Here is an article/story on former Vernon Vipers goaltender Matt Zaba.
Zaba was is in his third season as goaltending coach for the United States Hockey League Tri-City Storm before COVID-19 cancelled the season.
Zaba retired from professional hockey at the end of the 2014-15 season as a member of the Erste Bank Hockey League (EBHL) Vienna Capitals. The Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey club that play in Vienna, Austria. The following season (2015-16) Zaba was named goaltending coach for the U18 Colorado Rampage & was an assistant coach with Colorado College. Zaba spent one season with the U18 Rampage staying on with Colorado College as an assistant coach for a second season.
After four years at Colorado College, Zaba went on to play three seasons in the American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League & National Hockey League playing with four different teams (Charlotte, Idaho, Hartford & New York Rangers) before playing his final five years of pro hockey in Austria & Italy with (Vienna & Bolzano HC).
Zaba played one season in Vernon (2002-03) after coming over in a trade with the Penticton Panthers. On September 6th 2002 the Panthers traded Zaba to the Vipers for Thomas Veilleux & Nick Binder. Zaba went 34-9 during the regular season picking up two shutouts and a 2.21 GAA. Zaba was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings In round 8, 231 overall at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Zaba made his NHL debut on January 23, 2010 with the New York Rangers vs the Montreal Canadiens, his only game played in the NHL.
Matt Zaba's Player Profile:
This was posted on kearneyhub.com
Storm coach trying to form league’s best goalie for third straight year
By DAN ZIELINSKI
Hub Sports Writer
Dec 26, 2019
KEARNEY — Tri-City Storm goaltender coach Matt Zaba had the luxury of coaching the last two recipients of the USHL Goaltender of the Year award.
In Zaba’s first season, he coached Filip Larsson, who was a sixth-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2016. Larsson came in with high expectations and was clearly the USHL’s top netminder in 2017-18.
Last year, Isaiah Saville came to the Storm with potential and developed into a well-rounded goalie under Zaba. Saville’s success last year even made him a sought-after NHL draft prospect, as he heard his name called in the fifth round by the Vegas Golden Knights in June.
This year is different for the Storm, however. Tri-City don’t have a goalie with the same track record as the previous two starters. Although Zaba hasn’t approached this year’s situation any differently than he did the last two years, he has had to help Daniel Allin and Joe Sharib, both who have high ceilings, transition to the USHL and develop their skills.
“We told Matt from the beginning of the year that he set a pretty high expectation. It’s goalie of the year or nothing,” Storm President and coach Anthony Noreen said jokingly. “He’s had a tremendous impact. If you’d talk to Filip or Isaiah, they’d be the first ones to tell you that he’s first-class.”
Zaba joined the Storm prior to the 2017-18 season. Noreen, who the Storm hired in May 2017, was in need of a goalie coach and through talking with his hockey connections, received recommendations for Zaba.
The partnership has worked well for both parties.
Zaba’s playing experience and history developing netminders have made him an ideal fit and allowed him to excel with the Storm.
Zaba grew up in a town of 750 people in Saskatchewan. Hockey is part of the Canada culture, and Zaba has been around the game for as long as he can remember. He didn’t start off by playing goalie, however. It wasn’t until he was 12 years old that he made the full-time switch.
The youth team Zaba was play for needed a goalie after the starter left to attend a goalie school. Zaba’s father was the coach and decided to put his son in net despite no prior experience. Zaba said he “ended up doing pretty well” and stuck with the position moving forward.
After playing two years of junior hockey in Canada and four years at Colorado College, Zaba embarked on a pro career in 2007.
The Los Angeles Kings drafted Zaba in the eighth round of the 2003 draft but opted not to sign him, making him a college free agent. He signed with the New York Rangers in 2007.
On Jan. 23, 2010, Zaba appeared in his first and only NHL game. After future Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals in just more than 26 minutes against the Montreal Canadiens, the Rangers put Zaba in for Lundqvist. Zaba stopped 14 of 16 shots in 33 minutes, 43 seconds in the Rangers’ 6-0 loss to the Canadiens in Montreal.
“It was a dream come true,” Zaba said. “Obviously, I would’ve liked to have been there a little longer, but with the position, it’s just so tough. It was a great experience overall. I think going into it I wasn’t expecting much. I had to work my way up the depth chart and was able to do it. It was an unbelievable experience.”
Zaba spent the next five years playing in Italy and Austria and retired at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season, ending an eight-year pro career.
Although Zaba’s playing career was over, he wanted to remain involved in the game. He moved to Denver with his then-fiancee and started teaching the game to young goalies.
In 2014, Zaba opened Mountain High Hockey, which offers camps and lessons to goalies, forwards and defensemen of all ages and abilities, with friend Cody Lampl, who was a teammate of Zaba at Colorado College and still is playing professionally in Germany as a defenseman.
Once Zaba retired, he focused more on teaching netminders through his goalie club. He also accepted a volunteer assistant position at Colorado College in 2015-16, coaching the team’s goalies.
After two years at Colorado College, Zaba joined the coaching staff with the Storm. Zaba credits his knowledge of the position to New York Rangers goalie coach Benoit Allaire and Swedish National Team goalie coach Stefan Ladhe, who he worked with when he played in Austria.
“I think coaching was always something I wanted to do after I was done playing,” Zaba said. “I thought it would be the smoothest transition after having my playing career. I think more so my last two years in Europe were when I really started thinking about it more and more.”
Zaba lives in Denver with his wife and 2½-year-old son.
He drives to Kearney once a month and spends a week each time working with the Storm goalies. When he’s not in Kearney, he’s communicating with them on a daily basis to see how they’re feeling, telling them what they need to work on from video he’s watched and the daily syllabus for each day’s practice. Storm assistant coach Nick Brusa works with the goalies when Zaba isn’t in Kearney.
Noreen said it’s a common practice for junior league teams and even some lower level professional teams to have a goalie coach who isn’t with the team full time.
Regardless of what goalie Zaba is working with, he spends the early portion of his time developing trust with that individual. He also finds out what drills a goalie likes and what is needed to make that person successful.
For a goalie to be successful, they have to be patient, poised and strong skaters, Zaba said. If a player has those intangibles, improving the technical skills are something that can be done through coaching and practice, he added.
Zaba believes Allin and Sharib have those necessary skills to be effective and is eager to see their development over the remaining portion of the season.
Allin has played in 23 games this season and has a 2.60 goals against average and a .888 save percentage. Sharib has had to adjust to being a backup, playing in six games and tallying a 3.27 goals against average and .844 save percentage.
The Storm sit fifth in the Western Conference standings with a 10-12-2-2 record.
“I think Matt has a really good balance of being able to communicate with those guys effectively, make sure they know he has their backs and also gets the best out of them and pushes them,” Noreen said.
Zaba didn’t know what to expect when he started coaching. But the team camaraderie and the satisfaction of helping a player reach their full potential are two parts of coaching that he enjoys the most, he said.
Zaba doesn’t know what the future holds in terms of his coaching career. He’s content in his current role but said he would consider coaching at a higher level of hockey, if the opportunity presents itself, once his son is older.
“I think he’s as good as any guy I’ve seen and could do it at the highest level if he were to so choose,” Noreen said. “I couldn’t be anymore thankful to have him.”
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