Despite last suiting up in the NHL nearly 11 years ago, Petr Sykora has never left the hockey rink.
After helping the Devils reach the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, his second stint with the team, he played one more professional season with Bern SC in the Swiss National League before retiring in 2014.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as it coincided with his son, Nicholas, starting to take up the sport. So, Sykora made a swift transition from professional hockey player to youth hockey coach and hockey dad.
As Nicholas continued to grow and progress through the North Jersey Avalanche program, Petr was right there as his coach, until stepping back this season when his son switched over to the Long Island Gulls, a Tier 1 Elite AAA organization based out of Kings Park, N.Y.
“I was way more involved (early on) and tried to give him the best information I could,” Petr said. “Now he’s at the age where I stay away. He’s good enough to know what he has to do out there. I’m just enjoying it. For me, it’s just fun now.”
Now he walks around the rinks, trying to keep warm and takes it all in as he gets to watch his son play a variation of hockey he never got an opportunity to try when he was growing up in Europe.
Changing club teams wasn’t the only big hockey decision Nicholas made this season. He also chose to play for Montclair Kimberly’s high school hockey team after not doing so as a freshman.
Adding to an already-packed hockey schedule didn’t bother him one bit. He just looked at it as another opportunity to spend extra time on the ice in a more enjoyable way.
“Even though I have club, I still want to get onto the ice,” Nicholas said. “It’s just what I love to do. Honestly, this is just fun. I’m hanging out with the boys just playing hockey. What else can you do?”
Despite the added risks of playing for a second hockey team, Nicholas has loved every second of it. He doesn’t play in every game for Montclair Kimberley, since, for players who do both, club hockey takes priority when schedules conflict. But he’s a game-changer when he’s in the lineup.
With four goals in a win over Frisch last Thursday and one more against Paul VI-Camden Catholic on Monday, the sophomore has 28 tallies on the season, tying him for the seventh-most in the state.
“High school hockey is more ‘get out, enjoy yourself and feel good about yourself,’” Nicholas said. “Club hockey, as you get older, starts to be more competitive, starts to be more of a job. I don’t mean that in a bad way but it starts to be mandatory, something you have to do on a hard basis. But high school is just fun.”
His father even appreciates the tonal shift when bouncing between club and high school hockey.
“It’s just a little different feel about high school hockey than club hockey,” Petr said. “It’s a very short season, the kids are together, they have fun at school. I think that’s something that every hockey player should go through. Be part of the high school team.”
It’s something Petr wishes he could’ve done when he was Nicholas’ age back in Plzen of the Czech Republic.
Instead, Petr played a few seasons in the Czechoslovak Extraliga before jumping over to North America to play for the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL in the 1993-94 season at the age of 17.
Just one year later, he was drafted in the first round, 18th overall, by the Devils.
“When I was growing up in the Czech Republic we never had this,” Petr said. “We never had the opportunities the kids have now. Being a part of the high school hockey teams and some of the top kids get to play DI, DII or DIII in college. That’s something I never had a chance to do but definitely these kids, if they’re good enough, have the chance to go through this. That’s something I for sure would’ve done if I had the opportunity.”
Even though he might not be Nicholas’ coach anymore, his son has a pretty reliable source to confide in if he needs him.
After all, Petr played 1,017 regular season games in the NHL, 527 of which came with the Devils and 40 with the Rangers, and recorded 721 points. He also reached the Stanley Cup Final six times, winning it with the Devils in 2000 and again with the Penguins in 2009.
“I know he’s my dad but once he coaches you for 12 years it can get on your nerves a little bit,” Nicholas joked. “Besides that, it’s awesome because you have the best experience in the world. … He knows how the game is. Even though he played a long time ago, and the game’s completely different now, he still knows the experience. He has exactly what you want.”
With Nicholas on a scoring tear, Montclair Kimberley has high hopes of being able to win a Kelly Cup and make a run in the Non-Public tournament with its secret weapon on the ice.
But as any hockey dad will say, as good as he has been for Montclair Kimberley, his game isn’t perfect. Even after seeing his son score four goals against Frisch, he smiled, laughed and shook his head when hearing a fellow spectator give Nicholas credit for a great game.
“I think he’s got a lot of good stuff going for him,” Petr said. “Definitely there are some parts of his game where he has to get better. I’m sure he knows about them.”
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Brian Bobal may be reached at bbobal@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Brian on Twitter @BrianBobal and on Instagram @BrianBobalHS. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.
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