“Proud Of My Journey” | Zach Metsa After NHL Call Up | Buffalo Sabres

Well, what were your emotions or your thoughts when you got the word that you were coming to the National Hockey League? Uh, I was shocked a little, but uh, obviously it’s a dream come true. It’s something you think about when you’re a kid and uh, just excited to be here. You’ve never had anything handed to you. I mean, Quinnipic, you were a freshman. You weren’t on the ice. Sometimes you you sign AHL contract again. You had to work your way in. Now here it is. I mean, it’s never been easy for for you, has it? No. You know what? It’s It’s all right. I don’t think you’d want to be too easy. Um makes you grind a little bit. It makes you appreciate everything that you get. Um and it’s no different now. Like I appreciate the opportunity and and being here. How did you find out? Uh I was actually getting a TV at Best Buy for my apartment. Uh our coach Leo called me and gave me the news. Uh so I was I was shocked. Like I said, I didn’t really expect it. And um yeah, was I I don’t even know if I really said much back to him. I was just like that was like I said a shock. So, um yeah, it was a special moment. What sort of message did coach Leo have for you coming up here? Just play my game. Be confident. Um and just be me. Like there’s a reason uh I got to this point and have um had this opportunity. So, uh shouldn’t really change anything now. Sorry. Who’s the first person you called? Uh, it was it was my girlfriend that because I was on the phone with her and then the next was my mom. You have to have a lot of confidence in what you can do because I remember Rochester when you signed they were in the playoffs and you didn’t you weren’t playing and you got in the lineup and they couldn’t play. I mean, you never came out after that. So, you have to have that certain confidence that if they give you a chance they’re not going to regret it type of attitude. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Um, I think it comes down to confidence in yourself. Um, and part of it is just proving it to yourself that you can do it at the next level. Like for me at that time is proving that I can do it in the American League. And um, now it’s proving myself that I can do it here. And um, I’m plenty confident myself and uh, just want to prove it to the staff here and everyone around. When you reflect what ultimately gosh uh, there’s so many it would be tough to say one thing. I think there’s so many people along the way. Um say the biggest is my family um who have been there uh lots of ups to share with them but also at the same time plenty of downs that um without them it’d be easy to kind of just throw in the towel and um not keep working but um I attribute a lot to my mom. She she always since I was little kind of told me just always keep working no matter what. Put your head down and um without her I I would not be here. How rewarding was it to be named captain after all the adjust we’ve gone through? It was amazing. Even that was a shock. Um I mean we have such a good group down there. Deep uh deep leadership group that anyone could lean on. So um yeah, it was special to get the captaincy there. Where did you learn the leadership? I mean you were the captain of the team that won the NCAA tournament in Quinnipak. You’ve worked your way to be the captain of an American Hockey League team, the Rochester American. Obviously, leadership is something that’s kind of in your DNA. Where have you learned leadership from and how to be a good leader? I think you take it from people you’ve been around, the different captains that I’ve had the opportunity to play under. Um, like I said before, my mom too. She’s a great leader. Um, she’s someone I’ve always looked up to and she’s always kind of been someone just uh that’s led by example and has kind of been a rock for those around her and I’ve uh have striven to be like that, too. So, um, yeah, you just kind of, it’s like anything. It’s like any skill. You just keep learning, you take from other people and, uh, keep growing. Did your mom play hockey as well? No, she didn’t. My dad did. My dad was the one that got me into hockey when I was 2 or four years old. He’d build a rink in the backyard every winter. And, um, that’s kind of where the love for hockey came from. Was your mom an athlete? She was a swimmer. We we give her credit for being an athlete. Um, she claims she has a couple state records that I don’t know if they’re um or high school records that are still there or not, but um yeah, she’s she’s an athlete, I’d say. Talk about the How would you describe yourself as a hockey player and as um as a hockey player, I’d like to think I’m a two-way player. Um try to be reliable in the zone and keep things simple. Just move the puck. Uh give it to the skilled forwards. Give it to our forwards to go make plays and uh support them where I can. I don’t think I try to do too much and um I’m not necessarily one to dance around guys, but I’m going to try to move the puck, give it to the right people, and let them make plays. Talk about the toughest tough part of your dreams. What were the toughest? Oh, plenty. Um across every league where I’ve been, um whether it’s juniors, college, pro, like the biggest uh hurdles have been when I’ve doubted myself. you kind of have a couple bad games or bad plays and um maybe you lose a little bit of that confidence that um you normally have and it’s kind of just that grind to keep working, put your head down, get the confidence back, like get back to a spot where you’re able to make plays. Um it sucks when you’re in your own head and no one wants to be there. Um but they also make you stronger. like uh the more you work through them like anything like I was saying before it becomes a skill that um you work on and can improve on and um it helps you bounce back when things get tough. How proud of you are you heads up a little early. How proud of you are of your journey already you’ve done it. You grinded for it. Just how proud are you of that? Uh I’m incredibly proud. Uh I think the biggest thing for me was sticking to what I needed to do every day to get better. Um I wasn’t necessarily anyone uh someone anyone was looking at in college and I was just working to get ice time. That’s all I wanted to do and I just took it one day at a time and got better and uh now we’re here. Did you think you would play pro hockey or like did you have a plan for after college? When I went to college, no. I mean, it was always a dream. It’s always something you wanted, but I don’t think I was really in a position to um when I first got to school to have opportunities to play pro. So, um you know, it was just focused on what’s in front. It was just focused on getting in the lineup and then it was trying to get more ice time and then trying to get a power play and penalty kill and build up from there. What were the last two years like in terms of, you know, you have an NHL contract, but I mean, they clearly value value you as a as a as a prospect. You played right away in the playoffs when you left school. What was that like kind of like balancing like working toward the two-way deal? You know, you’re on an AHL deal. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. It was I would say it’s similar thing I was uh just describing in college. It was at the time I wasn’t necessarily thinking of an NHL deal. It was just I want to play like I want to get in the lineup. what do I need to do today to get in the lineup? Um, and then you get in the lineup, it’s like, okay, now I want to I want to be a difference maker. I want to have the puck more. I want to be on the power play. I want to be someone they look to um when it matters. And you just kind of grow from there. And um kind of that process of just taking a day at a time like you uh the long-term goals kind of uh come out of that.

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Metsa spoke to the media after practice on October 17, 2025. Metsa was recalled from Rochester on October 16 and talked about his reaction to getting the call and how much excitement he has to be part of the group. He talked about what he feels he can bring to the group and the mindset he’s had throughout his whole career to make it to the NHL. Metsa was recently named captain of the Rochester Americans.

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