Bogosian had talent to make history
Ask any scout entering last year's NHL draft: Massena's Zach Bogosian represented the perfect storm.
He was the ideal player, a combination of strength, quickness, agility and competitiveness, who could fill a team's needs on defense for years to come. Plus, Bogosian possessed athleticism in his genes. His father, Ike, played football for Syracuse University.
The Atlanta Thrashers wasted little time, drafting Bogosian No. 3 overall, making the 17-year-old the highest ranking draft choice to come from the north country in any sport.
One year later, Bogosian has completed his first season in the NHL. He played 47 games for the Thrashers, finishing with nine goals and 10 assists, and a plus-minus rating of 11. Although still a teenager, Bogosian immediately signaled that he belonged in the league by tangling with Capitals enforcer Donald Brashear in the Thrashers' season-opener.
Only a broken left leg, suffered in late October, prevented Bogosian from making even more of an impact in his first season. He missed 28 games.
Bogosian began his competitive hockey career at a young age, leaving home at 13 to play for Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass., where brother, Aaron, now a member of the St. Lawrence University hockey team, also played.
Bogosian played two years at prep school before joining the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, one of the three Major Junior leagues in Canada. Known for his offensive skill as much as his defensive ability, Bogosian supplied 18 goals and 76 assists in two seasons in the OHL. He also displayed his toughness with a combined 135 penalty minutes over two years.
All that led to June 21, 2008 when Bogosian heard his name announced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman as the third person chosen in the draft.
"It's everything could imagine," Bogosian said on that day. "You can't explain to someone what it feels like unless you go through it. It's such a great feeling."
To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com.
