By Kendall Grayson/Tri City Storm
KEARNEY, NE. – The NHL’s Colorado Avalanche has hired Tri-City Storm Goaltending Coach Matt Zaba as the Goalie Coach for the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Zaba was Tri-City’s Goaltending Coach for the past seven seasons, and coached three USHL Goaltenders of the Year during his time with the organization (Filip Larsson in 2018, Isaiah Saville in 2019, and Arsenii Sergeev in 2022). Five goalies who played under Zaba during his tenure with the Storm were selected in the NHL Draft. Matt Zaba, 40, from Yorkton, Saskatchewan, was hired by the organization on July 27th, 2017.
He was drafted 231st overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2003 NHL Draft following a junior hockey career in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) with the Penticton Panthers & Vernon Vipers. Zaba played four years of college hockey with the Colorado College Tigers. His professional hockey career began during the 2007-2008 season in the ECHL with the Charlotte Checkers and Idaho Steelheads. Zaba made his NHL debut with the New York Rangers on January 23rd, 2010, in a road game against the Montreal Canadiens. He spent five seasons in Europe playing for HC Bolzano (Bolzano, Italy) and the Vienna Capitals (Vienna, Austria). Zaba boasted the best Goals Against Average (GAA) in Italy during the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons, and led HC Bolzano to an Italian League Championship during his second season with the organization.
Following his professional playing career, Zaba joined Colorado College as a Volunteer Assistant Coach from 2016-2017 before joining the Storm. “I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know in my last seven seasons working with the Tri-City Storm. I loved every second of it and will be forever grateful for all the success we had on the ice and the lifelong friends I gained because of it. I look forward to following the team and wish them nothing but the best moving forward.” – Matt Zaba