, but to former Anaheim Ducks teammate George Parros, he’s still 18.
Fowler was the No. 4 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft and a rookie with the Ducks in 2010-11. At that time, Parros was 31.
“His career is stuck in my mind as being that kid,” Parros said recently. “He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and brought a lot of energy. You could tell he was having the time of his life, so that was kind of infectious.“
Today, Parros is retired and working as the senior vice president of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety and Fowler is now in his 15th season in the NHL, playing with the St. Louis Blues after a trade from Anaheim on Dec. 14.
“Through the last number of years, it’s like holy (cow), he just set the Ducks record for all-time games played for defensemen, and now he’s got 1,000 games,” Parros said. “It’s like A) I’m old and B) It’s hard to picture Cam as being old, but he’s been around for a while.”
Former Anaheim defenseman Kevin Bieksa was 34 years old when he played with Fowler, who was then 24 and in his sixth season.
“Like George says, it’s hard to picture him as an old, veteran guy because he’s still a young kid at heart,” Bieksa said. “He still giggles. He still loves being around the rink. He still has that little-kid approach to hockey, where he just loves the game.”
On Dec. 31, Fowler’s 1,000th NHL game in the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, he poetically scored twice in the Blues’ 6-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. On Thursday, he’ll be honored for his achievement in a pregame ceremony in front of the visiting Ducks at Enterprise Center.
Join us in celebrating Cam Fowler’s 1,000 games played milestone before Thursday’s game vs. Anaheim. #stlblues
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— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 8, 2025
To mark the moment, The Athletic asked several of Fowler’s ex-Anaheim teammates to dish some dirt on the defenseman. The only requirement was to make sure the stories were printable.
“I think all the stories about Cam are printable,” Parros said.
“He was so quiet. Never did anything wrong,” said former Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau.
Still, isn’t Fowler the least bit concerned about what they might say?
“I don’t think so,” Fowler said. “We’ll see what they came up with, but I don’t think it’s going to be anything too crazy. I built a lot of great relationships there, and I’m thankful that I had a good reputation.
“There’s going to be a wave of emotions, for sure. It’s going to be hard initially being on the other side of all of those guys — guys that I have great relationships with — but I’m building great relationships here. I’m looking forward to getting to see them, and hopefully when the puck drops, it’s just business as usual.”
(Note: Some stories have been lightly edited for clarity and length.)
Ryan Getzlaf (teammate from 2010 to ’22)
I don’t know what year it was, but it’s been a minute. Cam was fairly young. I think it was probably his fifth or sixth year in the league. We played two-puck after practice, and we always put different bets on what guys had to do if they lost, whether it was picking up all the sticks and gloves and stuff.
Somebody came up with a spray tan, and whoever lost, they had to get the darkest spray tan, and you weren’t allowed to shower before practice the next day. I just remember it leaking over his equipment and everything during practice. It was dark. He was orange. I wished we had photos. I don’t know if we have photos of it.
He was devastated. It was one of those Fowler moments where he just put his head down and skated off the ice slowly.
He’s just a down-to-earth guy. He’s very professional. He’s one of those guys that just loves the game.
The one thing I say about him is he’s one of the guys that every time he shoots the puck, it gets to the net. It’s an art. It’s a talent. It’s not the hardest shot — it’s just a little wrister — but it’s dangerous. It almost never gets blocked. Ninety-five percent of the time, it’s coming to the net.
He’s flourishing in St. Louis. He looks happy. He looks refreshed. It’s exciting to see.
George Parros (2006 to ’12)
When Cam first came in, I was in charge of the tunes in the locker room. I thought it would be fun to have a rotating DJ, so I said when it’s your turn, you’re going to have a six-song run-up until it was time to start focusing on the game. So we got some music, but we also got a little flavor of what the guy playing DJ was all about. It was a little bit of a personality test because you find out what he listens to.
I’m a big one-hit wonder guy, so I always played some goofy stuff. I guarantee you there was some Matthew Wilder’s “Break My Stride.”
So on Cam’s day, he goes up to the stereo and I knew something was coming because he gave me this kind of a wry smile. I remember the big one he played was “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora. I loved it, and he was just laughing his ass off. It was so surprising because he was 18 and that song predates me. I think it played during a Listerine commercial. So it was such a random song and for him to even know who that was. I thought it was awesome.
We either liked the same goofy stuff or he put some time into thinking of something that was in my vein, and mission accomplished.
I was at his house one time and we were drinking wine. It was kind of dark. His wife, Jasmine, had this cashmere shirt, and I thought it was a towel, so I started wiping the wine with the cashmere. That didn’t go over so well with Cam.
I didn’t know what cashmere was at the time and I learned my lesson the hard way. Don’t clean up wine with cashmere.
I think it’s cumulative with everything he’s done over the course of his career. You see early on when he was living with (Scott) Niedermayer and playing with (Francois) Beauchemin and the veteran guys — to how everything came full circle to the end of his tenure in Anaheim, where he’s mentoring the young guys for the last few years.
Then you look at it outside of hockey. He was able to start his family and raise it here. All the stuff that he’s done in the community with his wife. Always being a guy to volunteer and want to help out with the community. It’s just a representation of being an Anaheim Duck through and through.
When things were going good, he was the same. When things weren’t the best, he’s the same. You know what you’re going to get from him night in and night out, whether he’s playing on the power play, playing on the penalty kill, blocking shots, scoring goals. He was asked to do pretty much everything and anything here, and I never heard him complain once. He just kind of went out and did his business and always did it at a high level. And he does it with class.
Kevin Bieksa (2015 to ’18)
He’s quiet. He’s low-maintenance. He’s got no ego. He’s a very, very self-deprecating kind of guy. He doesn’t really chirp guys, but he likes listening to it. But he’ll get involved once in a while. The team we had there in Anaheim, we were a close, and the usual target was Perry.
But I remember, Cam would never chirp the young guys or the rookies. If he did chirp, it was usually firing back at Perry or Getzlaf, (Ryan) Kesler, or maybe (Andrew) Cogliano.
But he would only chirp back at the big dogs, and because he rarely did, it was hilarious to hear Cam go back at somebody.
Cam’s a pretty quiet and reserved guy, so I’d try to bust his chops quite a bit. On a daily basis, I’d try to get Cam going about anything and everything that I could. I’d say he enjoyed it for the most part — unless he was really rattled about something, and then I’d still poke the bear.
Every day, that guy just loves playing hockey. I played with him in junior for a year (with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires). I remember early on, it took him a while to adjust, coming over and playing with us. But by the end of the season, he was our top guy. In that second Memorial Cup, he was our best defenseman. Right after that, he steps into the NHL and here we are.
He was in Anaheim when they were good for so long. Since he was 18 years old, they were perennial playoff contenders and always going on runs. It’s tough to go through the rebuilding stages, but he’s a true professional and always came to the rink ready to work.
His game is the same way his personality is. It’s understated. Pretty quiet. He goes out there and does his business. At the end of the night, you look at the game sheet, and he’s on it.
What you see is what you get. He’s a pretty reserved guy. The only thing that I’ve ever seen throw him for a little bit of a loop is when his son, Charlie, goes a little bit wild.
Cam came over to my house one day, and we have these electric bikes. It was close to bedtime, and he was having a tough time putting Charlie in the bike seat, and all hell was breaking loose. He ended up calling in his wife for some reinforcements.
To see the calm, cool and collected, very laid-back guy really start to sweat a little bit, I mean, it happens to us all. But looking back on it, I kind of busted his chops a little bit about that. That’s something that sticks out because it’s completely out of character for him to kind of get the sweats a little bit and kind of be impatient. It was nice to see him out of his comfort zone.
If you see the guy play 1,000 games and not even break a sweat and then you see a guy stressing out over a car seat, it gave me a good chuckle.
My first year and my second, he had me and Jamie (Drysdale) over for Thanksgiving. Christmas, especially with the young guys and stuff like that. He always had an open invite to his house, even if nobody’s there. He’d just make us feel at home.
He’s probably one of the nicest guys I’ve played with. Just an all-around great guy. I don’t think he’s ever said anything mean to anybody.
We miss him. I’m really glad he’s doing well in St. Louis. I watched the Winter Classic and saw he scored two goals. I think that’s the most fired up I’ve seen him. Normally, he’s just pretty tame. But, yeah, he seemed to kind of have some passion there and some emotion.
He’s got a nice new home there. He likes it there, he’s enjoying it, and we’re all happy for him.
Cam Fowler celebrates a goal during the Winter Classic (Daniel Bartel / USA Today)
(Top photo of Cam Fowler, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf: Michael Martin / NHLI via Getty Images)
