Kelly Zajac

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| name = Kelly Zajac

| image =

| caption =

| image_size = 225px

| league = AHL

| played_for = Albany Devils
Lukko
Manitoba Moose
Hershey Bears

| position = Forward

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|06|06}}

| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 10

| weight_lb = 174

| shoots = Left

| draft = Undrafted

| career_start = 2012

| career_end = 2018

}}

Kelly Zajac (born June 6, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Union Dutchmen in the NCAA Men's Division I ECAC Hockey conference and in the American Hockey League for the Albany Devils, Manitoba Moose and Hershey Bears.

Playing career

After finishing his collegiate hockey career with Union College, Zajac signed as a free agent with the AHL's Albany Devils in 2011. In August 2015, Zajac left the Devils organization and signed a one-year contract with Finnish Liiga club, Lukko, which included an initial two month try-out.{{cite web| url = http://www.raumanlukko.fi/uutiset/kelly-zajac-lukko-hy%C3%B6kk%C3%A4ykseen | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150914015339/http://www.raumanlukko.fi/uutiset/kelly-zajac-lukko-hy%C3%B6kk%C3%A4ykseen | url-status = usurped | archive-date = September 14, 2015 | title = Kelly Zajac given a look for the offense | website = Lukko | date = 2015-08-30 | accessdate = 2015-08-30 | language = Finnish}} Three months later, Zajac returned to the AHL after signing with the Manitoba Moose.{{cite web|title=Moose sign Kelly Zajac |date=2015-11-16|publisher=MooseHockey.com|url=http://moosehockey.com/news/moose-sign-kelly-zajac}} The Moose released Zajac on February 12, 2016 after which Zajac signed with the South Carolina Stingrays.{{cite web | url = http://www.ecachockey.com/men/members/union/20161802_Zajac_Signed_by_SC | title = Stingrays Sign Kelly Zajac | publisher = ECAC Hockey | date = 2016-02-18 | accessdate = 2016-02-28 | archive-date = March 2, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160302120655/http://www.ecachockey.com/men/members/union/20161802_Zajac_Signed_by_SC | url-status = dead }}

Zajac originally opted to return to Europe for a second season in agreeing to a contract with Tingsryds AIF, however on May 22, 2016, Zajac decided to stay in North America after the conclusion of the 2015–16 season with the Stingrays.{{cite web| url = http://taif.nu/artikel/8eiraioj1-646nad/ | title = Kelly Zajac will not connect to Tingsryds | publisher = Tingsryds AIF | date = 2016-05-22 | accessdate = 2016-05-22 | language = Swedish}} He then signed a two-way contract with the Hershey Bears and Stingrays for the 2016–17 season.{{cite news |url=http://www.postandcourier.com/sports/stingrays-kelly-zajac-has-become-one-of-the-elite-forwards/article_94d97e12-d2cd-11e6-a198-cbe70726d377.html |title=Stingrays Kelly Zajac has become one of the elite forwards in ECHL |newspaper=The Post and Courier |date=January 5, 2017}}

Personal life

Kelly is the younger brother of professional hockey players Travis and Darcy Zajac. Their youngest brother, Nolan, played with the NCAA Denver Pioneers. Their father, Tom, also played for the University of Denver.{{cite web| url = https://www.foxnews.com/sports/family-ties-run-deep-at-devils-camp/ | title = Family Ties Run Deep At Devils Camp | publisher = Fox News | date = 2011-07-13 | access-date = 2011-07-15}}

Career statistics

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Regular season

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Playoffs

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

ALIGN="centre"

| 2006–07

| Salmon Arm Silverbacks

| BCHL

| 59

| 11

| 20

| 31

| 20

| 11

| 0

| 4

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2007–08

| Salmon Arm Silverbacks

| BCHL

| 60

| 21

| 41

| 62

| 28

| 11

| 3

| 8

| 11

| 4

ALIGN="centre"

| 2008–09

| Union College

| ECAC

| 39

| 6

| 14

| 20

| 29

| —

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2009–10

| Union College

| ECAC

| 39

| 10

| 14

| 24

| 10

| —

ALIGN="centre"

| 2010–11

| Union College

| ECAC

| 40

| 13

| 29

| 42

| 16

| —

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2011–12

| Union College

| ECAC

| 41

| 8

| 34

| 42

| 10

| —

ALIGN="centre"

| 2011–12

| Albany Devils

| AHL

| 3

| 0

| —

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2012–13

| Albany Devils

| AHL

| 14

| 2

| 4

| 0

| —

ALIGN="centre"

| 2012–13

| Trenton Devils

| ECHL

| 15

| 6

| 10

| 16

| 8

| —

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2013–14

| Albany Devils

| AHL

| 67

| 12

| 32

| 44

| 4

| 0

| 2

ALIGN="centre"

| 2014–15

| Albany Devils

| AHL

| 24

| 3

| 10

| 13

| 18

| —

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2015–16

| Lukko

| Liiga

| 11

| 2

| 4

| 0

| —

ALIGN="centre"

| 2015–16

| Manitoba Moose

| AHL

| 14

| 0

| 1

| 2

| —

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2015–16

| South Carolina Stingrays

| ECHL

| 21

| 9

| 13

| 22

| 0

| 19

| 3

| 15

| 18

| 2

ALIGN="centre"

| 2016–17

| South Carolina Stingrays

| ECHL

| 59

| 13

| 39

| 52

| 14

| 22

| 6

| 11

| 17

| 2

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2016–17

| Hershey Bears

| AHL

| 9

| 4

| 3

| 7

| 2

| —

ALIGN="centre"

| 2017–18

| South Carolina Stingrays

| ECHL

| 60

| 20

| 36

| 56

| 16

| 4

| 0

ALIGN="centre" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2017–18

| Hershey Bears

| AHL

| 2

| 0

| 1

| 0

| —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | AHL totals

! 133

! 21

! 49

! 70

! 26

! 4

! 0

! 2

Awards and honours

class="wikitable"

! Award

! Year

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

| colspan="3" | College

All-ECAC Hockey Second Team

| 2010–11

| [http://www.eliteprospects.com/awards.php?award=NCAA%20%28ECAC%29%20Second%20All-Star%20Team Elite Prospects - Hockey Awards & Achievements - NCAA (ECAC) Second All-Star Team]

All-ECAC Hockey Third Team

| 2011–12

ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward

| 2011–12

| {{Cite web |url=http://www.ecachockey.com/men/2011-12/News/20121503_Postseason_Awards |title=ECAC Hockey Mobile - League Announces Regular-Season Awards |access-date=March 20, 2012 |archive-date=October 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018041145/https://www.ecachockey.com/men/2011-12/News/20121503_Postseason_Awards |url-status=dead }}