Zemgus Girgensons

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]

Zemgus Girgensons
Girgensons with the Sabres in 2016
Born (1994-01-05) 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

Playing career

Girgensons become 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

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]

With the Sabres in 2013.

Professional

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] The following season, on 17 August 2017, Girgensons re-signed with the Sabres again, agreeing to a two-year contract worth $3.2 million [21]

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.[22][23][24]

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.[25] Girgensons scored his first Olympic goal in Latvia's third tournament game, coming versus Sweden off of a power play goal against Henrik Lundqvist.[26]

Personal life

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

Zemgus Girgensons got married on July 27th 2019 with then Katie Sullivan (now Katie Girgensons).

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Green Mountain Glades EJHL 4228295719 20202
2010–11 Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL 5121284946 113588
2011–12 Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL 4924315569 22240
2012–13 Rochester Americans AHL 616111728 33030
2013–14 Buffalo Sabres NHL 708142214 —————
2014–15 Buffalo Sabres NHL 6115153025 —————
2015–16 Buffalo Sabres NHL 717111820 —————
2016–17 Buffalo Sabres NHL 75791618 —————
2017–18 Buffalo Sabres NHL 71781526 —————
2018–19 Buffalo Sabres NHL 725131817 —————
2019–20 Buffalo Sabres NHL 691271910 —————
NHL totals 4896177138130 —————

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 1 4
2017 Latvia WC 10th 7 1 1 2 0
Junior totals 17 7 4 11 16
Senior totals 30 6 2 8 35

Awards and honours
Award Year
USHL
All-Star Game 2011
Clark Cup 2011
First All-Star Team 2012
NHL
All-Star Game 2015
Latvia
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 8 September 2013.
  3. RYAN O'LEARY (22 March 2013). "Pursuit of passion". iihf.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  4. EliteProspects. "2011 KHL Draft". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  5. Jaunās Jūrmalas Ziņas (1 March 2013). "Edmunds Vasiļjevs: "Mūsu hokeja skola ir arī valstiska lieta"" (in Latvian). jjz.lv. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  6. Latvijas Hokeja fedrācija. "Spēlētāja dati" (in Latvian). lhf.lv. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  7. EliteProspects. "Green Mountain Glades 2009/10 roster". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  8. EliteProspects. "Dubuque Fighting Saints 2010/11 roster". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  9. USHL. "Clark Cup Champions". ushl.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  10. USHL. "USHL Names CCM Midseason All-Stars". ushl.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  11. Our Sports Central (7 September 2011). "Fighting Saints Open Camp, Name Captains". oursportscentral.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  12. Corey Masisak (23 June 2012). "Quality outdoes quantity on Draft Night trades". nhl.com. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  13. Mike G. Morreale (1 November 2011). "Girgensons talks future plans ... in Vermont". nhl.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  14. Buffalo Sabres (13 July 2013). "GIRGENSONS, SABRES AGREE TO TERMS ON ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT". nhl.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  15. Mike Halford (13 July 2013). "Report: Buffalo first-rounder Girgensons passes on school, will sign with Sabres". nbcsports.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  16. Mike Harrington (14 January 2013). "Girgensons knocked out of Amerks' lineup, likely with concussion". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  17. John Vogl (2 May 2013). "Girgensons impressive, but Amerks get swept from playoffs". buffalonews.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  18. "Girgensons Scores in Opening Night Loss". 3 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  19. McLaren, Ian (9 December 2014). Sabres' Girgensons dominating All-Star voting after 3 weeks. The Score. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  20. "Sabres Ink Girgensons to One-Year Contract".
  21. "Girgensons signs two-year contract with Sabres".
  22. IIHF (5 May 2013). "Game Lineup" (PDF). iihf.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  23. IIHF (9 May 2013). "Game Summary" (PDF). iihf.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  24. IIHF (13 May 2013). "Girgensons suspended one game". iihf.com. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  25. LHF (7 January 2014). "Nolans nosauc sastāvu Olimpiskajām spēlēm" (in Latvian). lhf.lv. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  26. Matt Calamia (15 February 2014). "Lundqvist, Sweden Stay Perfect With Win Over Latvia". nhl.com. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Laura Ikauniece		 Latvian Rising Sportspersonality of the Year
2013		 Succeeded by
Jeļena Ostapenko
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mikhail Grigorenko		 Buffalo Sabres first round draft pick
2012		 Succeeded by
Rasmus Ristolainen
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