It’s stoic skate for Kings’ Modry

Jaroslav Modry’s father supported his family by working in a pub, surrounded by smoke and noise and the smell of the beer that has been brewed in their southern Czech town, Ceske Budejovice, since it was founded in the 13th century.

No matter how late the elder Modry worked, no matter how tired he might have been, he was ready the next morning to take his namesake son to play hockey.

“He would get up with me and took me to the practices and took me to the games and never complained,” the son, a defenseman for the Kings, said with a smile illuminated by happy memories.

“He always enjoyed it. He was a really big part of my success.”

Hockey has taken the son far from home and has given him many unexpected gifts.

Now 36, he has had a long professional career, including two stints with the Kings. He met his U.S.-born wife, Jodi, while he was playing in the minor leagues, and they have three children, ages 9, 7 and 4. They have a place in the Czech Republic and take the kids there each summer to spend time with their grandparents and soak up their heritage.

He could not have imagined such good fortune.

But he also didn’t envision he would face the loss of his father so soon.

During a visit home last summer he noticed that his usually stoic father was complaining about “this and that” and had lost a lot of weight.

“He’s kind of old-school, so he tried to hide from the doctor as long as he can,” Modry said.

The son insisted that his father undergo an examination. That spawned tests and more tests and the grim news that the senior Modry, 62, had a tumor in his large intestine.

“I found out what the problem was and I thought, ‘We’re just going to battle through and find a way to get over it,’ ” Modry said. “But then, as I found out more about how severe it is, it just hit me really bad.”

The father underwent chemotherapy and radiation, but surgery that was to remove the tumor in his colon found that it had spread. It was inoperable, and he was sent home.

A 15-hour flight and nine time zones away, his hockey-playing son aches for him, fending off waves of helplessness and dread while trying to keep life as normal as possible for his children during what should be the happiest time of the year.

He talks to his father as often as he can and tries to be cheerful. He sends his father pictures of his life here, but it’s no substitute for the touch of a hand.

“It’s tough,” he said, softly. “I just try to be supportive, be upbeat, give him some energy, something to battle for, try to make the most out of every day and just be thankful every day.

“He’s going to go through more radiation and try to cure it that way. Cure it. I mean, there is no cure for it.

“He should be enjoying his age right now, enjoying his life. He finally got retired and can do what he always wanted to do.”

For the son, the ice has become a refuge, the place where one part of his life, at least, is the same as it was all those mornings that his father took him to the rink.

Except now, he’s doing more than playing a game.

He’s honoring his father by conducting himself with a dignity and determination the older man would recognize and applaud.

Modry is having a decent season with a bad Kings team that has lost its last seven games. He’s not the swiftest of defensemen and has never been physical, but he has been steady, a good teammate, a good friend.

With a plus/minus ratio of plus-one, he’s one of only two players not saddled by a negative rating. But that’s not the measure of this man.

“People may argue whether Jaro is at the top of his game and whether he’s giving us the contribution that we need, but I don’t think anybody can argue with just how professional he’s been, how inspirational he’s been,” Coach Marc Crawford said.

“Certainly we all feel for him personally because we all have fathers. We all have loved ones, and you can’t help but put yourself in that position and say, ‘How would I handle this?’ I can’t imagine I would handle it this well.”

The Kings have twice given him leave to see his father. He squeezed in a visit during a preseason tournament in Austria and reluctantly missed a game to travel to Ceske Budejovice in late November.

“Try to put yourself in Jaroslav’s position,” Crawford said. “Going back and realizing that your father is dying and recognizing that may be the last time you see him, that’s got to be gut-wrenching. It’s emotional just to think about it.”

Modry promised he’d be away only briefly. The Kings wouldn’t have objected if he had taken more time, but he is his father’s son, dutiful and diligent.

“He said his father said something to the effect of you’ve got to go do your job, that he appreciated his coming because it showed his love,” General Manager Dean Lombardi said.

“I’m really close to my father too, so I can feel for him. I’m pretty impressed with him as a person.”

Modry presses on, practicing, playing, helping his kids prepare for Christmas. They lift him out of his gloom. He tells them stories of his childhood and the man who made him the person he is.

“I’ve got something to pass on,” he said, “to pass on the memories to the kids.”

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.