“I really appreciate the way they’re playing,” Rochester coach Michael Leone said. “I think he’s a winning hockey player, and what I mean by that is he wins a lot of battles. He checks very hard. He watches like his life depends on it. Each shift plays like the last. As a coach, you play players you trust, and I have a lot of faith in him.”

Appert texted Kozak a few days ago to tell him how proud he was of him and excited to see the start he was getting in Rochester.

Despite spending just two injury-limited seasons with Appert, Kozak also earned his trust.

“He’s a return player,” Appert said. “He really is. We have a lot of confidence in him in our organization. I love training him. It was fun to watch.”

Over the summer, Kozak has been working on the very thing that has brought him success since the start of the season – getting dirty down at the net.

At 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Kozak isn’t your traditional big-bodied player you’d find around the net, but he gets the job done effectively. His physicality near the net has led to jump shots that will work for him.

“I’ve been focusing on that a little bit over the summer, just trying to get into the foul areas and find pucks in those areas and be able to put them in the net, but I think it’s kind of puck luck now,” Kozak said . . “I mean I didn’t have much luck with the puck. I’d have a lot of chances and they wouldn’t go in, but now it’s just kind of luck of the puck.”

According to Appert, Kozak’s resurgence on offense for the Amerks might have happened last season if not for injuries.

“I saw a lot of things from him offensively in practice last year,” Appert said. “We saw the confidence with the puck take a big step and we thought there were different times last year, he was going to come out offensively and for whatever reason, it just didn’t happen. I think the injuries were a big part of it.”

While Kozak watched from afar, he had to take his mind off hockey. To do this, he has done everything he can to prepare for when he can get back on the ice, but most importantly, he has relied on his parents to help him get through this time.

“Injuries are always tough. I kind of leaned on my parents,” Kozak said. “I would call them all the time, just trying to get my hockey off. That was kind of the main thing. It’s just taking my mind off it, not thinking too much about it and then trying to prepare my body physically and mentally for when I come back.”

Now, Kozak is back on the ice and making a difference with the Amerks.

He will look to play the down and dirty role and continue to put his body on the line for his team, all the while pushing pucks back off the rebound.

“He’s a player whose determination and work ethic is incredibly high,” Appert said. “He’s a young man who, when the chips are down, when times are tough or in big moments, you want him in the bargain with you. That’s the kind of player, that’s the kind of person, it feels good to fight him.”