Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 820 is my conversation with Zack Bogosian, a veteran NHL defenseman and a serious bow hunter and outdoorsman. We get into his road through pro hockey, why bow hunting in Alberta pulled him in, the relative-age effect that quietly shapes which kids scouts notice, and the way the obsessive attention to small details in elite hockey — positioning, how you hold your hands, listening to the coaches' systems — carries straight over into drawing a bow, controlling your breathing, and staying locked in outdoors.
Zack Bogosian is a veteran professional hockey player, a longtime NHL defenseman who has played for multiple organizations over a lengthy career. Off the ice he is a dedicated bow hunter and outdoorsman who spends his offseasons chasing big game, particularly in Alberta. In this episode he talks about both worlds and how the disciplines he learned in hockey shape the way he approaches the outdoors.
Zack got into bow hunting in part because of timing — most North American seasons do not open until mid-September, but in Alberta you can start bow hunting on September 1, which fits better around the demands of a pro hockey schedule. Beyond the timing, he says the real draw is the experience itself: getting out with his buddies for five or ten days at a time, being in that environment, and the camaraderie rather than just filling a tag on any animal.
The relative-age effect is the idea that kids born early in the year — January, February, March — tend to be more physically developed by the time the hockey season starts in October, which makes them look bigger, stronger, and faster when scouts come around. Zack and I dig into whether that theory actually holds up from the perspective of someone who lived the pro hockey track.
Zack draws a direct line between the two. In hockey, obsessing over little details — being in the right position, how you hold your hands to shoot, pass, and receive the puck, listening closely to the coaches' systems — is everything. In archery it is the same kind of attention: anchoring properly, breathing properly, releasing on the down breath, and repeating the same motion over and over. Both reward the person who masters the small things.
Zack describes a stretch that included time in the AHL with Henderson and a handful of NHL games up with Vegas — he mentions playing three NHL games during one span, one in Minnesota, one in Winnipeg, and one in Vegas against Nashville. It is a candid look at the realities of a long pro career, including the years spent grinding between levels.
More than you might think, but it is a minority. Zack says on just about every team he has played for there are two or three guys who hunt or fish seriously, many of them Americans, who try to get out when the schedule allows. He is also honest that the commitments of pro hockey — summer training and honing his craft — have made it harder for him to get out as much as he would like.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 820 with Zack Bogosian is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you get your podcasts. Press play in the audio player on this page to hear the full conversation.
I am always interested in how the disciplines of one pursuit show up in another, and Zack lives that question. He is a professional hockey player who has poured the same obsessiveness into bow hunting that he brings to the rink. I also had a specific question I had never gotten to ask a real pro — whether the relative-age theory about birth months actually holds up. Zack was the right person to ask. Press play to hear the whole conversation.
Part of it is practical — Alberta's bow season opens September 1, before most North American seasons, which fits the narrow offseason window a hockey player gets. But the deeper reason Zack gives is the experience itself: five or ten days out with his buddies, immersed in the environment, where the point is not shooting just any bear but being out there together. Listen to how he describes it in his own words.
I finally got to ask a real professional hockey player about the relative-age effect — the idea that kids born in January, February, and March are bigger and more developed when scouts evaluate them, and that the edge compounds over years. Zack gives his honest read on whether that rings true or is just an interesting chapter in a book. Hear his answer in the episode.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation
This is the heart of the conversation. Zack explains how hockey trains you to fixate on tiny details — your position, how your hands sit when you shoot or receive the puck, the systems the coaches drill — and how that exact mindset transfers to archery: anchoring, breathing, releasing on the down breath, repeating the motion until it is automatic. It is the same discipline pointed at a different target. Listen to that breakdown in the episode.
Zack is candid about the grind — the stretch with Henderson in the AHL, the three NHL games in a span across Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Vegas against Nashville, and the summers consumed by training. He also talks about the small fraternity of hunters and fishermen inside pro hockey, two or three guys on every team who take it seriously. Hear the unvarnished version in the episode.
The day after talking with Zack, what stuck with me was how naturally the discipline moves between worlds for him. The anchoring and breathing he described for archery is the same kind of repeatable, detail-obsessed practice that built his hockey career.
I also liked his honesty about the cost — that the very commitment that makes him good at his job is the thing that keeps him from getting outdoors as much as he wants. That trade-off is familiar to anyone chasing something at a high level.
Listen to the whole thing. It is a great window into how an elite athlete thinks about focus.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Zack Bogosian is a veteran NHL defenseman with a long professional hockey career across multiple organizations. Away from the rink he is a committed bow hunter and outdoorsman who spends his offseasons chasing big game, particularly in Alberta, where the early-September bow season fits the narrow window a pro athlete has. He is known for bringing the same detail-obsessed discipline he developed in elite hockey — positioning, repetition, and focus under pressure — to archery and the outdoors.
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