Bobcats’ Metsa worked to become reliable defenseman
Quinnipiac men’s hockey coach Rand Pecknold knows defenseman Zach Metsa’s birthday now, over two years later.
On Oct. 19, 2018, the Bobcats played their third game under a new rule that allowed teams to dress a 19th skater. Pecknold dressed Metsa, a freshman defenseman, as the extra skater against Boston College. Metsa was hyped up in warmups and had family in the stands in from Wisconsin.
“He didn’t get a shift,” Pecknold said. “We won 1-0. His parents were in for his birthday. He never said a word.”
Metsa can laugh about it now as a junior. He’s among the top-scoring NCAA defensemen and was chosen All-ECAC on Wednesday.
“I didn’t let it get me,” he said. “I wasn’t insulted. I wasn’t hurt. If I wanted to get in, play top minutes against top teams, I’ve got to put in the work.”
Metsa, said Pecknold, is just the kind of kid who’ll put his head down and do what’s asked of him. He has worked to become more reliable in his own end of the ice, and others have noticed, making him one of three finalists for the ECAC’s best defensive defenseman, an honor that went to Colgate’s Pierson Brandon.
That was a big focus after that freshman year.
“Especially freshman to sophomore year, but even this year, I put a lot of focus on defense,” Metsa said. “My game, I kind of keep it simple, move the puck to the forwards and make plays. From there, points will follow.”
He arrived as a depth defenseman on a deep corps that included the likes of future pros Chase Priskie, Brogan Rafferty, Brandon Fortunato (all three of whom were in on that one goal against BC, which came on the power play) and Luke Shiplo.
“He had a huge jump last year. He blossomed into a top-four defenseman,” Pecknold said. “Now he’s leading the nation in scoring.”
Metsa worked with Quinnipiac’s strength and conditioning coach, Brijesh Patel. He worked on speed and footwork. He watched video.
“It’s little details: stick placement, body positioning,” Metsa said. “It’s being aware of where you are on the ice and where the other guy is.”
And the points have followed: After scoring only four points in his freshman year, he put up 17 on five goals and 12 assists last season.
Getting more power-play time this year after Wyatt Bongiovanni was injured in the seventh game of the season, Metsa’s 25 points, including five goals, led NCAA defensemen until Bowling Green’s Will Cullen put up three assists last weekend in the WCHA quarterfinals to reach 25 points with six goals.
Metsa has a chance to regain the outright lead Saturday in the ECAC championship game against either Colgate or St. Lawrence.
Still, Pecknold wasn’t sure Metsa had gotten the attention he deserved. Metsa said that wasn’t a big deal to him, particularly with Hobey Bakerfinalist teammates like Odeen Tufto, who leads the nation in assists, and Keith Petruzzelli, named the ECAC’s Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year on Friday.
“I wish every kid had his buy-in,” Pecknold said. “If we say, hey guys, this is what we want to do against Team X, Zach’s got it.”
The pandemic made the season strange in many ways, right up to now, when Quinnipiac should’ve been playing an ECAC semifinal on Thursday until Clarkson pulled out last week. The Bobcats received a bye to the final.
But there is an ECAC championship, at least, unlike last year, with an NCAA tournament to follow, and that’s why Metsa called this season rewarding.
“Not being able to play the tournament last year, to have a chance in the playoffs, it really” stunk, Metsa said. “The seniors lost their season. Guys lost opportunities they’ll never get back.
“Waiting as long as we did before we were able to play again, all the differences, no fans, moving around with masks ... We’ve made sacrifices to complete our season.”