Wild forward Zucker rooting for Rudolph, Vikings to make Super Bowl

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker admits that he's jumped on the Minnesota Vikings bandwagon.
The Vikings, who will play the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship on Sunday, have grown on Zucker since he came to the NHL with the Wild in 2011, and especially since he became friends with tight end Kyle Rudolph.
"I'm proud to say [I'm a bandwagon fan]," Zucker said. "I never had an [NFL] team growing up, being from [Las] Vegas. … When I got here [my fandom] took off a little more and had a little more meaning knowing Kyle and meeting some of [the Vikings players]."

But Zucker and Rudolph's friendship transcends sports. The two met in 2016 at a Team Tucker charity event hosted by Zucker and his wife, Carly. Team Tucker was created in memory of 9-year-old Tucker Helstrom, who died from osteosarcoma on July 2, 2016.

Like the Zuckers, Rudolph and his wife, Jordan, are actively involved in helping families and children with illness. That struggle touches home for Rudolph, whose brother, Casey, was diagnosed and treated for neuroblastoma as an infant. Casey, 27, has been cancer-free since he was 14 months old.
"[Our friendship] really stemmed from both of us having a passion for kids and helping them out and making their time just a little bit better and a little bit easier," Rudolph said. "We both try and do everything we can to make that a better place for families."
From that chance meeting, a friendship blossomed. The bond over helping led to a collaboration at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital, where Rudolph was creating Kyle Rudolph's End Zone, a therapeutic play center for children and families that opened Dec. 19. The End Zone includes a locker with Zucker's jersey hanging in it, as well as a Team Tucker locker.
In addition to their charity work, Zucker, 26, and Rudolph, 28, spend family time together when they can. The dads offer each other advice (Zucker has a son, Hendrix, who is 11 weeks old, and stepdaughter Sophia, 7. Rudolph has twin daughters, Andersyn and Finley, who are 15 months old) and hit the golf course in the summer offseason as time permits.

Though sports are a big part of their lives, neither Rudolph or Zucker has done more than dabble in the other's sport of choice. Zucker (5-foot-11, 167 pounds) played one year of football in eighth grade.
"I felt way better at hockey than football," he said. "It was fun to play but I'm glad I played hockey."
Rudolph (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) stepped onto the ice last winter in a bid to be voted to the NFL Pro Bowl.
"My sole goal was just not to fall," Rudolph said. "I had skated when I was a really little kid … but it had been probably 20 years since I'd been on the ice, so things started off a little slow."
Zucker was there to show him the ropes.
"He actually did pretty good, better than I thought he'd do," Zucker said.
Despite playing different sports, the two are like teammates, supporting one another.
"It definitely takes a certain person to reach the highest level [in sports], and that's one thing that all professional athletes have in common," Rudolph said. "He's one of the best at what he does and I understand all the things that he's had to go through to get to the point that he's at now in his career."
That support has now extends statewide, with one game standing between the Vikings and a berth in Super Bowl LII, which will be played in Minneapolis.

"It's pretty cool. You see the footage of the Wild game on Sunday and everyone out on the concourse … watching TVs," Rudolph said. "Just to have the support of the Wild, the [NBA's Minnesota] Timberwolves and everyone else here in the Twin Cities, I think that's one of the things this town does really well is supporting one another and being there for each through it all."
The Wild host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-N, SUN, NHL.TV) and don't play Sunday, so Zucker said he plans to watch Rudolph and the Vikings try to take another step toward Minnesota's first Super Bowl championship.
"We'll probably have a practice in the morning," Zucker said, "but then I'll definitely be heading home and watching that game as much as possible."