The name "Zemgus" in Latvian means "one who eats lions."
It's not "one who is like a lion" or "one who eats like a lion" or "one who is king of the beasts like a lion." It's "one who eats lions." And Zemgus Girgensons is becoming all of that.
Last night with the Sabres down two goals and short-handed, Girgensons took a beautiful pass from Nic Deslauriers and barreled to the net with NY Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk closing in. Boychuk reached with his stick and then tried to derail the "Latvian Locomotive," but it was fruitless. Girgensons boxed Boychuk out and snapped a shortie past Islanders goalie Kevin Poulin.
(Thx, Rolands Rivdikis)
It was a big time play that showed just how strong and well-balanced the 20 yr. old is as well as the skill-level he has. Sabres prospects like Mikhail Grigorenko, Sam Reinhart and Joel Armia, among others, should take note. It's how a man plays a man's game against men.
If Girgensons hasn't been turning heads yet, perhaps that goal will turn a few more. Sure, he'll be mocked because his Latvian countrymen are stuffing the All-star ballot boxes, but he's been playing a consistently strong game on a bottom-five team. He went from bottom-six to top-line and never missed a beat. In fact an argument could be made that he made his wingers, Matt Moulson and Tyler Ennis, better and that his ceiling is now top-six/possible top-line.
Girgensons' 10 goals have already surpassed his eight rookie goals scored last season and in those 70 games he had 22 points (8+14.) In 36 games this season he has 19 points (10+9) and is on a pace for 23 goals and 20 assists.
Because of his low production last season, some had Girgensons pegged as yet another third or fourth-liner on a team full of third and fourth liners. But what they failed to understand is how Girgensons works. He's not a Steve Bernier-type flash-in-the-pan. He's a strong-willed player who allows his skill to follow his will. He's a sponge on the ice soaking in everything around him.
And there's a reason for that approach. It's something he's always done and what got the 14th overall pick in 2012 to stick with the Sabres at the age of 19.
Back on July 15, 2014, I did a post-draft piece on Girgensons. If you'd like some background here it is in it's entirety, complete with links. (for photos and other links click
here.)
*Special thanks to Kevin Snow of sabres.com for his great piece entitled
The Legend of Zemgus which inspired me to delve deeper into the background of "one who eats lions."
A matter of "skill and will," Zemgus Girgensons turns pro.
Zemgus Girgensons was signed to an entry-level contract on Friday. The team thought that the kid had shown pro-potential during their development camp, so they sat down with him about turning pro.
Girgensons was in the midst of a choice that was weighing upon him--whether to turn pro or or follow his college commitment and head to the University of Vermont for the season.
At the draft in Pittsburgh last month, Vermont's hockey coach, Kevin Sneddon, was pretty sure that Girgensons would be a Catamount in September saying, “Zemgus has been committed to the NCAA route for quite some time now; he values college hockey and education as the best pathway to develop."
Couple that with the way Buffalo traditionally takes the slower path to player development preferring not to rush a prospect, and it's pretty easy to see why he would think that way.
But, sometimes there's nothing you really can do.
After Monday's first day of development camp, Girgensons clearly was giving it some hard thought, having been on the ice next to younger pros like Marcus Foligno, Cody Hodgson and Brayden McNabb, all of whom had a good taste of the NHL.
While fellow first-round draft pick Mikhail Grigorenko, taken at #12 two spots before him, clearly stated his desire to be in the NHL this season, Girgensons remained in limbo, “Nothing’s been clarified yet," he said. "We’ll see what happens after camp. That’s something I’ve got to talk through this week. I think it will be my own decision. No one’s pushing me, but it’s something I have to decide. … It’s something in me, what my heart’s going to say.”
Kevin Oklobzija who covers the Rochester Americans, considered Girgensons turning pro a "foregone conclusion" saying, "Once he learned where he stood physically against other young pros, I think he knew this is where he should be. The vibes I sensed in speaking with him on Monday and again on Thursday made it seem pretty clear he wanted to be a professional hockey player now."
After watching him for four days, the Sabres brass certainly thought that he was ready. "We think that he's a prototype NHL player," said GM Darcy Regier, "and will be able to make that transition from the USHL to professional hockey."
For Girgensons, it wasn't that easy, "It was laying on my mind heavy because I was close to Vermont and it was a really tough decision for a kid to make. No one was pushing me anywhere. I was the only one who made this decision. I gave them a call and he understood everything. We're so close that he didn't have problems with me going [pro]. He knew this might happen and he was prepared."
Sneddon didn't "have problems," but the Catamount program sustained an "enormous loss."
The team was coming off a dismal season prior and was looking at Girgensons, as well as the rest of the incoming freshmen class, to help the Catamounts "turn the corner on respectability." One can hear the heaviness in Sneddon's statement, “It is with mixed emotions that I announce that Zemgus Girgensons will not enroll at UVM in September and instead sign an NHL contract with the Buffalo Sabres,”
Obviously they'll miss Girgensons' talent and drive, but there was also a sense of loyalty towards Sneddon and Vermont that was only eclipsed by an NHL team that happened to be the Buffalo Sabres.
“Throughout the recruiting process, Zemgus has been very loyal to UVM, turning down offers to play Major Junior Hockey as well as Russia’s premier professional league, the KHL, in order to maintain his goal of playing for the Catamounts,” Sneddon said.
“We have stated often that if we are going to lose Zemgus, we hope it’s to the NHL team that selects him in the draft."
Jim Montgomery, the Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) Head Coach and General Manager who had coached Girgensons the last two years, gleaned at the signing, “I am really happy for Zemgus,” he said. “This is a challenge he’s wanted. This has been his dream probably since he was 12 years old. He deserves and earned this."
After the Sabres drafted him, Montgomery talked about "The Legend of Zemgus" and had an inkling that Girgensons might turn pro, "If Zemgus has the belief that he can accomplish something, and there’s a challenge in front of him, then he’s going to attack it.”
And Montgomery thinks Girgensons has the pro make-up, "I think he will be extremely successful. His skill and will have been elite since day one. That’s why he was an NHL first round pick and that’s why he is signing an NHL contract today. Whatever situation he is put in the coach is going to love him and his teammates are going to love him. He is the ultimate team player that helps you win every night.”
He even likened him to Rod Brind'Amour, "It's mostly his work ethic and competitiveness. It's just the intangibles they both bring."
For Girgensons, that decision is out of the way, and he'll either be playing with the Rochester Americans or the Buffalo Sabres. And that decision will be up to the coaching staff.
Oklobzija sees a strong developmental course from Montgomery and now on to Amerks coach Ron Rolston, "He’ll be in perfect hands. Before he became the Sabres development coach in the summer of 2011, Rolston made a living coaching collegians for 13 years and then 17- and 18-year-olds for seven years with the National Team Development Program."
Girgensons seems ticketed for Rochester this season. Oklobzija thinks that "[he] will not be rushed, and he will not be put in situations where failure is certain. He definitely won’t be coddled, either."
Girgensons got his ticket to training camp in the fall and seems like the type of kid who derives confidence--a "matter-of-fact" type confidence--from simply playing the game of hockey the only way he knows how to play it--"skill and will." And that "skill and will" mentality may take him farther than the AHL this season.
Other links:
Video of Girgensons goal and post-scrimmage interview via Dubuque Fighting Saints
http://www.dubuquefightingsaints.com/home_story.php?story=236
Video press conference via Dubuque Fighting Saints
http://www.dubuquefightingsaints.com/slideshow_story.php?sid=481
Video--Coverage of Buffalo selecting Girgensons at the draft
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=637876
Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com has complete scrimmage highlights with video of Girgensons goal via NHL Network
http://www.sabresprospects.com/2012/07/wise-pots-three-in-blue-roll.html
USHL background story on "The Latvian Locomotive" courtesy of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald
http://www.ushl.com/news.php?news_id=557
HFboards prospect thread via Woodhead, 6-22-12
http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=1214209
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