Nelson Vickar always puts on his left sock before his right one. It’s a routine and a superstition that’s common for an elite hockey player like Vickar, who first put on a pair of ice skates when he was 2 years old. Vickar, 17, is now a top goalie prospect and last year was named one of Jewish Telegraph Agency’s 36 Jewish student athletes to watch for the 2023-2024 school year.
Vickar currently plays for the St. Louis Blues’ AAA amateur hockey team. It’s supported by the NHL team but has no official affiliation. His .867 save percentage in 16 games in the 2022-2023 season led to him being drafted by the Madison Capitals of the United States Hockey League, the top junior ice hockey league under USA Hockey.
In addition, Vickar has earned a “trending up” rating from Scouting News, which ranks promising athletes. A junior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, Vickar enjoys being the last line of defense and being on the ice for the entire game while his teammates rest every few minutes between shifts. Being a goalie is not just physically demanding, he said.
“You have to be mentally tough,” Vickar said. “Sometimes, mid-game, if we’re playing a not-so-good team or I go a long time without a shot or any action, I will make imaginary saves in the net. The worst thing to happen is the other team comes down on a two-on-one break and scores, and then you feel like you just let down the team. You really have to focus on controlling what you can control and not focusing on what you can’t.”
After a rough outing, Vickar has the benefit of a sympathetic ear at home. His dad Aaron was also a standout hockey player in college and played professionally for several years. Aaron, like his son, was a goalie.
“A lot of hockey parents are known for being a little crazy,” Nelson Vickar said. “I’m lucky because not only is he not crazy, he was a goalie, and he played at the same level and same trajectory that I’m headed on and he knows what he’s talking about. He’s not going to lie to me or say that I was better than I was. I have a built-in therapist, advisor, and coach.”
Aaron Vickar was a very good goalie. In 1997, he was a member of the North Dakota Fighting Hawks team that won the NCAA Division I national championship. He also played for Team USA in the first ice hockey competition at the Maccabiah Games. As good as he was, Aaron Vickar thinks Nelson has surpassed him already.
“I don’t need to coach him on the ice—he has great coaches,” said Aaron Vickar. “He’s better than I was. I have the knowledge, so we can talk about the mental side of the game. It’s exciting because I know what the future could look like, but I think what’s better is, it’s his path. I don’t have to live vicariously through him because I was fortunate enough to do it myself.”
The elder Vickar eventually traded in his goalie pads for a desk job. He’s a financial advisor for Buckingham Strategic Wealth. Nelson’s mother Cynthia is an interior designer. He has an older sister Ansley and a twin sister Isabelle. The Vickars live in Olivette and attend Kol Rinah.
The St. Louis Blues AAA team is in a tier one elite league with 34 other teams around the country. They play in official league games, “friendly” games, showcases and tournaments, where they can catch the eyes of NHL scouts. Nelson Vickar’s goal after completing high school (where he carries a 4.0 average in advanced classes) is to improve his skills and potentially make the Madison Capitals team. Longer term, he hopes to play for a top tier NCAA college program.
Professional hockey is not a given, even for an amateur player in the upper echelon of the sport. However, the Blues AAA team has an impressive line-up of former players who are now NHL stars, including Matthew Tkachuk, Paul Stastny, Cam Janssen and Pat Maroon (who was a member of the 2019 Blues Stanley Cup championship team). Even if he eventually forges a career in the business world, Vickar said his hockey life will have been worth the long hours of practice.
“A lot of people play hockey just for fun, but I play hockey also to achieve a goal,” he said. “You develop a high discipline, and that comes with working out and proper nutrition. Over the last year or so, my discipline has gone way up. And one of the most important things about being a goalie is staying calm under pressure. I’ve played in front of couple of thousand people. You have to not get worked up. And that translates to all things in life.”
Aaron Vickar said playing hockey in front of large crowds helped him understand how to deal with pressure in the business world.
“In college, I played in front of 15,000 people,” he said. “Well, now I can get up and talk to anybody in a room in a business setting. The skills that you learn playing college or junior hockey helps you develop other skills.”
Nelson Vickar isn’t stressing about the future at this point. He’s just enjoying the experience of playing elite amateur hockey. The best feeling, he said, “Is the thrill of making a big save and knowing that the team is confident with me in goal.”
