LAS VEGAS --Keegan Kolesar is enjoying living the moment after reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time.
The Vegas Golden Knights forward is also living the moment for his father, Charles Peterson, who died during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs due to complications from COVID-19 at age 46.
"I know if we were to win this, he would be the first one to cry and give me a big hug, so it's motivation for me," Kolesar said Friday at Stanley Cup Final Media Day. "Everyone's got their own motivation winning it, but that would be special for me."
Game 1 against the Florida Panthers is at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Kolesar has been a solid contributor for Vegas in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with five points (two goals, five assists) in 17 games, including a goal and an assist in the series-ending 6-0 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. The 26-year-old right wing from Brandon, Manitoba, had 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 74 games during the regular season.
Kolesar was on the Golden Knights taxi squad during the 2020 playoffs, which were played in bubbles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when he heard that Peterson was dying. He left the bubble in Edmonton for South Carolina to say goodbye to his dad.
"I'm always thinking about my old man," Kolesar said of Peterson, a two-sport athlete who was a first-round pick (No. 22) by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1993 Major League Baseball amateur draft as an outfielder and was heavily recruited to play college football. He was a star receiver and quarterback growing up in Laurens, South Carolina.
Peterson played minor league baseball for 14 seasons, was a defensive line coach at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, and was a scout for MLB's St. Louis Cardinals.
Following in his father's footsteps, Kolesar was a multisport athlete growing up, playing football, baseball and hockey.
"I only played baseball one year," he said. "They wanted me to play football more than I wanted to, but finally at one point I said, 'You know what, guys? I'm done with this football thing. I want to do hockey or baseball.' … At the end of the day, hockey trumped everything."
What did Peterson know about hockey?
"The only thing he knew that it was cold in the rink," Kolesar said. "He had a parka on every step that he could. I think even my first game here (T-Mobile Arena), even though it's warm in there, he brought a parka just to be sure."
Kolesar has the parka back home in Winnipeg.
"He would love to be in this moment, he would love to have this moment with me, along the way kind of taking pieces from every series," Kolesar said. "I have this little thing for him back home, this little shrine."
