While earning NHL All-Rookie Team honors in 2015-16 with the St. Louis Blues, Colton Parayko was busy away from the ice adding another title.

Friday he earned it: University of Alaska graduate.

The former Nanook completed his bachelor's degree in business administration by taking two classes this summer. He took five online classes during the NHL season to help complete a promise to his parents that he would finish his degree.

From St. Louis Blues: Parayko Graduates

“During the playoffs, I would go home and be thinking about hockey 24/7,” Parayko told the Blues web site. “When I got to the books, it freed my mind a little bit. It was almost a little stress relief, a way to take my mind off hockey for a couple of hours each day.”

Parayko joins a growing roster of NHL stars who have completed their college degrees while playing professionally. In the last three years that group includes David Backes (Minnesota State), Chris Kreider (Boston College) and Anders Lee (Notre Dame). Others - like Mike Komisarek (Michigan) and Keith Ballard (Minnesota) - have returned to campus to complete their degrees after their playing careers.

Most former NCAA players in the NHL spent at least three years in school, as Parayko did. That puts them within range of completing their degrees. Some, like recent graduates Sam Anas (Quinnipiac) and Matt O'Connor (Boston University), are able to complete their degrees in three years thanks to summer classes.

Parayko was twice the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-American as a junior. He now adds an academic distinction to his growing list of athletic achievements.

"It feels like a big accomplishment," he told the Blues' site.