Zac Bierk

Zac Bierk
Born (1976-09-17) September 17, 1976 (age 48)
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 186 lb (84 kg; 13 st 4 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Tampa Bay Lightning
Minnesota Wild
Phoenix Coyotes
NHL draft 212th overall, 1995
Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career 1997–2004

Zachary Bierk (born September 17, 1976) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in 47 NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, and Phoenix Coyotes between 1997 and 2004. He most recently was the goaltending coach with the Ottawa Senators, and is now a scout with the team.

Junior career

Bierk was born in Peterborough, Ontario. He spent four years with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) from 1993–94 to 1996–97. In the 1995–96 season, Bierk led the Petes to the Memorial Cup final, where they were defeated by the Granby Prédateurs 4–0 in the final. The following season, Bierk won the OHL goaltender of the year award, the Leo Lalonde trophy as the best over-age player in the league and was named to the OHL All-Star First Team and Canadian Hockey League All-Star Second Team.[1]

Professional career

Bierk was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft as their ninth-round pick, 212th overall, from the Peterborough Petes, although he originally expected to be drafted in the fourth or fifth round, and left the draft after he had not been selected by the end of the sixth round.[2] His first victory came on March 30, 1998 in only his second career start, a 3–1 win in New York against the Rangers.[1]

On January 8, 2003, while playing for the Phoenix Coyotes Bierk and Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Michael Leighton both earned their first NHL shutouts in a 0–0 tie. It was the first time in league history that two goalies had both earned their first career shutouts in the same game.[3]

His final NHL appearance came on November 9, 2003, in a 2–1 overtime loss to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.[1] Bierk finished his career with 47 game appearances, a 9–20–5 record, a 3.18 GAA and a 0.901 save percentage with 1 shutout. Bierk also had one assist and six penalty minutes.[1]

Post-playing career

After retiring, Bierk served as one of the instructors at the goaltending school, Team Shutout. Bierk joined the Oshawa Generals of the OHL in June 2013 as their goalie consultant, replacing Michael Lawrence.[4] Bierk won a Memorial Cup with the Generals in 2015.[5]

Bierk returned to the Coyotes organization in 2018 as the team's goaltending development coach,[6] also serving as the goalie coach of their AHL farm club, the Tucson Roadrunners.[7] On April 6, 2021, Bierk was hired as the goaltending coach for the Ottawa Senators. Bierk had many connections to the Senators prior to joining the organization. He and Senators' head coach D. J. Smith were both coaches with the Generals during their 2015 Memorial Cup win.[5] Furthermore, with the Coyotes Bierk worked under Brian Daccord, the father of then-Senators' goaltender Joey Daccord.[8] In January 2024, Bierk was replaced as goaltending coach by Justin Peters and assigned scouting duties.[9]

Bierk also co-owns and runs a high-level goaltending school in the Greater Toronto Area, known as Armour Goaltending.[10]

Bierk family

Bierk is the brother of Peterborough, Ontario, City Councillor and artist, Alex Bierk, former Skid Row lead singer Sebastian Bach, Canadian actress Dylan Bierk, and Toronto-based artists Jeff, Nick, and Charles Bierk. Bierk is the son of David Bierk, an artist whose paintings are still displayed at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City. One of Bierk's sisters was a model and his mother is also an artist.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1993–94 Peterborough Bees OPJHL 4 — — — 205 17 0 4.98 — — — — — — — — —
1993–94 Peterborough Petes OHL 9 0 4 2 423 37 0 5.22 .870 1 0 0 33 7 0 12.70 —
1994–95 Peterborough Petes OHL 35 11 15 5 1779 117 0 3.95 — 6 2 3 301 24 0 4.78 —
1995–96 Peterborough Petes OHL 58 31 16 6 3292 174 2 3.17 .910 22 14 7 1383 83 0 3.60 —
1995–96 Peterborough Petes M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 5 3 2 303 14 0 2.77 .929
1996–97 Peterborough Petes OHL 49 28 16 0 2744 151 2 3.30 .916 11 6 5 666 35 0 3.15 —
1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 13 1 4 1 433 30 0 4.16 .857 — — — — — — — —
1997–98 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 12 1 6 1 557 36 0 3.87 .891 — — — — — — — —
1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 1 0 1 0 59 2 0 2.04 .905 — — — — — — — —
1998–99 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 27 11 12 4 1556 79 0 3.05 .914 — — — — — — — —
1999–00 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 12 4 4 1 509 31 0 3.66 .899 — — — — — — — —
1999–00 Detroit Vipers IHL 15 4 8 2 846 46 1 3.26 .914 — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Minnesota Wild NHL 1 0 1 0 60 6 0 6.00 .778 — — — — — — — —
2000–01 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 49 24 18 5 2785 134 6 2.89 .909 4 0 3 182 10 0 3.29 .903
2001–02 Augusta Lynx ECHL 30 16 9 3 1748 68 1 2.33 .925 — — — — — — — —
2001–02 Springfield Falcons AHL 1 0 1 0 20 4 0 12.00 .778 — — — — — — — —
2002–03 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 16 4 9 1 884 32 1 2.17 .932 — — — — — — — —
2002–03 Springfield Falcons AHL 13 6 4 1 685 33 0 2.89 .915 — — — — — — — —
2003–04 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 4 0 1 2 190 12 0 3.79 .889 — — — — — — — —
2003–04 Springfield Falcons AHL 2 0 1 1 106 6 0 3.38 .903 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 47 9 20 5 2135 113 1 3.18 .901 — — — — — — — —

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Zac Bierk (1997-present)". Hockeygoalies.org. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  2. ^ a b "Lightning's Bierk finds fame often is relative". Tampa Bay Times. September 16, 1997. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  3. ^ Duplacey, James (February 2008). Hockey's Book of Firsts. JG Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9.
  4. ^ "Zac Bierk joins Oshawa Generals as goalie consultant". Durhamregion.com. June 19, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Garrioch, Bruce (April 7, 2021). "Garrioch: Zac Bierk has a big job ahead of him trying to get Matt Murray back on track". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "NHL's Arizona Coyotes name Zac Bierk as prospects goaltending coach". The Peterborough Examiner. June 27, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  7. ^ Silverman, Cat (September 18, 2018). "Coyotes' crease: 3 prospects, 2 AHL spots makes training camp crucial". The Athletic. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  8. ^ Warren, Ken (April 6, 2021). "Pierre Groulx out, Zac Bierk in as Senators change goaltending coaches". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  9. ^ Garrioch, Bruce (January 15, 2024). "Senators promote goalie coach Justin Peters and reassign Zac Bierk". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  10. ^ Brassard, Marc (April 6, 2021). "Pierre Groulx cède sa place à Zac Bierk" [Pierre Groulx gives way to Zac Bierk]. Le Droit (in French). Retrieved January 18, 2024.