Zucker reflects on unconventional hockey journey

Jason Zucker's return to Las Vegas has allowed the Wild forward time to reflect on his journey to Minnesota and the NHL.
When the Wild faces the Golden Knights in Las Vegas for the first time on Friday, Zucker
will play in front of more than three dozen friends and family members
at T-Mobile Arena.
Not there, but certainly not far from his mind, are two others who have made an indelible mark on Zucker, both on and off the ice. Best friend Nick Scheafer died in car accident in 2010, the week before Minnesota selected Zucker in the second round of the NHL Entry Draft. And Tucker Helstrom, a 9-year-old cancer patient whom Zucker and his wife Carly befriended, passed away last year.

In commemoration of the first Nevada-raised player making his initial on-ice return to Las Vegas, Zucker wrote an emotional piece for The Players' Tribune chronicling his odyssey to the League and those who have helped him get there. Here is an except:
It was hard for me not to think of Nick whenever I saw Tucker. Because that week of the draft, when I felt like I was so close to having my life change, I didn't really realize how much it actually did.
That night at the draft, I thought I was going to be taken in the first round because an advisor close to me had told me the Blackhawks were going to pick me. As it got closer and closer to their pick, I could see my name on a Hawks jersey. They had just won the Stanley Cup -- I was getting excited. But they ended up trading the pick and I didn't go until the second round.
What if Chicago hadn't traded the pick?
That week -- that night -- is so inherently tied to Nick in my mind, that the results of it stick with me and remind me of him. But I knew the consequences of decisions, even those out of your control, can have effects greater than you can imagine. So I went to Minnesota with an open mind.
And if things had gone a different way, I wouldn't have met my wife, my step-daughter. I wouldn't have my son.
I wouldn't have met Tucker.
All of those people -- and my time with Nick -- make up who I am.
But Tucker, you see, he's almost a symbol of all those decisions I think about. All those moments where I fear the opposite choice -- Tucker is the result. And I feel I was guided toward him in some way.
Because the year I met him, I was struggling. I had scored 21 goals the year before and, in 2015, I was only on pace for around 10. Tucker let me know about it. He didn't care what I thought. We were playing the NHL video game one day in his hospital room and he paused the game.
He said, "Jason, I've been watching you a lot this year. I need to give you some advice, OK?"
I kind of laughed him off.
"No, I'm serious, Jason. First, you need to back-check harder. It will make things easier on the other end. And secondly, shoot more!"
You hear that stuff from coaches all the time. But, I don't know, hearing it from him, it stuck. There wasn't much time left in the season that year to implement his advice, but I kept it in my mind going into the summer. I just didn't know where I'd be playing.
My entry-level contract was up and, like I said, I struggled that year. But while I was in Vegas training on June 29, 2016, I signed a two-year deal to stay in Minnesota. I was on top of the world.
Thirty minutes later my phone rang. It was Carly.
You know that tone someone gets when something isn't right but they don't want you to know? When Carly said "Hi," I heard it.
Dana, Tucker's mom, had just called her. He had been sent home from the hospital. He had hours-to-days to live. So I got on a red-eye that night, landed in Minnesota and went to see Tucker.
He was lying on his mom mom's chest while she sat on the sofa, he couldn't speak. He gave me a fist-bump when I walked in, collapsed back on top of his mom and closed his eyes. For the first time in his life, he looked sick. He looked defeated. Carly and I had come into his hospital room so many times and seen his smile brighten the room. He never seemed sick until that day.
We stayed with him for an hour. As we went to leave, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a hockey card. It was a Tucker Helstrom card, number 16. His autograph was on the back and the words, "Shoot more!"
Carly and I sat in the car and cried for 30 minutes. We knew we'd never see Tucker again.
To read Zucker's entire story,
click here
.
Related:
- Zucker prepares for his first NHL game in Vegas - Son of the Sand: Zucker talks hockey in Las Vegas - Old Soul: Zucker's growth produces player mature beyond his years - Parents' early sacrifices paved way for Zucker's development - Jason Zucker mic'd up](https://www.nhl.com/wild/video/webisode-zucker-micd-up/t-277437412/c-57956403?q=becoming+wild+zucker)