Zac Bierk - Peterborough Petes Alumni

Zac Bierk - retired goalie for the Phoenix Coyotes

Photo courtesy of Zac Bierk

I’m having a great time interviewing for the Sports section of ATOTK. I had the pleasure to speak with Dan O’Toole and Pete Dalliday and they both mentioned Zac Bierk in their interviews. This is a trifecta of very impressive people for this issue.

The Bierk family are all very talented and creative with diverse career paths. So I wanted to know why Zac chose hockey. He responded, “Yeah, we have a very eclectic family. I know most people think this is an exaggeration but my Dad literally couldn’t skate. He never skated a day in his life. My brother (Sebastian Bach) was born in the Bahamas, my sister (Dylan Bierk) was born in California and I was born in Peterborough. So I think it was really the geography that steered me into hockey.”

Zac’s favourite goaltender was Grant Fuhr while growing up. “He was one of the first reasons I wanted to be a goaltender. Later in life when I was playing for The Petes Patrick Roy became my guy,” he says.

He talked about his path to becoming the Peterborough Petes star goaltender, “I wasn’t the typical story when it came to getting drafted. I was actually playing hockey at Trinity College in Port Hope, but not necessarily focused on how far I could go with hockey at that point in my life. Jeff Twohey who was the General Manager of The Petes, saw me play a game in a tournament and they needed an extra goalie for training camp. So he asked me to come in as a walk on, undrafted player for the camp. I guess I did enough at the camp to hang around and be the third goalie. So that’s how I got my foot in the door. I think after my first year I had zero wins and probably the worst goals against in the entire League. I heard of a goalie coach in Quebec named Francois Allaire who was Patrick Roy’s goalie coach and decided to get in with him. He gave me the path to be a starting goalie in the OHL and to this day there are certain aspects of his teachings that I use.”

Zac played for the Petes in the Memorial Cup in 1996 in Peterborough. I asked him what that was like. He answered, “Oh man! It was just the energy of the whole city

and our group. It was an electric atmosphere. At the semi-final game against Guelph, it was just crazy energy. Being in the crease for the National Anthem while my brother (Sebastian Bach) was singing, everyone was staring at the painting of the Queen that my father had painted and I was about to play the biggest hockey game of my life. After our game Darren Dutchyshen from TSN interviewed both me and my brother. It was just a magical week and I wish we could’ve won just one more game, but it was so special for the city and the fans and the organization.”

And what was Zac’s least favourite memory? “J eff Twohey was focused on the product on the ice and the same with making sure we were responsible citizens with curfews. My brother (Sebastian) was playing a show in Toronto and I asked Jeff to let me go to the show and I would be late getting back. He allowed it, but said you’ve got a big game next so get back as soon as you can. I went to the show, then played the worst game I have ever played. (he laughed) We lost 11-1.”

Zac was drafted into the NHL by the Tampa Bay Lightening. “I was one of the last picks but Tony and Phil Esposito (they ran the team) had seen me and it was a bit of an up hill battle but that’s where I spent my first year in the NHL.”

After Tampa, Zac went to the Minnesota Wild as part of the expansion draft. “I was picked up by the Wild. I was unprotected and it was out of my hands. I was there for one year and played one game and got hammered by Martin Brodeur and the Devils. That was pretty much my career in Minnesota.”

Finally, Zac went to the Phoenix Coyotes. He says, “It was great, but I had gone through a lot at the time. My father passed away, I had two hip surgeries and I was playing in the East Coast Hockey league. So it was just a very difficult time in my life. But the Coyotes offered me a contract and I played my best hockey as a pro in the NHL and felt at home there.”

Zac’s career ended when he had his third hip surgery. He says, “The last one was pretty extensive, so I wasn’t able to return to the elite level of play required to continue as an NHL goaltender. That was it. I retired and moved on to goalie coaching as a career.” He went on to win a Memorial Cup with the Generals in 2015 and is now the Goaltending Development Coach with the Arizona Coyotes.

Zac goalie coaching for Arizona Coyotes

Zac also has a business, Armour Goaltending, in North York. He says, “My partner Dave Kennedy and I struck up a friendship through the rinks and he was busy doing his own coaching clinics. We teamed up together and we are now in our second season. It’s so enjoyable and rewarding to see these younger players improve and have fun at the same time.”

Zac's Armour Goaltending Camp in Toronto

Photo by Jeff Bierk

What advice would Zac give to kids and their parents to get to the big time in an incredibly competitive hockey market? “You have to separate it into three components - technical, mental and physical. Too many people focus solely on the technical but a lot of work on the mental elements like managing the emotions, and getting in a good mind set are key to get full potential.”

I have to say, I really enjoyed talking to Zac. He’s living life to the fullest.

Facebook - Zac Bierk Instagram - @armourgoaltending Website - www.armourgoaltending.com