Vlasic ready to go from backyard rink in Chicago suburb to Winter Classic

CHICAGO – As a kid, Alex Vlasic didn’t have to go far for some outdoor hockey.

There was just one public outdoor rink when the Chicago Blackhawks defenseman was growing up in Wilmette, Illinois, about 20 miles north of Chicago. So his dad, John, built a rink in their backyard. With that, Alex, older brother Eric and older sister Emma had their own hockey haven.

“It all started on the backyard rink and who knew it would end up with Alex playing in the Winter Classic?” Emma said of the Blackhawks playing the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, on Dec. 31. (5 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

“It’s pretty cool.”

Indeed, Vlasic has come a long way since those backyard sessions. A second-round pick (No. 43) by the Blackhawks in the 2019 NHL Draft, Vlasic has 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) in 34 games. It’s the same number of goals, assists and points he had in 76 games last season as a rookie. The 23-year-old signed a six-year, $27.6 million contract ($4.6 million average annual value) with the Blackhawks on April 25.

Now Vlasic, who along with the rest of his family is a Cubs fan, is ready to play in his first Winter Classic.

“It’s special,” Vlasic said. “I think growing up, being able to watch those games with the ‘Hawks playing outdoors was something you always dreamed about as a kid. For me to do it at Wrigley Field in front of some of my family and friends is going to be so awesome.”

Vlasic grew up with hockey in his blood. His cousin, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, has been a defenseman for the San Jose Sharks since 2006-07. Dad, John, played junior hockey while growing up in Montreal, Quebec, and played some adult league hockey after he moved to Chicago in 1985.

Emma, 28, played four seasons at Yale and four seasons with the Connecticut Whale (first in the National Women’s Hockey League then the Premier Hockey Federation). Eric, 29, is one of the captains of Chicago Storm Special Hockey Team, which provides those with developmental disabilities to play hockey.

Having that home rink meant a lot to Alex.

“I think kids who have the opportunity to have backyard ice rinks -- I feel now with weather it’s harder to have that all the time -- it’s a big advantage and you’re able to go out and have fun,” he said. “I was never like intentionally working on hockey but you get so much better just at everything by just being on the ice and playing, having that love for the game and love for being outside on the ice.

“It’s not like a practice or anything. You don’t even have to use a puck or a stick, you skate around and play tag or something like that. It was fun, some of the best memories.”

John said he started building the rinks before Alex was born and, “I got it down to a science.”

“We had lights out there, boards and netting as well and hockey nets so they could take shots. They’d put the snow pants on so it was safe and it’s easier to skate on outdoor ice that’s a little rough as opposed to indoor where they would slide and wouldn’t really like it that much. They wore a cage and bounced around, even when it was really cold,” he said.

“Alex started out at 3. He didn’t like it that much (at first) but at age 4 he was out there on skates and they just loved it. They would spend hours out there.”

When there was some teaching, Emma was at the forefront of that -- “She was like a boss,” John said.

“Naturally I took on some sort of a leadership/coaching role, so I tried to come up with drills for us on the ice. We’d do a lot of off-ice stuff, too. I feel like I was the ringleader in bringing everybody together to do some of that,” said Emma, who works for Hedgeye, an investment research company in Stamford, Connecticut, and also coaches a peewee boys team at Greenwich Skating Club.

“We had Eric, my older brother as the goalie, so we had someone to shoot on. Alex and I would be skating around out there, so it was fun. We tried to do some fun things and recreate some game-like situations, stuff like that. I guess, even from a younger age, I was doing some coaching there.”

Vlasic’s gotten a lot of outdoor work in his hockey past. He’ll put it to good use on New Year’s Eve at Wrigley Field and his family is proud to see what he’s done thus far in his blossoming career.

Before coming to the Blackhawks, Alex played three seasons at Boston University. He made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks on March 19, 2022, and played 15 games for Chicago that season.

He played just six NHL games in 2022-23, spending most of the season with nearby Rockford of the American Hockey League. But he became a regular last season, and is taking off this year.

“I saw my son’s progression (as a kid) and I could kind of see that (the NHL) could be a possibility but still, it’s so far off. There are a lot of good college players that never make it and there are a lot of good AHL players that have good careers. He makes it here and then not just makes it, he’s just not run-of-the-mill player. That adds another level,” John said.

“Him being on the Blackhawks, we get to go to almost all of the games so that’s a treat. I remember going to games before, of course, never thinking in a million years one of our offspring could be out there. It’s exciting.”