Zach O'Brien

Zachary O'Brien (born June 29, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for HC Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak Extraliga.

Zach O'Brien
O'Brien with the Manchester Monarchs in 2015
Born (1992-06-29) June 29, 1992
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 192 lb (87 kg; 13 st 10 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Right
Slovak team
Former teams		 HC Slovan Bratislava
St. John's IceCaps
Manchester Monarchs
Chicago Wolves
Ravensburg Towerstars
Binghamton Senators
Bakersfield Condors
Toronto Marlies
EV Landshut
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2011–present

Prior to turning professional, O'Brien played three seasons with the Acadie–Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). During his time with the Titan, O'Brien won the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy as the league's most sportsmanlike player twice.

Playing career

Amateur

O'Brien played Major Midget hockey with the St. John's Fog Devils of the Newfoundland and Labrador Major Midget Hockey League. In his final year, he recorded 176 points to help lead his team to the 2010 Telus Cup where he was then named the National Midget AAA Championship's MVP.[1]

Originally drafted by the Moncton Wildcats in the 2008 QMJHL Draft, O’Brien chose to complete high school before playing major junior hockey. O’Brien then played three years with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan who had acquired him in a trade.[1]

While he was never drafted in the NHL, O'Brien was invited to the San Jose Sharks training camp in 2010.[2] He then returned to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for the 2010–11 season where he led all first year players in goals and points and set a new team record for goals scored. He also tied Réal Godin as the only player in QMJHL history to record no penalty minutes while accumulating at least 50 points in a season.[3] As a result of his play, O'Brien was named to the 2011 Subway Super Series roster to play in an exhibition tournament against the Russian national junior team.[4] He ended the season with a career-high 101 points and won the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy as the QMJHL most sportsmanlike player.[5] He was also named a finalist for the RDS Cup as Rookie of the Year and Michel Bergeron Trophy as Offensive Rookie of the Year.[6]

During the 2011–12 season, O'Brien scored four goals in six-minutes and 10-seconds in a 7–4 win over the Moncton Wildcats.[7] On April 5, 2012, O'Brien signed an amateur tryout agreement with the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League (AHL)[8] but he returned to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for the 2012–13 season as an assistant captain after playing one game. During that season, O'Brien broke his 186-game streak with no penalties in a 5–1 loss to the Moncton Wildcats.[9] O'Brien was the recipient of the CHL Player of the Week for the first week of January for recording two hat tricks that week.[10] He won the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy for the second time at the conclusion of the season, having only accrued two penalties that season.[11]

Professional

Coming out of major juniors, O'Brien joined the Ontario Reign of the ECHL. He was loaned to the Manchester Monarchs for the rest of the 2013–14 season after playing in five games for the Reign. He signed a contract extension with the Monarchs on August 4, 2014,[12] and won the Calder Cup with the team that season.[13]

After winning the Calder Cup, O'Brien signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on July 14, 2015.[14] He was invited to the St. Louis Blues training camp on a professional tryout agreement,[15] but began the 2015–16 season with the Wolves.[16]

After playing in 20 games for the Ravensburg Towerstars, O'Brien opted to conclude the season in North America with the ECHL's Wichita Thunder.[17][18] After playing in 24 games for the Wichita Thunder and recording 19 points, O'Brien was loaned to the Binghamton Senators of the AHL on March 23, 2017.[19]

He signed an AHL contract with Bakersfield Condors on July 6, 2017, for the 2017–18 season[20] and attended the Edmonton Oilers training camp on a professional tryout contract.[21] After being cut from both the Oilers and Bakersfield Condors training camp he was reassigned to the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL to begin the season.[22] His demotion was short-lived however as he was called up to the AHL on November 16, 2017.[23]

On July 3, 2018, O'Brien signed a contract with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.[24] He attended the Marlies training camp but was assigned to their ECHL affiliate, the Newfoundland Growlers.[25] Prior to the 2018–19 season, the Growlers inaugural season, O'Brien was named an alternate captain.[2] While playing for the Growlers, O'Brien scored the first hat trick in franchise history to help beat the Reading Royals 5–4 on November 16, 2018.[26] He scored his second hat trick with the Growlers in a 5–1 win over the Jacksonville Icemen on January 5, 2019.[27] On February 25, O'Brien was recalled to the AHL along with teammates Hudson Elynuik, Brady Ferguson, and Josh Kestner.[28] O'Brien was reassigned to the ECHL along with Kestner on February 28[29] where he then helped lead the Growlers to the 2019 Kelly Cup playoffs. He was subsequently awarded the June M. Kelly Award as MVP on June 5, after winning the Cup.[30]

At the conclusion of his second season under contract within the Marlies organization, playing primarily with the Growlers, O'Brien opted for a second stint in the German DEL2, agreeing to a contract with EV Landshut on June 15, 2020.[31] In his lone season in Germany, O'Brien was prolific in adding an offensive presence with Landshut, posting 40 goals and 83 points through just 49 regular season games of the 2020–21 season. He was unable to propel Landshut into the post-season, finishing in 10th.

As a free agent, O'Brien returned to North America in the off-season, re-joining former club, the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, on a one-year contract on September 2, 2021.[32]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies QMJHL 2 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
2009–10 Acadie–Bathurst Titan QMJHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2010–11 Acadie–Bathurst Titan QMJHL 58 29 36 65 0 4 0 3 3 0
2011–12 Acadie–Bathurst Titan QMJHL 63 50 51 101 0 6 1 7 8 0
2011–12 St. John's IceCaps AHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2012–13 Acadie–Bathurst Titan QMJHL 66 47 45 92 2 5 4 2 6 0
2013–14 Ontario Reign ECHL 5 2 2 4 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Manchester Monarchs AHL 49 10 19 29 4 4 2 0 2 0
2014–15 Manchester Monarchs AHL 62 14 18 32 4 19 3 6 9 0
2015–16 Chicago Wolves AHL 62 8 11 19 0 — — — — —
2016–17 Ravensburg Towerstars DEL2 20 6 6 12 4 — — — — —
2016–17 Wichita Thunder ECHL 32 9 18 27 4 — — — — —
2016–17 Binghamton Senators AHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2017–18 Bakersfield Condors AHL 43 6 17 23 2 — — — — —
2017–18 Wichita Thunder ECHL 12 5 7 12 0 — — — — —
2018–19 Newfoundland Growlers ECHL 53 28 40 68 6 23 16 13 29 8
2018–19 Toronto Marlies AHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Newfoundland Growlers ECHL 41 25 21 46 8 — — — — —
2019–20 Toronto Marlies AHL 5 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2020–21 EV Landshut DEL2 49 40 43 83 6 — — — — —
2021–22 Newfoundland Growlers ECHL 53 28 50 78 4 13 4 14 18 0
2021–22 Toronto Marlies AHL 5 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2022–23 Newfoundland Growlers ECHL 59 23 64 87 8 11 4 9 13 0
2022–23 Toronto Marlies AHL 7 2 4 6 0 — — — — —
AHL totals 238427111312 2356110

Awards and honours
Award Year
QMJHL
All-Rookie Team 2011
Second All-Star Team 2012 [33]
Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy 2012, 2013
AHL
Calder Cup (Manchester Monarchs) 2015 [13]
ECHL
All-ECHL Second Team 2019 [34]
Kelly Cup (Newfoundland Growlers) 2019 [30]
June M. Kelly Award (Kelly Cup MVP) 2019

References
  1. "The wait was worth it for Acadie-Bathurst Titan forward Zach O'Brien". theqmjhl.ca. February 9, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  2. "BEATING THE ODDS". nlgrowlers.com. December 19, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  3. "Zach O'Brien His first dream season, without a penalty!". theqmjhl.ca. March 4, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  4. "QMJHL announces 2011 Subway Super Series roster". theqmjhl.ca. October 24, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  5. "Zach O'Brien the most sportsmanlike!". en.letitan.com. April 5, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  6. Mike G. Morreale (March 22, 2011). "QMJHL announces finalists for Golden Puck Awards". NHL.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  7. Poulin, Fred (February 20, 2012). "The Next Undrafted Gem? Zach O'Brien". thehockeywriters.com. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  8. "ICECAPS SIGN ST. JOHN'S NATIVE O'BRIEN TO ATO". stjohnsicecaps.com. April 5, 2012. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  9. Sanderson, Mike (February 19, 2013). "Acadie-Bathurst Titan's Zach O'Brien ends his 186-game penalty-free streak". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  10. "Titan's Zach O'Brien Named CHL Player of the Week". chl.ca. January 8, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  11. "Mooseheads' Drouin wins QMJHL MVP trophy". sportsnet.ca. April 3, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  12. "Monarchs Sign O'Brien, Gravel, Arseneau". manchestermonarchs.com. August 4, 2014. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  13. "15 CHL grads win Calder Cup title with Manchester". chl.ca. June 15, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  14. "WOLVES SIGN ZACH O'BRIEN". chicagowolves.com. July 14, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  15. "Blues Invite 5 to Training Camp Tryouts". NHL.com. August 27, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  16. "WOLVES ADD 19 PLAYERS ON EVE OF TRAINING CAMP". chicagowolves.com. September 26, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  17. "Sports briefs". The Butler County Times-Gazette. January 12, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  18. Kern, Thorsten (March 27, 2017). "Dany Naud überrascht mit Wolfsburg". schwaebische.de. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  19. "O'BRIEN LOANED TO BINGHAMTON". wichitathunder.com. March 23, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  20. "CONDORS SIGN CURRIE AND O'BRIEN". bakersfieldcondors.com. July 6, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  21. "RELEASE: Oilers reduce camp roster". NHL.com. September 21, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  22. McCarthy, Brendan (November 20, 2017). "Newfoundlanders Away: O'Brien back in the AHL, flying with the Condors". The Telegram. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  23. "CONDORS RECALL O'BRIEN; ASSIGN BUTCHER TO WICHITA". wichitathunder.com. November 16, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  24. "Marlies Sign Seven Players". marlies.ca. July 3, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  25. "Marlies Update Training Camp Roster". marlies.ca. September 30, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  26. "RECAP : GROWLERS VERSUS ROYALS NOV 16". nlgrowlers.com. November 17, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  27. "RECAP : GROWLERS VERSUS ICEMEN JAN 5". nlgrowlers.com. January 6, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  28. @TorontoMarlies (February 25, 2019). "News: The Marlies have recalled forwards Hudson Elynuik, Brady Ferguson, Josh Kestner and Zach O'Brien from the @NLGrowlers (ECHL). #MarliesLive" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. @NLGrowlers (February 28, 2019). "The Toronto Marlies have reassigned forwards Zach O'Brien and Josh Kestner to the Newfoundland Growlers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. "Kelly Cup win is like 'a dream' for Newfoundland Growlers". cbc.ca. June 5, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  31. "Canadian double signing for Landshut" (in German). EV Landshut. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  32. "Marlies sign forwards O'Brien and Power". Toronto Marlies. September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  33. "The Golden Puck Awards: recognition of excellence". theqmjhl.ca. April 5, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  34. "ALL-ECHL FIRST AND SECOND TEAMS ANNOUNCED". ECHL. April 4, 2019.
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