Robert Harvey Paradise is a retired American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 defenseman

Defenceman (ice hockey)

Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...

 who appeared in a total of 368 National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 regular season games in 1971–79. He is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame

United States Hockey Hall of Fame

The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the rich history of the game in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and teams....

.

Paradise grew up in Minnesota where he earned all-state honours in gridiron football

Gridiron football

Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...

 and hockey. He also turned down a professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 contract from the Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 in 1965, choosing instead complete his education at St. Mary's College. While at the school, Paradise continued to develop his hockey skills, becoming an all-conference performer in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member schools are located in the state of Minnesota...

 for four consecutive years.

Originally signed as a free agent by the Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 after playing for the United States national team at the 1968 Winter Olympics

1968 Winter Olympics

The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...

 and 1969 Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments, Paradise was traded to the Minnesota North Stars

Minnesota North Stars

The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...

 in 1971 where he made his NHL debut. He has also played for the Atlanta Flames

Atlanta Flames

The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 1972 to 1980. The team, a member of the National Hockey League , was relocated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the start of the 1980–81 NHL season and were re-named the Calgary Flames. The NHL returned to the...

, Washington Capitals

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...

, and the Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

 before retiring in 1979. He was also a member of the US national team at the 1977 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament.

Paradise is the son in law of United States Hockey Hall of Famer Bob Dill

Bob Dill

Robert Edward Dill was an American professional ice hockey player. Dill played professionally in the American Hockey League alongside NHL Hall of Famer Eddie Shore in Springfield, in the United States Hockey League for the St. Paul Saints and in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers...

. His brother Dick Paradise

Dick Paradise

Dick Paradise is a retired American ice hockey player who played 144 games in the World Hockey Association for the Minnesota Fighting Saints.- Career statistics :-External links:...

is also a former professional hockey player.

External links