Burleigh commits to Western New England

Zach Burleigh hasn’t had a place to call home until now.

The 20-year-old Langton, Ont., goaltender and journeyman who spent this past year with the Neepawa Titans can finally take a breather after committing to play NCAA Division III with the Western New England University Golden Bears in Springfield, Mass., for the 2026-27 season.

“It’s super exciting. It’s been a a nice weight off the shoulders, so now I can just focus on this off-season and not have to worry about where you’re going or all that,” Burleigh said on Monday. “I get to go to school and also play my favourite sport, so it’s gonna be great.

“I love hockey and I love going to the states so I’m Iooking forward to starting a new chapter going to school, just might have to hit the books a little bit more.”

Burleigh, who will be studying sports management at Western in hopes of becoming a firefighter, has played for five teams across four junior leagues in the last four years.

After wrapping up his under-18 tenure with the Huron Perth Lakers, Burleigh started in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League with the Stratford Warriors, then played for the Brantford 99ers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League the following season, before making his first of two stops to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Steinbach Pistons two seasons ago.

Burleigh appeared in nine games for the Pistons and collected a 6-1-1 record off a 2.02 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. He left during the second half of the season to play for the French River Rapids back in his home province in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, where he managed four wins in 15 contests with a 5.07 GAA and sub .900 save percentage.

In the summer, the six-foot-one, 185-pound netminder then returned to the MJHL, this time with Neepawa, which was coming off a first-round exit to the eventual Turnbull Cup champion Northern Manitoba Blizzard. He joined a tandem with Stonewall’s Alex Myers and appeared in 33 games, chalking up a 14-17-1 record and helping the Titans lock down the final post-season spot in the West Division, behind the Virden Oil Capitals, Dauphin Kings, and Waywayseecappo Wolverines.

Burleigh started in two post-season games, which saw his club simply be out performed on their way to four straight losses at the hands of a stronger Virden team in the first round, but his outlook on the year season still remains a positive one because of the number of starts he was given.

“This season was a big stepping stone for me,” he said. “It was the first season that I was really able to step into a starter’s role, so it was great that I got to play over 30 games and it really helped me develop as a teammate, a goalie, then develop my game.

“It was up and down, but I think it was a really good successful season and it wasn’t the result that we wanted, but it was a good time and a good journey.”

Burleigh’s fairly consistent play under an unpredictable defence core in Neepawa caught the attention of Golden Bears head coach Matt Smith, who reached out around Christmas with an opportunity for him to build upon the trust he given this past season.

He said he was pretty hooked after he head Smith’s pitch.

“The coach and the staff, they’re great,” Burleigh added. “They got a lot of good programs and the big selling point was that I’m able to come into the program and hopefully make a change and get to play a lot of hockey, so that was the big thing for me.”

The Golden Bears earned just six wins in 25 games this year and the club hasn’t won more than 10 times in a season since 1999, so Burleigh will be in for a tall task, but it’s nothing he isn’t used to.

“One of my teams in U18 had around two wins over two seasons in like 80 games, so I’m used to getting peppered with shots and such,” he said. “That’s a huge thing that really develops a goalie because I always say that a younger goalie that is way busier in games develops and becomes more successful than a goalie that’s always been on a really good team their whole life.

“If someone told me I’d be playing NCAA hockey six years later I would have just told them to stop lying to me, so it’s pretty cool.”

Burleigh describes his style of play as a simple and calm, not being super sporadic and making some crazy saves because he’s not in the right position to begin with. He trusts his angles and his frame to do most of the work, while making the hard saves look easy by playing smart, not hard. He emulates his game after New York Rangers all-star Igor Shesterkin, who he said he watches frequently despite being a Philadelphia Flyers fan.

“If you ever watch him, he’s just super minuscule and doesn’t try to do too much,” Burleigh said. “That’s what makes him so good, just being simple about it.”

While his play may be simple, his journey between the pipes has been far from it. He’s been on the move for a while, but it’s all led to a new chapter beginning in the fall.

He said thanks his mindset of just trusting the process.

“Everything happens for a reason, so I think it’s better to just let it happen and trust the process,” he said.

“When I first went onto the ice where everyone’s a player and no one’s a goalie, I would just stand in the crease and try and make saves. I always wanted to be in the net, so it’s pretty cool to say I’ll be playing college hockey in a few months now.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com