Express Draft Pick - Zach Sarig

Player Profile - Zach Sarig - 6'2"/205lbs - Defenseman

1990 birth year from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Drafted by the Express in the May NAHL Entry Draft. He was also drafted by the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL (formerly the Mahoning Valley Phantoms of the NAHL), in the 16th round(200th overall) of the 2009 USHL Entry Draft. Played for both Wilson High School and the Philadelphia Jr Flyers program in previous seasons. In 2008/09 he tallied 11 goals and 5 assists in 21 games as captain of his high school team, and 3 goals and 13 assists in 15 games for the Jr Flyers.

My take: I couldn't find much information on Zach, so we'll have to wait until tryout camp to get a better idea of what kind of player he is. He is taller than the average Express defensemen has been over the years. At 6'2"/205 he is the same height as Zach Tolkinen and Joe Beaudette, but 20 lbs heavier. Judging by his penalty minute totals with the Jr Flyers, it looks like he is not afraid of the physical side of the game.

The Express have a fairly full cupboard when it comes to defensemen, so competition at tryout camp should be fierce. I can't wait to these guys in action this fall.



USHL Update: On July 1 the USHL teams need to be cut down to a 25-man roster, so they have been very busy with tryout camps the last month. There are several more taking place this week. Several current Express players and Express draft picks have attended these camps, and the following is a summary at this point:

- Mike Yanis (draft pick) - attended the Sioux Falls Stampede's camp in May, and made the camp all-star game. I don't believe the Stampede announced their 30-man roster following camp.

- Dan Cecka - attended the Omaha Lancer's camp a few weeks. I heard through the grapevine that he made the initial 30-man roster following camp. Dan is a 1989 birth year, and USHL teams are limited to 5 - 1989 birth year players on their teams. We should have a better idea of his status when the 25-man rosters are announced in early July.

- Zach Vierling - attended the Cedar Rapids RoughRider's camp. I have seen conflicting reports on whether he made the RoughRiders initial 30-man roster following tryout camp. One source reported he did make the roster, and the Cedar Rapids newspaper did not have him on their list.

- Andrew O'Leary (draft pick)- also attended camp in Cedar Rapids. Several sources had him making the RoughRider's initial 30-man roster.

- Bo Dolan (draft pick) - attended the Fargo Force camp the weekend of June 5-7. I don't believe the Force had an all-star game that weekend, and I haven't seen a 30-man roster released. Another thing that could affect his status with the Force would be the coaching change the Force will make with the departure of Dean Blais. Best known for his stint as head coach with the dirty, rotten, cheap-shotting North Dakota Fighting Sioux, Blais coached the expansion Force to the USHL championship series this spring, before losing to the eventual champion Indiana Ice. Blais announced last week that he is taking the head coaching job at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

- Blake Matejcek (draft pick) - attended the Lincoln Stars camp two weeks ago. He did not make the camp all-star game.

- Ben Montgomery (draft pick) - attended the Tri-City Storm's tryout camp this last weekend, and did not make the camp all-star game.


See you at the rink this weekend.

--BK