Petes 60th Season - "The Zac Bierk Story"

Photo Credited - Petes Website

Zac Bierk was born on September 17, 1976 in the beautiful city of Peterborough, Ontario. Many people aren’t aware but Zac started his goaltending career as a teenager. He was a so called “late bloomer” and many didn’t think he would succeed given his late start. Zac would go on and prove his critics wrong by making the NHL. During Zac’s hockey career, he was known for giving advise to young goalies that started playing late in their careers. Zac would share his story and try to give hope to these late bloomers.

Zac comes from a well known family across North America. Zac’s father is David Bierk who was known for being a famous painter and Zac’s the brother of Sebastian Bach from Skid Row. All of Zac’s brothers and sisters decided to create some type of art, either through music, painting, acting or photography. In Zac’s case, he picked a different route. He traded in the paint brush for a hockey stick and created his own art in a Peterborough Petes jersey.

Zac Bierk created his own name for himself in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario. During Zac’s first season as a Pete, he only suited up in the maroon and white for nine games. He wouldn’t record a victory in any of his starts. Bierk returned to Peterborough the following year and was set on having a better season. Zac would appear in thirty-five games for the Petes and record 12 wins. During the 1995 offseason, Zac was drafted into the NHL. The Tampa Bay Lightning selected him in the 9th round, 212th overall. After attending camps and learning new techniques, Zac came back for the 1995-1996 season ready to win. He would perform in 59 games for the Petes and won 32 games. Zac carried the Petes to victory as OHL Champions. He helped the Petes reach the Memorial Cup finals that year but was defeated by the Granby Prédateurs 4–0. The following season, Bierk played in 49 games and won 28 games, posting a .916 save percentage. That season Zac received the OHL goaltender of the year award, the Leo Lalonde trophy as the best over-age player in the league and was named to the OHL All-Star First Team and Canadian Hockey League All-Star Second Team.

After Zac’s stellar performance for the Petes, he was signed by the Lightning. He started his professional career in 1997 playing in the AHL. He played only 12 games before being called up by the Tampa Bay Lightning. His first victory came on March 30, 1998 in only his second career start, in a 3–1 win against the Rangers. Zac played 13 NHL games in his first year in professional hockey. He tried to remain on the roster in Tampa but couldn’t the following season. Zac only played one game in the NHL during the 1998-99 season. That offseason, Zac was hard at work back in his hometown. He was training everyday at a local gym formerly called Victory Fitness, run by Verne and Isabelle. He was being trained by some of Peterborough’s top trainers and was focused on playing more at the NHL level. In the 1999-00 season, Zac was able to play in 12 NHL games and posted 4 victories.

In the offseason the Lightning left Bierk unprotected in the Expansion Draft and he would be picked up by the Minnesota Wild. However, Bierk would only play in one NHL game for the Wild. He spent the majority of the 2000-01 season in the AHL player for the Lumberjacks. He would play 48 games and record 24 wins, 18 losses and 5 ties. He helped led the Lumberjacks to the playoffs, but he would fall short and lost in the first round.

After a just one season in Minnesota, Bierk became a free agent and signed with the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2001 off-season. The first year Bierk was playing in the ECHL with the Augusta Lynx. He would play in 30 games due to hip surgery.

The following season in 2002-03, Bierk would get the chance to play in the NHL for Phoenix. On January 8th, 2003 Bierk' played in his second game with the Coyotes. He played the Chicago Blackhawks and because of his night, his name is in the NHL record books. Chicago’s goalie was Michael Leighton, who was in his rookie season as was Bierk. Both goalies played unbelievable and the game would end in a 0-0 tie. It was the first time in NHL history that two goalies would record their first shutouts in the same game.

In the 2003-04 seasons, Zac’s career was coming to an end. He was sidelined for 50 games due to a strained hip flexor. That season he played in two AHL games and four NHL games. His final NHL appearance was on November 9, 2003 in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Bierk didn’t record one victory in his final professional season. At the end of the season In 2004, Zac announced he was retiring from hockey at the age 28 because of a hip injury. He finished his NHL career with 47 game appearances, a 9–20–5 record, with a 3.18 GAA and .901 save percentage.

After retiring Bierk began running a goaltending school called Team Shutout in Brampton, Ontario. He worked with many different goalies that have been drafted into the OHL. After teaching at the hockey school, he decided to join the OHL. On June 18, 2013 the Oshawa Generals announced that Zac Bierk will be their new goaltending consultant. Former Petes G.M Jeff Twohey was the active G.M for Oshawa during the time Zac was hired. Bierk is still involved with the Oshawa Generals and in 2015 helped coach the Gens to a Memorial Cup Victory.

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