Last season, the success of Miika Wiikman (21-8-3 .919% and 2.30GAA) gave the New York Rangers organization the confidence to move 2004’s #6 overall first round draft pick Al Montoya (16-8-3 .908% 2.54GAA at the time of his trade) off to San Antonio. This season, Wiikman (16-17-3 .900% 2.86GAA) has battled injuries and illness and has struggled in his second season in the AHL. Those struggles opened the door for Colorado College graduate Matt Zaba to step up his game and has he ever.
The supremely confident Yorkton, Saskatchewan native has simply been amazing since mid January 2009. Zaba has compiled 11-2-1 record over that span including a remarkable seven game winning streak that included posting numbers NY Rangers starter would give his right arm to have. The 7-0 streak included surrendering a mere 11 goals on 229 shots giving Zaba a .995 save percentage backed by a 1.57GAA. Add in the regulation loss that proceeded the streak, the overtime loss afterwards and his first win after the streak ended and the numbers are even more impressive. His save percentage drops a bit to a still impressive .916 (286/312) and his Goals Against Average drops to a lights out 1.50. Don’t forget that he also won back to back shootouts where he allowed all of one shot to get past him over ten attempts by some very gifted shooters including. With such great numbers, Zaba earned the REEBOK X-PULSE / AHL Goaltender of the month for February.
For the season, Zaba has a 19-9-0 record with a .921 save percentage and a 2.35GAA and has unseated a tremendously talented goaltender in Wiikman to become the Pack’s number one netminder.
Zaba played nine games with the Charlotte Checkers last season posting a 3-4-1 record, a .891% and a 3.63GAA. He also played 19 games with the Idaho Steelheads where he went 12-4-1, a.927% and a 2.19GAA. Of the experience in the ECHL, Zaba felt it was a good experience. “Starting off in the ECHL was probably a good thing for me. I was working hard,” He said. “The Rangers had kind of a log jam. They had six guys (Henrik Lundqvist and Steven Valiquette in New York, Al Montoya and Miika Wiikman in Hartford and mostly Chris Holt in Charlotte for 32 games, Zaba was there for nine, Curtis Darling for eight and Mike Ayers for twenty-two) under contract…so it looked like the ECHL was going to be the place for me to get to my assignment and be a rookie in pro hockey.”
It didn’t bruise the netminder’s confidence at all to start off there. “I think if you at the goalie position there are a lot of guys who’ve had to start their career in the East Coast League. Not every player goes straight to the NHL. Each of the guys you play with all have different paths they take.” Zaba said. “If you look a the big picture too there’s only sixty goalie jobs in the NHL, so there’s going to be a process to get in there and mine started off in the East Coast League.”
Now that he’s the top guy between the pipes in Hartford, Zaba isn’t over analyzing it. “I’m just going to keep trying to do the same things that I’ve been doing. It’s been a fun last month and a half and Miika’s been playing really well and that’s helped me out a lot so I’m not really looking too far ahead to my future. I just want to try and keep things going and help the team secure home ice throughout the playoffs.”
The Rangers have an almost legendary goaltenders coach in Benoit Allaire. Zaba credit’s Allaire with sharpening his talent. “He’s taught me a lot. I think the position a lot better than what I did in college. How to play in certain situations. Mainly just positioning in the pads and how to use my body to my advantage.” Allaire has also played a part not only on the physical aspects of the game but the mental as well. “It’s been a mixture of both (from Allaire). He’s taught me the physical stuff, but he’s also taught me to play with a lot of patience.” Zaba stated before adding, “He told me not to make the first move because the guys at this level and at the NHL level have such great shots they can beat you so you want to out wait them.”
But as anyone that has ever been around a winning hockey team will tell you, team success starts from the net out. With Zaba having his game developing as it has it has inspired his teammates and raised their level of play as well. “I think it’s been a lot of fun playing. I have a lot of confidence in myself and the team has been playing really well also so that helps out. When you know that guys are playing great hockey in front of you that makes your job that much easier.” The two seem to feed off of each other. “I think for me I’m just trying to give the team a chance to win and I think the team gets confidence from when the goalie is playing well and from when other guys are playing well the goalie gets confidence, so you get a sort of snowball effect.”
Zaba’s a smart young player. He hasn’t put the added pressure on himself of raising his expectations. “I think my expectations for myself have always been the same no matter how I’ve been playing.”
Currently Zaba has been nursing a finger injury and has been out a couple of weeks. Miika Wiikman has played well in his absence and the team has gained first place in the Atlantic Division which nobody could have foreseen at the start and even up to parts of the middle of season. Much of the credit for this remarkable turnaround, whether he would accept the praise or not, would come on the back of Matt Zaba. Where Artem Anisimov was far and a way the team’s best payer in the first half of the season, it has unquestionably been Zaba who has held that mantle in the second.
With the regular season ending in just ten games, it’s anyone’s guess how far into the playoffs this team can go. One thing however is for certain, if Zaba continues to play at the level he did in February I wouldn’t plan a summer vacation with any of the players any time soon.
(Photos courtesy of Hartfordwolfpack.com, wilkesbeacon.com and theahl.com)
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