That's almost 15 years of watching from afar for Jason's father, Scott, and Scott's wife, Natalie.
"It's tough," Scott said while watching his son practice with the Wild at BB&T Center last week. During Jason's youth days, the family's Nevada hometown didn't offer the competitive level of hockey at which the Zuckers knew their middle child could perform. "My philosophy was I would kick myself if I didn't give Jason every opportunity to succeed. If he says, 'Dad, I want to go do this,' there was no way I was going to be that guy that would hold him back.
"But it's not easy. It's never easy."
Over the past four days, Scott Zucker and 20 other dads and other family members
got to sit back and admire
how those types of sacrifices have paid off for Minnesota's players. Amid the beachside dinners (including an all-team reception at Fort Lauderdale's Capital Grille), time soaking up the southern Florida sun, a catamaran fishing cruise, a cigar tour, and traversing the scenic byways of downtown Tampa, Scott and his traveling companions marveled from suites at BB&T Center and Amalie Arena as their sons skated against the Panthers and Lightning.
The scene was the product of difficult decisions, not unlike the gut-wrenching and financially-straining scenarios facing parents who send their academically gifted daughter to a distant boarding school or pick up extra shifts to buy their son that drum set for Christmas.
"I definitely wouldn't be here without them," Jason Zucker said of his parents, who still live in Las Vegas; this was Scott's second fathers and mentors trip with the team. "Every guy in this dressing
to aid children's hospital patients. They'e even helped Natalie and Scott join the grandparent ranks, including the
birth of son Hendrix
last month.
Growth off the ice has fostered growth on it
.
"I'm proud of him in the way so much of this game is mental, and he's figured it out," said Scott Zucker, a senior project director for Station Casinos. "Once he was able to figure out the mental portion, the rest was pretty easy. But I've never seen somebody so dedicated from an early age, before even a peewee. I never had to push Jason -- 'Hey, you've got to go skate.' Not once. He was just like clockwork at a young age, and that's special. That's hard to do."
There's just one thing missing from the picture. When asked for his wife's thoughts on their son's progression, Scott laughed and said, "Well, she's waiting for a mom's trip.
"We're so proud of him and what he's accomplished. It was all him. I can go buy the skates, but he's got to put them on. I can buy him the stick, but he's the guy that has to make it happen. He's done that."
Related:
- Fathers and mentors trip gives players, family members rare opportunity
- Zucker grows into player mature beyond his years
- Son of the sand: Zucker talks hockey in Vegas
