Sawchenko Ready To Go
(Story courtesy Marc Smith, DiscoverMooseJaw.com) Zach Sawchenko always plays with a chip on his shoulder.
The Moose Jaw Warriors net minder is always looking for motivation and he may have found all he needed this summer.
He’s represented Hockey Canada at every level and brought home hardware from the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the World Under-18 Championship and the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
Despite that, the 17-year-old goalie was left off the roster for Canada’s National Junior Team Summer Showcase earlier this month.
“It kind of left me with a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth,” said Sawchenko.
“Going to the goaltending camp and then being left off that list with only three goalies, made me wonder that I’ve got to prove something now and I’m ready to prove something. I’ve got a little fire in my belly to get this season going.”
Sawchenko is the old guard in the Warriors’ net now as he enters his third season in the Western Hockey League. He feels it’s time to show that he can carry the team when needed.
“I’ve been in the league for a couple of years now and night in and night out you’ve got to give your team a chance and that’s the biggest thing that I want to bring to the team this year,” said Sawchenko.
In his first season as the starter in Moose Jaw last year, Sawchenko went 21-22-2-0 with a 3.32 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.
He was stellar at times like when he put together a 229-minute and 10-second shutout streak early in the season and at the end of the year when he won eight of his final ten starts to help push the Warriors to within one game of the playoffs.
Sawchenko said being able to do that with more consistency is his goal going into the 2015-16 WHL season.
“The biggest thing I worked on this summer is getting faster, getting stronger so that I can play that many games in a season,” he said.
“Last year, I felt at times that I was a little light and didn’t feel good enough in there, but this year, I’ve given myself the advantage of coming to camp in really good shape and throwing on a little bit of muscle too, which is nice.”
He worked out at Crash Conditioning in Calgary with Doug Crashly and Warriors trainer Brooke Kosolofski over the summer to help him reach those goals.
“The summer was a little longer than I hoped for, but it went by fast and I’m happy to be back in town here and get things rolling.”
The Warriors will open training camp next Thursday at Mosaic Place.