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Delta Islanders trade deadline pickup, BCJALL Goalie of the Year, Zack Boychuk.

One strong theme that will come out of this year’s National Lacrosse League entry draft will be the selection of a ton of good, strong, athletic defenders, the position that will undoubtedly be what this draft will be remembered for.

The other position that has more pro prospects available this year than years past? Goalies, tons of them. It’s the toughest gig to win in the NLL, but there are a whack of decent Junior aged tenders available this year, and after a super strong showing out West this summer, former St. Catharines Athletics keeper and BCJALL Goalie of the Year Zack Boychuk is likely at the top of most team’s lists.

Previously sharing minutes with the East’s A’s, Boychuk made the move to BC this past summer, a move that pushed him way up the keeper prospect depth charts over the last three months.

A high profile Ontario grab by Dave Bremner and the Nanaimo Timbermen, Boychuk was picked up by the Delta Islanders at this year’s trade deadline, and although he had played solid ball for the T-Men during the regular season, his play for the Islanders in the playoffs sky rocketed his pro draft stock considerably.

First Boychuk and the Islanders easily dispatched of the Burnaby Lakers to open the BC post-season, the stud tender allowing just 13 goals on 96 shots in the series, his clutch play one of the biggest impact showcases of any player in the loop’s second season.

Delta then ran into the eventual Minto Cup champion Coquitlam Adanacs, the A’s only averaging about 8-goals against Boychuck (Coquitlam averaged 11 per during this year’s Minto), who almost allowed the Islanders to pull off a stunner in Game 1, pitching a shutout for the first almost 25 minutes of the game, 51-stops on the night, the future national champs needing OT to finish off the fourth ranked Islanders. Looking back on this year’s Junior A playoffs Canada-wide, Boychuk’s Game 1 heroics was arguably the best single game performance during the post-season.

He was a finalist for Insider’s Goalie of the Year, BC’s top tender, an All-Star First Team member out West, an All-Canadian member with Insider too, and very possibly the first goalie taken at the pro draft next week.

ZACK BOYCHUK

Height: 5′9″
Weight: 210lbs.
Position: Goalie
Shoots: Left
From: St. Catharines, Ontario
Junior: St. Catharines Athletics, Nanaimo Timbermen and Delta Islanders

What do you feel your greatest asset is that would allow you to translate your game to the NLL?
I think I have a great sense of the game, as well as my reflexes and positioning.

One (or a couple) word(s) to describe your game?
Heart and consistent.

What current or former NLLer would you most closely compare or model your game after?
It’d have to be former Philadelphia Wing and NLL Hall of Famer Dallas Eliuk.

Your greatest accomplishment during your lacrosse career?
Winning the 2010 BC Junior A Goalie of the Year and being named First Team All-Star.

Anything else to add?
I’m willing to relocate to any NLL city and love doing community work and lacrosse camps.

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