Zach Nastasiuk is the latest in a growing trend, the son of a pro football player who opted to go off the gridiron and skate on to the ice.
The 6-2, 202-pound right-winger, selected 48th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2013 NHL entry draft, is about to embark on his first professional season, following a different path than his father Paul, a slotback-fullback who won a Grey Cup with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts in 1991.
He joins the likes of Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown, son of former Minnesota Vikings running back Ted Brown, St. Louis Blues forward Ryan Reaves, son of ex-CFL and Washington Redskins runner Willard Reaves, and Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse, son of former CFL receiver Richard Nurse, as offspring of football stars who preferred skating across blue lines as opposed to running past yardage markers.
In the younger Nastasiuk’s case, the football option was never even on the table.
“No, he wouldn’t let me play,… Nastasiuk said of his dad, a teammate of Rocket Ismail’s in the CFL. “He knew how tough it was on the body and he didn’t want to put me through that.
“He never wanted me to get into it and try to make a career out of it.…
Zach didn’t even get to see his father play, at least not in person.
“I’ve seen video, game tapes that he kept, so that was pretty cool,… he said of his dad.
Not that Zach figures he would have pursued football had the opportunity been presented to him. His first love was always the ice rink.
“Growing up I played a lot of sports, but my passion was always for hockey,… Nastasiuk, 20, said. “I enjoyed football, I still do, but hockey was always my passion.…
As he came to the age when high school football would have been a possibility, Zach was already driving full bore into hockey.
“As you get to be 14-15 and you start to realize you might have something going in hockey, you put all your time into training for hockey,… Nastasiuk said.
Regardless, being the offspring of a professional athlete still made a big difference in Zach’s rise to prominence in the game, even if it wasn’t his dad’s game that Zach was playing.
“It helped me a lot with the adversity and the mindset of it,… Nastasiuk said. “He’s been through it all. He’s been through all the camps and the ups and downs, getting yelled at, stuff like that.
“He’s taught me a lot about how to handle different situations.…
Paul also sought to emphasize from personal experience how tough and driven Zach needed to be to make the grade as a pro, and on occasion, that meant telling his son things maybe he rather wouldn’t have heard.
“When you’re younger and growing up and the parents are still coming to the games, he was really hard on me,… Zach said. “Sometimes I hated it, but looking back, I would do it all over again because it’s made me who I am today.…
After putting up 35 goals and 77 points with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack last season, Nastasiuk got a taste of AHL action, skating in six regular-season and four playoff games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s top farm club, and his likely destination to start out this season.
As Zach has progressed up hockey’s ladder, the father-son relationship evolved and now Paul lets Zach’s coaches lay down the law.
“He’s more of a parent now,… Zach explained. “He’s kind of let me take action into my own hands.
“He still does give me advice here and there, but he’s more a parent and letting me do my own thing.…
Camp Roster The Red Wings will bring a training camp roster comprised of 72 players to camp from Sept. 17-21 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich. Detroit’s camp roster consists of 41 forwards, 24 defenseman and seven goaltenders. Red Wings players, prospects and tryouts will be split into three teams (Team Delvecchio, Team Howe and Team Lindsay) as they compete for roster spots during camp.
Following the team’s annual Red and White game on Monday, Sept. 21, players will break camp in preparation for three pre-season games in three days, starting with a visit to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks Sept. 22. Detroit’s home preseason slate begins with back-to-back home games against Chicago Sept. 23 and Pittsburgh Sept. 24.
Tickets for all training-camp events are available online at www.centreice.org. Prices for practice sessions are $10 for standing-room only, $15 for reserved seating and $20 for the mezzanine. Tickets for the Training Camp Alumni and Celebrity Game and Red and White Game will start at $20 for standing-room only, $25 for reserved seating and $30 for the mezzanine.
For additional information, contact the Centre Ice Arena offices at (231) 933-7465.
A complete training camp schedule is available here.
The team rosters:
Team Delvecchio Forwards: Colin Campbell, Pavel Datsyuk*, Johan Franzen, Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, Adam Marsh, Zach Nastasiuk, Tomas Nosek, Brad Richards, Riley Sheahan, Eric Tangradi, Tomas Tatar, Jerome Verrier, Mark Zengerle.
Defensemen: Scott Czarnowczan, Danny DeKeyser, Mike Green, Brian Lashoff, Richard Nedomlel, Jared Nightingale, Ryan Sproul, Ty Stanton.
Goaltenders: Matt Mancina, Petr Mrazek.
Team Howe Forwards: Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Mitch Callahan, Dan Cleary, Tomas Jurco, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andy Miele, Teemu Pulkkinen, Joel Rechlicz, Evgeny Svechnikov, Dominic Turgeon, Marek Tvrdon.
Defensemen: Nick Jensen, Jakub Kindl, Justin Lemcke, Xavier Ouellet, Nathan Paetsch, Andrew Prochno, Kyle Quincey, Robbie Russo.
Goaltenders: Jared Coreau, Connor Ingram, Tom McCollum.
Team Lindsay Forwards: Justin Abdelkader, Joakim Andersson, Louis-Marc Aubry, Nick Betz, Kurt Etchegary, Landon Ferraro, Martin Frk, Triston Grant*, Jeff Hoggan, Conor McGlynn, Drew Miller, Gustav Nyquist, Evan Polei, Henrik Zetterberg.
Defenseman: Jalen Chatfield, Jonathan Ericsson, Joe Hicketts, Niklas Kronwall, Alexey Marchenko, Jarett Meyer, Vili Saarijarvi, Brendan Smith.
Goaltenders: Jimmy Howard, Jake Paterson.
*denotes injured players, whose participation in on-ice and off-ice sessions may be limited.
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