Frank Nazar III’s NHL dream driven by dad’s ‘love’ of the Red Wings

Detroit News

Frank Nazar II’s favorite Detroit Red Wings jersey is Nicklas Lidstom’s personally-signed No. 5 jersey.

Close behind are Steve Yzerman’s No. 19 and Kris Draper’s No. 33, all players he met when he and his father Frank Sr. owned the parking garage near Joe Louis Arena across from Cobo Hall (now the TCF Center) on Congress Street from 1997-2003.

“They’re (the Red Wings) all so down to earth,” Nazar II said. “If you didn’t know who they were, you would have no idea they were superstars. They would pass out extra tickets at the Post Bar across the street and we would go watch the Wings.”

One jersey in his collection has more sentimental value, with his son Frank Nazar III projected to be a possible Red Wings’ draft pick with the eighth overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal on July 7-8.

He’s saved a Red Wings’ jersey No. 14 without a nameplate in case Yzerman and Draper in their new roles as general manager and director of amateur scouting call the name of his son, who wore No. 14 with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Plymouth.

Nazar, an 18-year-old native of Mount Clemens, had 125 points in 101 games during two years with the national program and is among the top center candidates expected to be available along with teammate Cutter Gauthier, Winnipeg’s Matt Savoie and Austria’s Marco Kasper.

“I’ve got a jersey ready for a certain No. 14’s name on it,” Nazar II said. “I just love the Red Wings to death. No matter how they’re doing, I still watch every game.”

(Forty-one players have worn No. 14 in Red Wings’ history, including Nick Libett, Lane Lambert, Brendan Shanahan, Gustav Nyquist and currently Robby Fabbri).

Nazar, who will join the University of Michigan’s star-studded roster in the fall, doesn’t care what number he wears or what NHL team drafts him.

As the youngest child with three older sisters (Katie, Victoria, Amanda), he’s just grateful his parents introduced him to the game at a skating party at age 5.

“Neither one of my parents played hockey and weren’t familiar with the sport,” Nazar III said. “Once my dad parked all those fans at Wings games and celebrated when they won the Cups, it just got him into hockey.

“One day he was watching a Wings game at home. I walked in and started watching the game with him. He asked if it looked fun and I was like, ‘Yeah this looks like a lot of fun.’ So he signed me up to play.”

Nazar credits former NHL defenseman and current AHL Orlando Solar Bear Steve Oleksy of Chesterfield Township for “helping me grow as a person and as a player.”

Now the founder and CEO of ESE Hockey in New Baltimore, Oleksy said Nazar is “super-focused” and “willing to learn” about the game’s ups and downs.

“He’s constantly texting me, ‘Do you have any ice available?'” Oleksy said. “It’s rare to see someone enjoy the game as much as he does. He’s a fast skater, so deceptive. He’s effortless, which catches you by surprise.”

Nazar’s skating ability caught the attention of Nick Fohr, now the U17 head coach but assistant coach during Nazar’s two years with the NTDP.

“Frankie has elite-level speed,” Fohr said. “One step and he’s gone. See ya. You just can’t teach that top-end speed. You either have it or you don’t.

“I remember watching one practice on the bench with (defenseman) Seamus Casey. Frankie just blew everyone’s doors off with a breakaway. Seamus looked over at me and said, ‘Coach, it’s just not fair.'”

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Nazar said he had to learn to utilize his speed at both ends of the ice after scoring 49 goals in 55 games with the Honeybaked U15 team in 2019-2020.

“Honestly, my defensive play was very poor when I got to the national team,” the 5-10, 180-pound Nazar said. “I was good one-on-one and poking the puck away, but I had to learn to stop and not just circle back. That’s how you get a minus-one every now and again.

“I was also used to playing wing my whole life. I didn’t actually play center until my first year here. That’s why I struggled a bit. It’s not something you just pick up right away. You’ve got to read and react and be in position.”

With Nazar’s name moving up the draft rankings this year, he asked family and friends to refrain from talking about the NHL draft during the season. Now, he said it’s a different story with the draft less than two weeks away.

“I tried not to let it get into my head until the season was over,” Nazar said. “I like to focus on the present and what I was trying to accomplish. Now, we joke about the draft. We have some family in Ohio and they say, ‘Oh, go to Columbus. You can wind up with us here.'”

If the Red Wings draft Nazar, he said it “would be great for a hometown guy to go from Michigan to Detroit” and it “sure would help with ticket sales at Little Caesars”, especially with support of his three sisters.

His dad still can’t believe how running a valet parking garage and driving from floor to floor in their red-and-white golf cart covered with Red Wings decals and stickers during the team’s dynasty years has led to this moment almost 20 years later.

“When he was younger and he was playing or practicing six or seven days a week, we would ask him if he wanted to take a day off,” Nazar said. “It was really for his mom and I to have a break. He would always so no.

“He’s really the driver here. Just think of all the kids in Michigan and surrounding states who put on skates and learned how to play the game because of the Wings’ success. We’re all very proud of what he’s accomplished.”

mfalkner@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @falkner

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