CEDAR PARK, Texas — Nick Lazor grew up around the hockey rink.
He started playing the game when he was a toddler. When he wasn’t playing, he was working as a stick boy for an American Hockey League team in western New York.
“Being in hockey, it’s kind of beneficial if you want free gear,” Lazor said with a smile about his childhood gig.
Lazor is now the head equipment manager for the Texas Stars. He handles everything from equipment repair to skate sharpening to stick organization for the AHL franchise.
“The last thing I want the players worrying about is their equipment, skates, sticks,” Lazor said.
He fulfills his role with the organization with one goal in mind: provide peace of mind for players in his favorite sport.
“Details are very important in my job, especially working at the pro level. I learned that from the Marines,” Lazor said. “It’s life or death, essentially, in the Marine Corps. I brought that to my job and what I’m doing now.”
Lazor joined the United States Marine Corps as a personal challenge, wanting to prove to himself and others that he had the toughness necessary to be a Marine.
“As a Marine, you’re broken down to the lowest level, and they build you back up,” Lazor said. “I went into the Marines as a boy, and I came out a man.”
He was deployed to Afghanistan from August 2010 to March 2011, where he served as an infantry assaultman.
He finished his six-year commitment to the Marines in 2014. Once he returned to the States, he went back to college to earn a degree.
“I decided to take a step back and reevaluate what I wanted to do,” Lazor said.
The desire to get back into the game of hockey eventually took over.
Lazor landed an equipment job in California with a new minor league team. After a couple other stops around the country, he joined the Texas Stars in July 2021.
“He gave the ultimate sacrifice and sometimes those guys don’t get to come home,” said Stars defenseman Ben Gleason. “For him to be here with us, love this job and love hockey, is something that makes us all happy.”
Appreciation that goes both ways in the Stars locker room.
“I love being around the guys. The camaraderie. You get that in the Marine Corps,” Lazor said. “But also that brotherhood. I had that in the Marine Corps with a lot of my buddies, my brothers. We have that here too, and that’s what makes me smile every day.”
