Interview with Kevin Zalaznik

For my second interview for the blog I have chose a person who has influenced my sports industry career a lot, even though he might not realize it. This guy is Kevin Zalaznik, who has been the Assistant Sports Information Director at Union for the past two years. His responsibilities included media responsibilities for the ice hockey, baseball, men's lacrosse, and soccer teams at Union. After two years in Schenectady, Kevin has decided to go on to bigger and better things... but don't worry he's just moving down the road to Albany to take a position with the new AHL team for the New Jersey Devils.

Kevin was mainly known on campus for being the "Hockey Media guy." He was pretty much Union Hockey 24/7 as he ran the Official Union Hockey blog, did the Union Hockey twitter, and did things on the Union Athletics website.

My first interaction with Kevin came this past season when I applied for the arena reporter job with USCHO, which was posted on the Union eRecruting site. Kevin called me up the day I applied and called me down to his office where he instantly gave me the job. We talked for a bit, and I was like "this guy is cool... he seems pretty chill."

But, what I didn't think was how much I could learn from this young guy. During the season I learned a lot from Kevin like important things such as getting to the rink as early as possible to prepare for the game, always realizing who's on the ice, making sure I have all the notes for the game, etc. He also taught me some simpler things like don't wear your Union Hockey sweatshirt into the press box (I know that was dumb) and being aware when the pizza comes so you get some before the hungrier and more seasoned writers eat it all. Kevin is a pro at running a press box. He made sure everyone had their material, had a seat, and knew all the scoring changes, etc. With Kevin at the helm the mood in the tight and narrow press box at Messa Rink was light but very professional.

My favorite moments with Kevin were during the 11-2 romp over Clarkson, and the 3-2, 50t loss against Quinnipiac in the first game of the ECAC quarterfinals. In the Clarkson game there was a barrage of Union goals and the press box was hectic. I remember sitting next to Ross Bennett (good pal of Will Friedman), who was helping do recaps for Union Athletics.com, and looking at each other like "what the heck is going on here!" Luckily for us Kevin was on top of his game and made everything easy for us so we understood who scored the goals and what records were eventually broken. The Quinnipiac game felt like a marathon for us writers, but Kevin made it sustainable as he always made sure that there was food and gave us updates on how close the game was to breaking the record for longest game.

Even though I only got to interact with Kevin for just one season he has impacted my career in the sports world tremendously. For the longest time I wanted to be a sports journalist, but after spending time with Kevin I think I might go the sports public relations route like he did. Kevin was so involved with the in's-and-out's of everyday operations and truly cared about the team and the players. This is something that want to experience one day. Even though Kevin liked messing with me and never got Subway for the press box for a game (like he promised me!), he is "the man."

Who ever fills Kevin's position has some big shoes to fill. If I were one year older I would definitely try to take his former position and fill his shoes. I hope you all join me in saying goodbye and best wishes to Kevin as he moves on in his career.

DG: Where are you from?

KZ: I'm originally from Pittsburgh, but after four years of school at Ithaca, a year at Syracuse and now entering my third year in the Capital District, I guess upstate is slowly becoming home.

DG: Where did you go to college? What was your major?

KZ: I'm a 2007 graduate of Ithaca College with a B.S. in sport media with a minor in writing.

DG: Did you play any sports in high school/college?

KZ: Since I was 10, I played travel hockey --- I was a goalie. I also played varsity golf from ninth grade on. During my freshman and sophomore years at Ithaca, I played hockey on the club team.

DG: Single or taken? (The ladies want to know Kev!)

KZ: Kind of a personal question don't you think? Anyways, I'm taken and my girlfriend might be the biggest Union College hockey fan out there.

DG: We'll see what Will Friedman has to say about that! (haha)

DG: What did you do before you came to Union?

KZ: I was a post-graduate intern in the Syracuse University Athletic Communications office. Syracuse didn't have the success it is having now when I was there. They were in the Greg Robinson era and the men's hoop team lost early in the NIT. However, men's lax did return to glory that year with a national championship --- I had nothing to do with that... or the football and baseball teams' struggles.

DG: What was your favorite thing about working at Union?

KZ: This is a tough one. I want to say it takes place between the hours of 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights in the winter, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Being in the public relations field, I guess my favorite part was when Union received recognition on a large scale. During my time here, we were featured on ESPN.com twice and we made a few appearances on Sports Center's Top 10 list.

DG: What is your favorite Union hockey moment?

KZ: The whole past year was a lot of fun and if I wasn't running around like a dog during the ECAC Hockey Championship weekend, I'd say that was my favorite moment. However, I'm going to go with Mike Harr (defenseman, Class of 2009) scoring the game-winning goal on Senior Night in 2009 to give Union home ice-advantage (in the first round of the ECAC playoffs).

DG: Who would you say is your favorite Union Hockey player?

KZ: Matt Cook (forward, Class of 2009). He was a senior when I arrived and he would do anything I asked when it came to interviews and appearances. One of my proudest moments was helping promote him as a finalist for the Lowe's Senior Class Award. Of course, Matt was a remarkable student-athlete and I don't think he needed my help.

DG: So you have said that you're not returning next season. Tell us what you are doing?

KZ: Well a few weeks ago, I decided to throw my hat into the mix for the Albany Devils Director of Public Relations job. Assistant Athletic Director Eric McDowell and Nate Leaman really helped me during the process by making a few phone calls --- I'm really appreciative of that. After interviewing, I was offered and accepted the position at the end of June. So I start the new job on the 19th (of July) and will basically be handling all public relation duties, including their website (www.thealbanydevils.com).

DG: What are you going to miss the most about Union?
KZ: I'm going to miss the excitement of witnessing, first hand, the men's hockey program grow to something special. There's no doubt that on Friday and Saturday nights I'll be checking the scores every chance I get --- assuming I'm working and not in the stands at Messa Rink.

DG: Who is your favorite pro sports team?

KZ: Pittsburgh Penguins. No doubt. Of course I might have to reconsider now that the New Jersey Devils sign my paycheck.

DG: What do you think about Lebron James going to Miami?

KZ: Watching the Lebron ESPN special was probably the only 30 minutes I'll dedicate to the NBA this year, so ultimately I really don't care. The whole situation, including the hour special and the letter written by the Cavs owner, was way over the top. I've moved on pretty quickly.

For more on Kevin go to Union Athletics.com.