Keegan Kolesar draws inspiration from late stepfather

The obituary for Charles Peterson, a professional baseball scout and volunteer high school football assistant coach from Columbia, South Carolina, notes he is survived by his wife and children.

A son and two daughters are listed, followed by a fourth person who also held an important place in Peterson’s life: Keegan Kolesar.

“My dad was amazing,” the Golden Knights forward said. “He helped me out so much, not just in sports but in life.”

Kolesar, 24, experienced a range of highs and lows the past 10 months.

He completed his first full NHL season and is a regular in the lineup entering a Father’s Day matchup Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup semifinals at Bell Centre. The Knights trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

All the while, Kolesar drew inspiration from Peterson, his stepdad, who died Sept. 13 after a monthlong battle with COVID-19.

“He kind of just gave me tips on how to handle life away from the game,” Kolesar said. “He didn’t know anything about hockey. Even until last year, I don’t even think he knew what an icing really was. He just found ways to make life a lot easier for me in sports.”

Peterson, 46, was an area scout and a special assistant to St. Louis Cardinals assistant general manager and scouting director Randy Flores.

A first-round pick in 1993, Peterson played baseball professionally for 14 seasons and spent 2002 and 2003 with Winnipeg in the independent Northern League, where he met Kolesar’s mother. They married in 2003 and were divorced in 2012, according to a story about Kolesar on the Chicago Wolves’ website.

Kolesar’s biological father is former Canadian Football League and NFL linebacker K.D. Williams.

Peterson was admitted to Prisma Health Richland Hospital in mid-August while the Knights were in Edmonton, Alberta, for the postseason. Kolesar, part of the taxi squad, left the bubble and traveled to South Carolina to be with Peterson for his final days.

“We found common ground with whatever we could (despite playing) different sports,” Kolesar said.

Kolesar signed a two-year, $1.45 million contract in October as a restricted free agent and made the opening night roster in large part because the Knights thought he would be claimed on waivers by another club.

Coach Pete DeBoer admitted he wasn’t sure how much the 13th forward would contribute, and Kolesar struggled to finish scoring chances early in the regular season.

But he notched his first goal March 22 against St. Louis and was the team’s most improved player, according to general manager Kelly McCrimmon.

In 44 games, Kolesar finished with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) and showed he was willing to stand up for teammates with 30 penalty minutes.

“He plays the way I like the game to be played. He’s big, heavy, hard, straight-line, but he also creates offense,” DeBoer said. “The one thing about him all year was even though the pucks didn’t go in, he found a way every night to put himself in a spot to get a Grade-A chance. And that tells me he had hockey sense and that offensive potential was there, it just needed to be refined and get a little bit of confidence at this level.”

Kolesar scored a crucial goal in Game 6 of the West Division final to put the Knights ahead 3-2 over Colorado, winning a faceoff and then deflecting Alex Pietrangelo’s shot from the point.

He earned playing time on the first line between Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup semifinals and won a faceoff cleanly to set up Pietrangelo’s first goal in a 3-2 loss.

Kolesar was on the ice for both Knights goals and dished out four hits in 12:30 of ice time during Friday’s overtime loss.

”He’s responsible, and he plays hard, and he plays physical. But he plays an honest game,” defenseman Zach Whitecloud said. “He’s a great teammate. He’s a one-of-a-kind human being, he has fun playing the game and does what he does well every night.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.