Zemgus Girgensons

Zemgus Girgensons
Born	5 January 1994 Riga, Latvia
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
NHL team	Buffalo Sabres
National team	Latvia
NHL Draft	14th overall, 2012 Buffalo Sabres
Playing career	2012–present

Zemgus Girgensons (born 5 January 1994) is a Latvian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 14th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres.^[1][2] With this selection, Girgensons became the highest-drafted Latvian in NHL history,^[3] 16 spots higher than previous highest selection, Sandis Ozoliņš, in 1991.^[1] In the previous year, Girgensons was selected in the second round, 28th overall, in the 2011 Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Junior Draft by CSKA Moscow.^[4]

Playing career

With the Sabres in 2013

Girgensons began playing hockey in EVHS hockey school and was coached by former Dinamo Rīga player Edmunds Vasiļjevs.^[5] He played in Latvian minor and youth leagues.^[6]

Junior career

In 2009, Girgensons moved to North America and played in the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) for the Green Mountain Glades.^[7] The next season, he moved to the United States Hockey League (USHL) and played for the Dubuque Fighting Saints.^[8] In 2011, he became a USHL champion with the Fighting Saints,^[9] and he also participated in the USHL All-Star Game.^[10] In the 2011–12 season, his last as a junior, Girgensons was named as the captain of the Fighting Saints.^[11]

Professional career

Girgensons entered his draft eligibility year as a projected first-round draft pick. He was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round, 14th overall. The Sabres had already used their own first-round pick, selecting Mikhail Grigorenko 12th overall, but traded^[12] a first-round (21st overall) pick (from Nashville), which Calgary used to select Mark Jankowski, and a second-round (42nd overall) pick, to move up seven spots to draft Girgensons.^[12] Before attending the Sabres' prospects' summer camp, Girgensons had committed to going to the University of Vermont Catamounts of the NCAA;^[13] however, he signed a professional contract with the Sabres on 13 July 2012, which forfeited his NCAA eligibility.^[14][15]

Girgensons began the 2012–13 season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Rochester Americans. He had a slow start to the season and, at the beginning of 2013, he suffered an injury from a late hit by Richard Pánik of the Syracuse Crunch.^[16] However, he finished the season strongly, scoring three goals in the Americans' first-round defeat in the Calder Cup playoffs.^[17]

After scoring three goals and adding one assist in five pre-season games, Girgensons began the 2013–14 season in the NHL with the Sabres. He scored his first career NHL goal in the Sabres' season opener against Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings on 2 October 2013.^[18]

Girgensons was the runaway leader in fan voting for the 2015 All-Star Game, buoyed in large part by votes from his native Latvia.^[19]

On 1 September, 2016 Girgensons, as restricted free agent re-signed with the Sabres, agreeing to a one-year, $1.15 million contract extension. ^[20]

International play

Girgensons participated at the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships as a member of the Latvian junior team and at the 2010 IIHF World U18 Championships. He made his senior national team debut in 2013 World Championships against the United States and scored his first international goal against Slovakia. He also was suspended for one game for spearing Branislav Mezei in the first period of the match in retaliation for an earlier hit.^[21][22][23]

On 7 January 2014, it was announced that Latvia Head Coach Ted Nolan had included Girgensons on his national team roster for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.^[24] Girgensons scored his first Olympic goal in Latvia's third tournament game, coming versus Sweden off of a power play goal against Henrik Lundqvist.^[25]

Personal life

Girgensons comes from a hockey family. His father, Aldis Girgensons, played defence for Dinamo Riga.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2009–10	Green Mountain Glades	EJHL		42	28	29	57	19		2	0	2	0	2
2010–11	Dubuque Fighting Saints	USHL		51	21	28	49	46		11	3	5	8	8
2011–12	Dubuque Fighting Saints	USHL		49	24	31	55	69		2	2	2	4	0
2012–13	Rochester Americans	AHL		61	6	11	17	28		3	3	0	3	0
2013–14	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		70	8	14	22	14		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		61	15	15	30	25		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		71	7	11	18	20		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				202	30	40	70	59		—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2010	Latvia	WJC18	9th		6	1	1	2	2
2011	Latvia	WJC-D1	11th		5	4	3	7	8
2012	Latvia	WJC	9th		6	2	0	2	6
2013	Latvia	WC	11th		5	1	0	1	0
2014	Latvia	OG	8th		5	1	1	2	2
2014	Latvia	WC	11th		6	2	0	2	29
2016	Latvia	WC	13th		7	1	0	0	4
Junior totals					17	7	4	11	16
Senior totals					19	4	1	5	31

Awards

USHL

• Clark Cup champion – 2011
• First All-Star Team – 2012
• All-Star Game – 2011

NHL

• All-Star Game – 2015

Other

• Latvian Sportspersonality of the year Rising Star of the Year Award – 2013

References

1. "Girgensonu ar 14. numuru izvēlas Bufalo "Sabres"" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
2. NHL. "Buffalo sabres 2012 draft selections". nhl.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
3. RYAN O’LEARY (2013-03-22). "Pursuit of passion". iihf.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
4. EliteProspects. "2011 KHL Draft". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
5. Jaunās Jūrmalas Ziņas (2013-03-01). "Edmunds Vasiļjevs: "Mūsu hokeja skola ir arī valstiska lieta"" (in Latvian). jjz.lv. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
6. Latvijas Hokeja fedrācija. "Spēlētāja dati" (in Latvian). lhf.lv. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
7. EliteProspects. "Green Mountain Glades 2009/10 roster". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
8. EliteProspects. "Dubuque Fighting Saints 2010/11 roster". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
9. USHL. "Clark Cup Champions". ushl.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
10. USHL. "USHL Names CCM Midseason All-Stars". ushl.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
11. Our Sports Central (2011-09-07). "Fighting Saints Open Camp, Name Captains". oursportscentral.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
12. Corey Masisak (2012-06-23). "Quality outdoes quantity on Draft Night trades". nhl.com. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
13. Mike G. Morreale (2011-11-01). "Girgensons talks future plans ... in Vermont". nhl.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
14. Buffalo Sabres (2013-07-13). "GIRGENSONS, SABRES AGREE TO TERMS ON ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT". nhl.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
15. Mike Halford (2013-07-13). "Report: Buffalo first-rounder Girgensons passes on school, will sign with Sabres". nbcsports.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
16. Mike Harrington (2013-01-14). "Girgensons knocked out of Amerks' lineup, likely with concussion". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
17. John Vogl (2013-05-02). "Girgensons impressive, but Amerks get swept from playoffs". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
18. "Girgensons Scores in Opening Night Loss". 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
19. McLaren, Ian (9 December 2014). Sabres' Girgensons dominating All-Star voting after 3 weeks. The Score. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
20. http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=892025
21. IIHF (2013-05-05). "Game Lineup" (PDF). iihf.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
22. IIHF (2013-05-09). "Game Summary" (PDF). iihf.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
23. IIHF (2013-05-13). "Girgensons suspended one game". iihf.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
24. LHF (2014-01-07). "Nolans nosauc sastāvu Olimpiskajām spēlēm" (in Latvian). lhf.lv. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
25. Matt Calamia (2014-02-15). "Lundqvist, Sweden Stay Perfect With Win Over Latvia". nhl.com. Retrieved 2014-02-28.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Profile on Fighting Saints website