Zach O’Brien looking good
Zach O’Brien may not be superstitious, but that doesn’t mean the 19-year-old forward with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan is about to change the way he does things.
“I do put my left skate on first, and my left shin pad, but it isn’t a superstition, just a habit,” said the St. John’s, Nfld. native. “I don’t really have any superstitions. It is just how I’ve always done it.”
Superstitions or not, whatever O’Brien is doing is working, as the forward continues to find ways to create offence.
During his final year with the St. John’s Fog Devils, of the Newfoundland and Labrador Major Midget Hockey League in 2009-2010, he picked up 176 points in just 49 games, including a whopping 110 goals. That includes 11 goals and six assists in seven games at the 2010 Telus Cup, where he led his team to a surprise third place finish at the National Midget AAA Championship and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
As a rookie with the Titan last year, he led all first year players in the QMJHL with 29 goals and 65 points in 58 games.
He’s already surpassed those numbers this year and has been at or near the top of the QMJHL scoring race since the opening of season, and along with line mates Sebastien Trudeau and Matthew Bissonnette form the junior circuit’s top offensive trio.
“We are good at finding each other. The three of us are unselfish players and we move the puck around which makes it hard for the defenders,” said O’Brien, of the trio’s success. “We just move our feet, move the puck and get into open spaces to make it easy for each other. Me and Trudeau played together most of last year. Bissonnette (who was picked up by Acadie-Bathurst in a dispersal draft after the Lewiston MAINEiacs folded in the off-season) came in and he just gelled with is right away.”
O’Brien said it helps that all three players are good friends off the ice as well.
“We get along well on and off the ice,” he pointed out. “We talk about some things we do and the kind of plays we want to make. On the ice there’s times where we know that the other player sees us but sometimes we have to call for it just to make it easier on them, and we’re pretty good at that. Every practice we are always making passing plays and stuff and working on our game, working our hardest, and it seems to be benefitting our game.”
Although all three forwards have been enjoying tremendous success with Acadie-Bathurst this season, Titan head coach Eric Dubois said it is O’Brien who gives the line that extra edge.
“I think he is the glue up front. Everything goes around him,” explained Dubois. “Bissonnette and Trudeau are playing well, but the glue in between them is O’Brien. The centremen is usually the one that feeds everybody but he also gets the puck back from them and he scores big goals. He is the key player up front as far as offense goes.”
Although his offensive skills are what really stand out, Dubois said O’Brien brings much more than points to the team.
“You can use him on defence and he is well liked in the dressing room,” said the coach, pointing out that O’Brien is a very good mentor to the team’s younger players, both French and English. “Guys really like to be around him. Sometimes the French players tend to stick with the French players and the English players tend to stick with the English players, but he gets along with everybody.”
“Yes, you can measure his contribution as far as points, but it is much more than that,” added Dubois.
As for his own game, O’Brien said it is something he is constantly working on improving.
“I’m pretty happy (with my play), but I can step it up a little more I think,” he said. “You can never be satisfied, you’ve got to keep trying to work harder and improve your game.”
One place you won’t find O’Brien’s name on the scoresheet is in the penalty column. In 107 regular season and four playoff games in the QMJHL, as of Jan. 13, he has yet to be called for a penalty. Something his head coach says is pretty remarkable, especially since O’Brien finds a lot of his success by going to the so called ‘dirty’ areas of the ice.
“He doesn’t play on the perimeter, that’s for sure,” said Dubois. “He goes to the tough areas but to come out with no penalties it is because he is smart. It is pretty amazing not to have a penalty. I think it just shows how smart he is…it has nothing to do with him being a soft player. I’d like him to play a little more physical some times, get involved a little bit physically, but he is so smart, he tries to win his battles other ways, by stealing the puck. I think that just shows how smart he is.”
The Titan are actually O’Brien’s third Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team. Originally drafted by Moncton Wildcats in the fourth round of the 2008 entry draft, the Wildcats traded him to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for a fifth round draft pick prior to the 2009-2010 season. O’Brien suited up for just two games with the Huskies, registering one assist, before returning home to Newfoundland.
In December 2009 he was traded again, this time to the Titan, as part of a deal that saw goaltender Nicholas Champion end up in Rouyn-Noranda. After playing three games with Acadie-Bathurst, and registering another assist, he headed back to Newfoundland to finish high school before joining the Titan full time as an 18-year-old during the 2010-2011 season.
Although he has never been drafted by a National Hockey League club, O’Brien did receive a free agent tryout with the San Jose Sharks in 2010. Despite the fact that he didn’t get a chance to go to a professional camp last year, it should come as no surprise that several NHL clubs have called his agent to express interest in the player over the past few months.
It isn’t something O’Brien is going to worry about though.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I am doing,” he concluded. “Hopefully things fall into place. I’m just going to keep trying to play my game and hopefully I’ll get an opportunity. A few teams are interested, but it is still only half way through the season so I’ve just got to keep playing the way I’m playing.”
