Senators' Dzingel hits home run by going with hockey

Baseball or hockey? Hockey or baseball?

In 2010, that was the cold, stark reality for Wheaton Academy's Ryan Dzingel, an extremely talented athlete who was an all-state shortstop but also a budding superstar on the ice.

Should he stick with baseball, the sport his father, Rick, excelled at so much that he played collegiately at Louisiana Tech? Or should he go with hockey, the sport Rick's friend Dan Lopatka introduced him to at age 5?

"I think if you were in a room with him and I (back then), he would say baseball," Rick said. "And if I left the room, he would say hockey. … It was pretty close, but hockey was a little bit more of his favorite."

As it turned out, it was more than the right choice. Six-and-a-half years after making that difficult decision, Ryan will play for the first time at the United Center when his Ottawa Senators take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

"It's definitely going to sink in that I've kind of made it when I play there," Ryan said. "The national anthem. My whole family - I think we have three boxes of people coming. One-hundred plus people there to watch me. It's going to be pretty special."

As a seventh-round draft pick by the Senators in 2011, Ryan's road to the NHL was anything but easy. He first spent three years playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was an all-American after producing 22 goals as a junior. After that, he spent the 2014-15 season playing for Ottawa's AHL affiliate in Binghampton.

Last year the Senators called up Ryan for one game on Dec. 22 and brought him back in early February for the rest of the season. This season the 24-year-old made the opening-night roster.

He scored 4 goals in the first seven games and hasn't looked back.

"It was good to get off to a quick start," said Ryan, who is on Ottawa's second line and on the second power-play unit. "My first 30 games have been very good since I wasn't sure I was going to make the team out of camp."

Ryan's linemates are Kyle Turris, the third overall pick of the 2007 draft, and Bobby Ryan, the second overall pick of the 2005 draft. That's impressive company, with Turris being an alternate captain and Bobby Ryan owning 216 goals in 634 games.

Dzingel, who has 7 goals and 11 assists in 32 games, said his best attribute is his speed, which is "up there with anybody else in the league."

As for Rick Dzingel, don't think he has shed even a single tear about his son choosing hockey over baseball. Rick, you see, was a die-hard Hawks fan who grew up watching games in the standing room only areas of old Chicago Stadium.

He recalls seeing Bobby Hull's 50th and 500th goals, as well as shivering in long lines for playoff tickets.

"We'd be waiting out there in the cold, taking turns," Rick said. "Guys would run back and forth to the car, holding our place in line, buying tickets before the playoff games."

There won't be any consternation to obtain tickets or bad sight lines with their United Center seats Tuesday, though, as Rick, his wife, Linda, and their two other children, Rick and Dana, will be sitting in a sky box reserved by the husband of Linda's cousin.

The rest of Ryan's cheering sections will be scattered throughout the stadium.

"I'm hoping if he scores there will be a little bit of a roar," Rick said.

Lopatka, the friend of Rick's who introduced Ryan to hockey, and his son Luke also will be in attendance. Astute fans might recognize Luke because he will almost certainly be the only 9-year-old fan wearing No. 18 of the Senators.

"He wrote a letter to Santa and said he wants a Ryan Dzingel jersey for Christmas," Ryan said. "So I got him a little jersey."

Said Rick, who got a chance to see the letter: "It brought tears to my eyes."

Tears of joy that Rick and his wife figure to shed a time or two more while watching their son play the sport he loves so close to home.

"When he was (younger), he played at the University of Michigan's Yost Arena," Rick said. "After our game, we stayed and watched Michigan play and he said, 'Dad, wouldn't it be great if you could see me play in this arena?'

"Years progressed, he got a scholarship to Ohio State and I remember the day he played at Michigan, he put on his Facebook (page): 'Our dream came true, Dad. You get to see me at the Yost Arena.'

"And we never thought about the United Center. Now that it's happening, it's unbelieveable."

Said Ryan: "It's just going to be a proud moment for me, and definitely my family because they've sacrificed so much."