Drozd Continues to Rewrite WJAC Record Book

WJA.019.09

November 3, 2009

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2009 World Junior A Challenge

2009 WJAC Game Summary

When he arrived in Camrose, Alta., for the 2008 World Junior A Challenge, Siarhei Drozd was a relatively unknown commodity, a good player on a Belarus team many expected to finish near the bottom of the pack.

By the time he finishes his second WJAC tour of duty this week in Summerside, the tournament record book may well by a tribute to the Minsk native.

Drozd made a splash in his first game, scoring twice on the power play as Belarus pulled off what is likely the biggest upset in tournament history, beating the two-time defending gold medalists from Canada West in a shootout.

He finished the 2008 tournament as the leading goal scorer, potting seven – breaking the previous single-year record of six. The seven goals also made him the tournament’s all-time leading goal scorer – no other player had scored more than six, let alone in one year.

Drozd’s WJAC résumé includes:

Most goals, all-time – 10
Most power play goals, all-time – 7
Most hat tricks, all-time – 2
Most goals, one year – 7
Most power play goals, one year – 5
Most points, one game – 5 (shared)
Most power play goals, one game – 3
Most goals, one period – 3 (shared)
Most power play goals, one period – 3
Most points, one period – 3 (shared)
Fastest goals from the start of a period – 0:13
Fastest three goals, one player – 3:46
Fastest three power play goals, one player – 3:46

Many of Drozd’s single-game records came in last year’s quarter-final victory over Germany, when he single-handedly led Belarus to the semifinals for the first time, scoring three times early in the third period to turn a 4-3 Belarussian lead into a 7-3 advantage.

He also added a pair of assists for good measure in the victory, joining Canada West’s Tyler McNeely (2006) and the United States’ Barry Almeida (2007) as the only players to rack up five points in a single game.

So what’s next? Drozd enters the quarter-finals with 12 career points (10g, 2a), just four shy of the all-time record held by Canada West’s Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who won a pair of gold medals in 20. And it wouldn’t surprise anyone in attendance at Molson Canadian Arena at CUP this week to see him claim that record as well.

Drozd’s performance in Camrose did more than just earn him a number of spots in the WJAC record book; he was selected 67th overall in the 2009 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft by the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, who then traded his rights to the Tri-City Americans.

He has flourished with the Americans thus far, putting up 10 points (3g, 7a) in 13 games while adapting to the North American game full time.

Before he gets back to the WHL grind, though, Drozd has two more WJAC performances to put on, beginning with a quarter-final showdown with Canada West.

As the only team with two regulation losses, the Belarussians will enter the playoff match-up as decided underdogs.

But as he showed one year ago, against the same team, Drozd enjoys that position just fine.