With baby on the way, ex-Buckeye joins Jackets
NEW YORK — Forward Zac Dalpe said he was excited and surprised Monday to be claimed on waivers by the Blue Jackets.
But his life, already in upheaval Sunday after a recall to the NHL by the Minnesota Wild, was turned upside down again by Monday’s news.
“My wife, Cassandra, and I are expecting our first baby in a couple of days,” said Dalpe, who spent two seasons at Ohio State (2008-10) before turning pro. “I’m in Minnesota. She’s in Iowa. Now I’m going to Cleveland.”
Dalpe was assigned to the Blue Jackets’ minor league affiliate in Cleveland, where he’s expected to make his organizational debut today against Grand Rapids. Forgive him if his mind is elsewhere.
“It’s our first kid,” Dalpe said. “I take pride in being there when the baby is born, and she
could pop any day now. When I told her the news today, it was pretty emotional. She wanted to come to Cleveland, but there’s no way she can travel. I told her we’re just going to have to weather this storm.”
Dalpe said he planned to research flights from Des Moines to Cleveland, hoping to find something direct. He said he is prepared to leave during a game if he gets the phone call.
“I gave her the number to the trainers in Iowa,” Dalpe said. “Then I got called up, so I gave her the number to the guys in Minnesota. Now I’m going to need some numbers for the guys in Cleveland. I’m excited. My head is spinning a little bit with this whole situation, but like I told my wife, we’re going to have one heck of a story
to tell one day.”
Asked whether they were expecting a little Zac or a little Cassandra, Dalpe laughed.
“We don’t know what we’re having yet,” he said. “Everything about this is going to be a surprise, apparently.”
Dalpe has played in 128 career NHL games with Carolina, Vancouver, Buffalo and Minnesota, totaling 12 goals, 12 assists and 23 penalty minutes. His best season was 2013-14, when he totaled 4-3-7 in 55 games with Vancouver, playing under current Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella.
“I enjoyed playing under John Tortorella,” Dalpe said. “That was a few years ago, and I was a younger guy. But it was a good experience. He is having a great year in Columbus; hopefully we’ll be reunited.”
Dalpe, 27, has played in only 21 games for the Wild (nine) and their minor-league affiliate in Iowa (12) this season, because he has been sidelined twice by knee surgeries. The first was to repair a meniscus tear; the second to clear scar tissue.
“I maybe came back too soon from the first one, so we had to do something,” Dalpe said. “I told them I wasn’t coming back a second time until I was 100 percent, and now I’m there.”
In 76 games with Ohio State during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, Dalpe totaled 34 goals, 36 assists and 44 penalty minutes. He was a second-round draft pick (No. 45 overall) by Carolina in 2008.