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AlwaysGettingHaxed · 04-02-2017, 06:16 PM

With another season coming to a close, and another team about to be crowned Challenge Cup champions, long time veteran Zallerras Szlerchek sits at home wondering when his time will come. The man known as â€œBig Zâ€ throughout the hockey world, missed the playoffs for the fourth time in fifteen seasons, and the first in nine seasons. He came to the Manhattan Rage in hopes of being a missing piece for the Challenge Cup runner ups in S32.

It seemed almost certain that when Szlerchek was drafted third overall in the S19 SHL Entry Draft, that he along with fellow prospects, Oliver Pettyfer and Colin Shcmidt, would be key pieces to title runs for the West Kendall Platoon. When future general manager and defensive stalwart, Bojo Biscuit was added the very next season, it was assumed that West Kendall would have their first Challenge Cup since S5 in no time at all. As we have seen, that did not come to fruition. The Platoon would see two Challenge Cup finals in Szlerchekâ€™s time there, but only to lose in heartbreaking fashion each time.

The Sumperk, Czechia native is now going into his sixth season of regression, and he knows that his effectiveness in the league, that seems to be getting younger by the season, is diminishing. That is part of the reason that for the first time in his career, Szlerchek has moved to the wing after playing fourteen seasons at center. He felt that it was in his best interest to focus on maintaining his offensive and defensive abilities rather than his ability in the faceoff circle. Szlerchek is second all-time in faceoffs taken, and had well over 52% win rate.

With the move to wing, Szlerchekâ€™s offensive numbers remained relatively similar to his time at center, but his defensive numbers are still on the decline. With his 16 goals and 28 assists, that actually put him above his career average of 42 points a season. He surpassed that 600 point mark early in the season, and is now 16th on the all time list. Perhaps another season of 40-plus points will see Szlerchek just miss the top ten, as he will likely pass the greats of Vidrik Onoprienko, Shawn Velevra, Chico Salmon, Willie Weber, Carter Oâ€™ Callahan, and Chris Partlow. The only thing keeping Szlerchek from making the top ten next season in reality, is that Pedro Sarantez will most likely surpass him as he is only four points back of Big Z.

Some would ask if Szlerchek should be considered in the same breath as all those players, since he has never truly been a dominant player. Only twice has the big man been able to score a point per game in a season. Some people think that Szlerchek has been the benefactor of playing with strong players and playing many seasons just to accrue points. He only has two trophies to his name, the Ryan Jesster for rookie of the year way back in S19. A season in which only 3 or 4 players were even close to being considered, and before the stacked classes of S20 and S21. The other award was the Turd Ferguson, awarded for most penalty minutes in a season. This came on the back of one of his many high fighting seasons, to which he is somewhat known for. With 63 career fights, Szlerchek ranks among the top 10 all-time in that category, and has the most fights won ever with 20.

Szlerchek going into his 16th season will be reaching some major milestones in his career, and could be close on many others. He will surpass the 800 games played mark, a feat done by so few who have donned a SHL jersey. He will also surpass two milestones noted for his toughness, 1000 penalty minutes and 2000 hits. This accomplishment on its own is quite rare in SHL lore. Unless Big Z has a big year offensively, it is unlikely that he will reach 400 career assists. While it is possible, it would mean recording 26 assists this upcoming season, which he has done 7 times, including the last 3, but his regression in play may keep him from that mark. He is also 2 goals away in each of the power play (50) and game-winning (40) categories. One more interesting mark he will pass is that of 18000 minutes played. This would mean he would have spent over 300 hours of his life on the ice, in just game time, or over 12 Â½ days.

This season Zallerras will play with the Toronto North Stars, his fourth team in as many seasons, and they know all about not winning the cup. For the first time in his career, Szlerchek was traded from the Manhattan Rage in a sign and trade deal. After a disappointing end to the season, both sides felt it was in the best interest to move him. Big Z felt that Manhattan was still a few pieces away from the cup, but was willing to help them out, given their generous offer for the aged veteran. One does wonder if a cursed player on a cursed team could help reverse both their fortunes in S34.

With each passing season Szlerchek will wonder if and when he will win the cup. While he does enjoy all the individual accolades, those do not add up to rings on his fingers. The Czechian forward can look back on his career so far and say that he has accomplished many goals in it, but he can also there is still much he can do. While he has played 15 seasons, some wonder, including himself, if he actually could play another 15. Time will only tell, but one thing is for sure, he may play till the day he dies to capture that elusive first cup.

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AlwaysGettingHaxed · 04-02-2017, 06:25 PM

Damn autocorrect, meant Money instead of Man, though I guess Big Z could use one as well. Big Z has always been a gold digger (look at most of his contracts), so maybe if he finds the right man with deep pockets he can retire now .

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