‘You want to be there:’ Zary family cheering on gold-medal game from home

There aren’t many prouder parents in Saskatoon than Scott Zary.

His son Connor is suiting up for Team Canada in Tuesday’s world junior hockey championship gold-medal game against the United States.

Putting on that red Canada sweater and representing his country on one of the biggest stages is something that has been top of mind for Connor since he was a young boy.

“Years ago when he was young he had a project: ‘What are you going to do when you grow up?’ And he put in his journal when he was in Grade 2 that he wanted to play in the world juniors for his country, and he wanted to make the NHL,” Scott Zary said.

“One of those dreams have come true and we’re hoping for the ultimate prize at the end of the rainbow, which is the gold medal.”

The Zarys are one of three Saskatchewan families feeling that way, joining Braden Schneider’s family in Prince Albert and Kaeden Korczak’s family in Yorkton.

Calling the past few weeks watching his son on national TV “unbelievable” and “surreal,” Zary has been enjoying the journey almost as much as Connor.

“It’s been a dream come true for him,” Zary said. “We might not show it, but we have a grin from ear to ear.”

The family has had to show those grins through video calls from home this year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no fans are allowed at any games as teams, officials and broadcasters are in a bubble in Edmonton.

Scott understands why restrictions are necessary, but that isn’t making it easier to accept.

“As a parent, we always want to be there by their sides,” he said. “It’s very tough. You see all the previous years of all the fans — 20,000 people screaming with faces painted and flags waving — it makes you proud and you want to be there.”

Tricia Korczak said watching her son on TV instead of being surrounded by thousands of fans “doesn’t seem real.”

“Being in Edmonton I think would be a lot different,” she said. “I can’t even imagine what the world junior tournament would be like.”

Connor, a former member of the Saskatoon Contacts in the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League, has been part of one of the most unusual world junior championships. Not only are teams in a bubble that limits them to moving between Rogers Place and a nearby hotel, Hockey Canada took extra time to select its team.

Without any major junior hockey happening across the country, players met in Red Deer in mid-November to take part in the selection camp.

“Talking to him in the last couple weeks, it’s been more or less emotional support telling him he’s part of the team, to take advantage of it, soak it in and enjoy the ride,” Scott Zary said.

Connor was one of the WHL’s top scorers with 38 goals and 86 points in 57 games with the Kamloops Blazers before COVID-19 shut down the season last March. He was then selected by the Calgary Flames in the first round of the 2020 NHL draft in October, landing at No. 24.

Connor then finished off 2020 by signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Flames on New Year’s Eve.

Operating as the team’s 13th forward at the bottom of the depth chart has been a tough adjustment after a year of celebrations.

“He’s always been in the big games where he makes a big play or gets a big goal,” Scott said. “He hasn’t been given the opportunity that he had hoped for.”

Finding a way to play hockey for a living has been a lifelong goal Connor was able to achieve. Scott looks back at all the time he spent flooding the backyard rink when he sees his son zooming around the ice on national TV.

“All those days and nights starting when he was two or three years old in the backyard,” Zary said. “The first day he put on his skates he cried for about 10 seconds and then wanted them back on. He’s never wanted to take them off ever again.”

Korczak remembers Kaeden starting every game of street hockey and mini-sticks with “O Canada” as a child as he and his friends imagined playing at the world juniors.

“It just always has been a dream. Any kid that plays hockey, that’s what they want to do,” she said. “I’m really humbled and honoured that my son is there.”

Many of the parents have been features in TSN’s broadcasts as they proudly cheer the team on. Scott and his wife Kathleen decided not to set up any live cameras for fear of what viewers might see.

“They might have caught me throwing something at the TV,” Zary said with a chuckle.

Connor’s journey to competing for a gold medal with Team Canada has Zary thinking how far Connor has come since playing mini-sticks in the basement.

“His four from bottom teeth are fake — that’s from mini-sticks. From breaking windows shooting through the net at the house in the backyard, breaking sticks and buying skates … it’s been a long time coming,” Zary said.

Win or lose, Zary won’t be seeing his son anytime soon. Early Wednesday morning, Connor will be leaving for Calgary to report to Flames training camp as he tries to realize his other lifelong dream of playing in the NHL.

Zary has formed a habit of ending his conversations with one message he hopes will serve Connor well for the next step in his career.

“No matter how well you played or how much you played, keep the smile on your face,” he said. “When that smile comes off that face, I know it’s time to either switch professions or go elsewhere.

“To this day, that smile is still there and he still loves the game.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Britton Gray