"First-Year Phenom"

http://www.uscho.com/news/2005/03/27_010503.php

Nice Article On Zajac......


In addition to his obvious offensive exploits, Zajac does the little things well. By a wide margin, he is the best faceoff man on the North Dakota squad, winning almost 58 percent of his draws going into the NCAA tournament. And when the Sioux had to kill a cavalcade of penalties Saturday, coach Dave Hakstol frequently turned to the freshman for the kill — even when facing a critical five-on-three.

First year playing in a new league, wait till next year...

Looking at the photo of Zajac, he reminds me of an all-star center named "Bobby Smith" who played with the Minnesota North Stars and Montreal. If that's the case, we have ourselves the steal of last year's draft.

In addition to his obvious offensive exploits, Zajac does the little things well. By a wide margin, he is the best faceoff man on the North Dakota squad, winning almost 58 percent of his draws going into the NCAA tournament. And when the Sioux had to kill a cavalcade of penalties Saturday, coach Dave Hakstol frequently turned to the freshman for the kill — even when facing a critical five-on-three.

"Well, you heard Travis speak up here; he's very humble," Hakstol said. "And I think his approach coming into this year was to come in and battle and compete and make sure he had a spot in the lineup. That's the way he approaches the game.

"Obviously, he's a freshman by status, but we have an awful lot of confidence in him. We don't consider him to be a freshman out there: He takes a lot of key faceoffs for us. As gifted offensively as he is, he is as good of a two-way centerman as there is, I believe, maybe in college hockey."

:yo:

"Obviously, he's a freshman by status, but we have an awful lot of confidence in him. We don't consider him to be a freshman out there: He takes a lot of key faceoffs for us. As gifted offensively as he is, he is as good of a two-way centerman as there is, I believe, maybe in college hockey."

BOO-YAH!

Zajac is SO in to be a Devil. Nice pick!

Travis Zajac is going to be an impressive pro player. I feel he will be much like Rod Brind`Amour. A good solid two way center, excellent faceoff guy with good offense. Both are strong as bulls.

I hope he's got touch and a shot. Former Devil Steve Kelly a 1(6) pick is about the same size and probably a better skater. But he couldn't score.
Zajack's fellow Fr. Spirko (sp) came out of the USHL and I think is only about Brylin's size. I don't know if he's a pro prospect,but will probably be drafted,when there is a draft of more than 2 rounds.

I don't know how good of a pro Zajac will turn out to be and I am not pretending to know........But Zajac reminds me an awful lot of Captian Kirk Muller

I don't know how good of a pro Zajac will turn out to be and I am not pretending to know........But Zajac reminds me an awful lot of Captian Kirk Muller
Nice call.

Phenom is a pretty big exaggeration dont yeah think?

He's having a stellar year in College and is looking like and excellent pick but with all due respect Crosby is a what you would call phenom not Zajac. Sorry.

So as a 19 year old he put up some solid numbers for a rookie. He'll be 20 in a couple of months right? Not humble him but Nystrom put up 31pts in 40 games when he was 18 but i dont think anyone was calling him a phenom.

But I like Zajac he has some good size skill and a good head on his shoulders. Hopefully this guy keeps on getting better as the years go on.

Phenom is a pretty big exaggeration dont yeah think?

He's having a stellar year in College and is looking like and excellent pick but with all due respect Crosby is a what you would call phenom not Zajac. Sorry.

So as a 19 year old he put up some solid numbers for a rookie. He'll be 20 in a couple of months right? Not humble him but Nystrom put up 31pts in 40 games when he was 18 but i dont think anyone was calling him a phenom.

But I like Zajac he has some good size skill and a good head on his shoulders. Hopefully this guy keeps on getting better as the years go on.
Thats why he was selected 10th overall in the draft. Because of that excellent season. Playing with Cammalleri sure didn't hurt him at all. The thing is,when he was 19 he had only 26 points in 39 games, thats with one year experience. Then as a 20 year old Nystrom had 21 points in 43 games. Not good at all.

Phenom is a pretty big exaggeration dont yeah think?

No one here is calling him a phenom, the author of the article did.

Phenom is a pretty big exaggeration dont yeah think?



Yeah the word "Phenom" is a bit strong.

But you also got to give Zajac a lot of credit. This is a Freshman who has worked his way onto the first line playing and integral roll a National Championship caliber team.

How many first year players in any league at any time would be put into a 5-3 situation to take an important draw in an elimination game? And on top of that he is actually leading his team in goals.

Zajac, Parise, Gomez, Nittel

Thats a pretty freaking talented lineup at center.

Zajac, Parise, Gomez, Nittel

Thats a pretty freaking talented lineup at center.
Nittel will not be playing center. Vrana is a natural center and would be a better fit.

I was playing around with that idea. He is good with faceoffs though, so I wouldnt totally rule it out. Maybe he could take the faceoffs, then play LW. I dunno. Still pretty awesome either way.

I was playing around with that idea. He is good with faceoffs though, so I wouldnt totally rule it out. Maybe he could take the faceoffs, then play LW. I dunno. Still pretty awesome either way.
Lou Lams will want a good defensive player as a center and Vrana is excellent defensivly in all situations. Nittel is a great player but hardly good defensivly although it does give us size up the middle.