Prospect Info: Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL)

[Burgmania]

I wanted to bring some attention to Buffalo's Junior-A (college prep) team, the Junior Sabres. Buffalo is a member of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, and the franchise previously was known as the Buffalo Lightning and Niagara Scenic. (For more information on the team's history, visit this page. Notable Jr. Sabres alums include current NHLers Brian Gionta & Ryan Callahan.

This season may turn out to be the best ever for the Jr. Sabres. Buffalo compiled a regular season record of 38-12-5 (W/L/OT&SOL) for 81 points, second only to the Trenton Golden Hawks for the best overall record. The Jr. Sabres have also been ranked nationally among all Junior-A level teams in Canada by the Canadian Junior Hockey League - Buffalo was ranked as high as seventh.

Buffalo had the OJHL's leading scorer, Tyler Gjurich (53G/44A/97P) - who is the team's first 50-goal scorer since Brian Gionta. Goaltender Parker Gahagen has had a solid regular season as well, notching 29 wins with a 2.55 GAA & a .924 save percentage.

The Jr. Sabres are the first-seeded team in the OJHL's South-West Conference for this year's playoffs, and Buffalo swept the Burlington Cougars in the first round. Buffalo will play the North York Rangers in the conference semifinals. Game 1 is on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 PM at First Niagara Center.

Admission is just $7 for adults & $3 for students & seniors. If you're in the area, I hope you come check us out. It's a very high level of play, and every game is exciting. If you have any questions about the team, check us out at www.buffalojuniorsabres.com, follow us on Twitter @BuffaloJrSabres, or ask me!

I'll be keeping this thread updated with Jr. Sabres news & updates.

Click to read more...

 

[TheMistyStranger]

Are you doing PA work for them, Burg?

 

[Burgmania]

Are you doing PA work for them, Burg?

Spot duty only. I'm the team's Director of Broadcast Operations, which is a really fancy term for cameraman. I also set up & take down the Internet broadcast equipment (all games can be seen on fasthockey.com for a nominal fee), and I also help run the Jr. Sabres' Twitter feed.

I've only done 3 games as PA announcer for them - one early in the season against Mississauga; a later game (the one where Gjurich netted #50), and the team's regular season home finale (held at FNC). I hop in when the team's play-by-play announcer (Ric Seiling) has an Amerks game (he's Rochester's color analyst). In that case, the normal PA guy takes the PxP spot & I slide over to the in-arena production.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

That's an awesome experience. I hope you can parlay that and keep moving up the food chain.

 

[LaxSabre]

Buffalo Junior Sabres-North York Rangers Second Round Playoff Schedule.

Game #1 - Wednesday, March 13 - First Niagara Center, Buffalo, NY - 7:00 pm ET.
Game #2 - Friday, March 15 - North York Centennial Arena, North York, Ontario, Canada - 7:00 pm ET.
Game #3 - Saturday, March 16 - Buffalo State College Ice Arena, Buffalo, NY - 7:00 pm ET.
Game #4 - Tuesday, March 19 - North York Centennial Arena, North York, Ontario, Canada - 7:45 pm ET.
Game #5 - Wednesday, March 20 - Northtowns Center, Amherst, NY - 7:00 pm ET.
Game #6 - Friday, March 22 - North York Centennial Arena, North York, Ontario, Canada - 7:00 pm ET.
Game #7 - Saturday, March 23 - Northtowns Center, Amherst, NY - 7:30 pm ET.

Unfortunately for me, I won't be able to make it to any of the games this round. Just too darn busy with other sports stuff on the nights where we play at home. I'll be following along - at least on twitter-refreshing the scoreboard page. Hopefully the Sabres advance so I can make it to a game in the next round.

How come there was no promotion at last nights NHL Sabres-Rangers game for tonights Junior Sabres-Rangers game? which is even being played at the same First Niagara Center. (LOL, back to back hockey games at the FNC featuring teams using the Sabres-Rangers nicknames.) Yeah, I know its tough chore for people to head down to the FNC on consecutive nights but hey you never know there could be a few people at last nights game who may have wanted to attend if they had known about it. You could have shown the video that recap the first round series sweep with a voice and graphic edit promoting the first game of the North York series at the FNC. Definiately a miss opportunity there!

Hopefully you make up for it with promotion for Saturdays Game #3 at Buffalo State during Saturdays afternoons Senators-Sabres game. You could get some fans who may want to attend another hockey game especially ones who are traveling back towards the Falls on their way home. I know tickets are cheap as they are but maybe you could entice them even more to attend by doing a deal if they show their ticket from that afternoon Sabres game, you get a free ticket for every one ticket you buy. Or buy one ticket, you get another for the student/senior citizen price of $3.00 deal.

Well good luck to the Junior Sabres in this series! Go Junior Sabres!

Edit: Congrats to Tyler, Michael and Jack for winning those awards that Woodhouse mentioned below.

 

[Woodhouse]

2012-13 OJHL Award Winners: Top Scorer = Tyler Gjurich (BUF); Executive = Michael Peca (BUF); Trainer = Jack Williams (BUF); Coach = Michael Peca (BUF).

 

[flyingpig]

I have watched all year long whenever I was at the rink for my boys hockey.

It is great hockey played by very talented kids. Check it out. Was hoping that tonights game was at Northtowns as I will be there for my kids practice.

At least one Sabres team is playing consistently well.

 

[jBuds]

Gahagen, Willy North's finest, is committed to Army if I'm not mistaken

 

[Woodhouse]

Gahagen, Willy North's finest, is committed to Army if I'm not mistaken

Yep. Link: http://www.metrowny.com/sports/806-Jr._Sabres_goaltender_Gahagen_commits_to_Army.html

Before departing for West Point, Gahagen will continue to lead the Jr. Sabres from the goal crease as they seek to finish atop the OJHL West Division and pursue a lengthy run in the postseason. The former Williamsville North High School standout, who won both Super Sunday and New York State titles with the Spartans, reflected on his time with the Jr. Sabres and what it has done for his development.

Gahagen’s announcement is the second this week by the Jr. Sabres regarding college commitments. On Monday, the team confirmed that defenseman and team captain Derek Patterson (Calgary, Alberta) will enroll at SUNY Plattsburgh this fall. Also confirmed to begin studies and hockey later this year are forward Josh Kielich (Orchard Park NY – Canisius College) and defenseman Darrin Trebes (Williamsville, NY – SUNY Fredonia). Forward Nolan Sheeran (East Amherst, NY) will enroll at Canisius beginning in 2014-15. Additional college commitments are anticipated in the near future.

 

[Woodhouse]

And Gjurich's headed to Maine .. OJHL leading scorer commits to Maine for ’13-’14:

The University of Maine Black Bears have picked up the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s leading scorer Tyler Gjurich for next season.

Buffalo Jr. Sabres General Manager and Head Coach Michael Peca had some high praise Gjurich, who is the second player in the history of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres organization to score 50 or more goals in a single season. The other was Brian Gionta, who’s currently with the Montreal Canadians and played at Boston College. He had 57 goals in 1996-97 when the organization was named the Niagara Scenics.

“All my years of hockey, he’s one of the purest goal scorers I’ve ever seen,†said Peca. “He’s liked very well by his teammates and he’s a pretty driven guy, which can be misconstrued as standoffish, but it’s because he’s so focused on everything he does.â€

As an aside, the latest classes from Nichols are sending a few kids to the USNTDP and/or college ranks as well .. Sean Malone (USNTDP; Harvard), Carson Gicewicz (U.S. National U17 Team 2013 camp invite; St. Lawrence), Michael Ederer (St. Lawrence), RJ Gicewicz (U.S. National U17 Team at 2011 Five Nations; St. Lawrence). Also, Maksymum and Rochester Stars alum Dylan Shapiro is headed to UMass-Lowell.

 

[Burgmania]

Tough game last night at FNC . . . Buffalo dropped the game, 5-1 to North York. Not playing for a week or so can hurt you. Game 2 is tomorrow in North York; Game 3's at Buffalo State at 7 PM on Saturday.

I was behind the mic for last night's game - so if you were there, thanks for coming!

 

[LaxSabre]

Junior Sabres win to trim deficit - BuffaloNews.com - Saturday, March 16 -

The Buffalo Junior Sabres earned a much-needed playoff win Saturday night, beating North York (Ont.), 5-4, in overtime at the Buffalo State Ice Arena before a crowd of 435. With the win, Buffalo trimmed its deficit in the Ontario Junior Hockey League best-of-seven, second-round playoff series to 2-1. Game Four is Tuesday night at 7:45 pm in North York. Game #5 is Wednesday at 8:40 pm ET at Northtown Center in Amherst.

Alex Dagnal scored the winner off a Tyler Gjurich assist at 6:15 of the extra session. North York forced overtime at 8:41 of the third on Chris Aitcheson’s goal, which came nearly a minute after Gjurich had given the Junior Sabres a 4-3 lead. Gjurich finished with three points, while Max Mikowski had a goal and an assist. Ryan Schmelzer and Pat Egan also scored for Buffalo.

LaxSabre - Congrats on the win last night! I was following along via twitter and every time a new tweet came up - especially during the third period/overtime, I didn't want to really click on it because I was afraid to see bad news. 50-50 shot of me attending Wednesdays Game #5 - I'll have to see if my friend is still able to attend now thats its a later start. If not, I'll follow along on twitter. (Yeah, I'm too cheap to get the video - also I never have any luck when I purchase stuff like that - 75% of the time-video is crap) Well good luck Tuesday! Bring home a win so its 2-2 heading into Game #5 on Wednesday.

Interesting, four local hockey teams all went to overtime yesterday with three of them (Buffalo Junior Sabres, Niagara and Canisius) winning and unfortunately one of them (NHL-Buffalo Sabres) losing. The wins were all playoff ones with Niagara and Canisius ending their series. Those two will now meet in the AHA Semfinals next Friday at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY. (Go Canisius there!)

 

[LaxSabre]

The site of Wednesdays Game #5 has been moved from the Northtowns Center to the First Niagara Center - game time is still 8:40 pm ET. Why the move? and why is it still at 8:40 pm ET if its being moved to the FNC? Unlike the Northtowns Center, the FNC isn't being used by anyone before then so they could move the start time of the game to a decent time of 7:00 pm ET-7:30 pm ET.

Well there definiately goes my plans to attend the game - already going to be at the FNC enough this week with the Sabres-Leafs game on Thursday and Bandits-Rush game on Saturday. Hopefully the Junior Sabres advance to the next round and I can attend a game at their rightful home of the Northtowns Center - Go Junior Sabres!

 

[Burgmania]

Ice time has been extremely difficult to get at Northtown Center. There was just a state tournament there that prevented us from using the feature rink, and I was told SABAH had an event there on Wednesday. Game Four is tomorrow in North York - one game at a time now.

It was a great crowd on Saturday at Buff State; the 50/50 winner went home with at least two C-notes. If you can't make the game on Wednesday - we'll be keeping the Twitter feed updated.

 

[Burgmania]

The Jr. Sabres are still alive! With a 2-1 win tonight at First Niagara Center, Buffalo has trimmed the North York Rangers' series lead to 3-2. Game 6 is Friday in North York...and should we win the day, the penultimate rubber match is Saturday night at Northtown Center!

 

[Woodhouse]

Peca assures Junior Sabres he is staying on:

Michael Peca, the coach and general manager of the Junior Sabres, had guided the organization into the national rankings. Playfair knew with Peca’s early success and name recognition, it was only a matter of time before a team from a higher level of hockey knocked on Peca’s door and whisked him away.

Not wanting to disrupt the Junior Sabres’ season, Playfair tiptoed around the subject with Peca. Finally, with tryouts for next year around the corner, Playfair needed to know if the former Sabres captain planned to stick around or take the next step.

“I don’t think you achieve that type of success and then walk away,†said Peca, who will return to try to build off his inaugural season. “My whole life I’ve been goal-oriented, trying to achieve a level of success. I did that throughout my playing career, but I think now that I’m retired from playing, my true passion is to make the City of Buffalo and its surrounding area of Western New York a hockey hotbed, whether it’s youth hockey or junior hockey.

“I think now with the Sabres’ support, we’re going to be able to achieve that.â€

Peca’s family and heart are in Buffalo despite growing up in Toronto and playing in six NHL cities. The 39-year-old has a son who plays in Buffalo’s youth hockey system, and Peca pictures the boy and his peers having a clear path to college or professional hockey through their hometown.

“I grew up in Toronto where a kid can get a lot of opportunities afforded him for youth hockey and junior hockey,†Peca said. “There’s no reason why Buffalo can’t have that same type of opportunity. I know we don’t have the population, but there’s just as many boys and girls that want to grow up and play hockey at a high level.

“My passion and my desire now is to try and give those kids that want to pursue the game at a high level every opportunity to achieve that.â€

Peca sees staying with the Junior Sabres as the best way to do it.

 

[Paxon]

Peca assures Junior Sabres he is staying on:

Everything about that is awesome

 

[Burgmania]

The 2013-14 Ontario Junior Hockey League schedule was released today. Some basics:

* 53-game schedule (26 home / 26 road / 1 Governor's Showcase game)

* Home & Home w/ each team in other Conference
* Home & Home w/ each team in your Conference's Division
* Remaining schedule in-division

The 2013 OJHL Governor's Showcase will be held in Oakville, Ontario & will be hosted by the Oakville Blades on September 28-29. (Can anyone imagine Buffalo hosting this in HARBORcenter / FNC?)

Jr. Sabres schedule highlights:

Season opener: Sunday, Sept. 8 at North York Rangers
Home opener: Monday, Sept. 9 vs Toronto Lakeshore Patriots
Two games at First Niagara Center - Nov. 12 vs Milton Icehawks & Jan. 14 vs Pickering Panthers

With the inter-conference play, we'll be making trips up to the Northeast Ontario (Kingston, Lindsay, Cobourg, etc).

There's just one more thing:

We're going outside.

The Jr. Sabres will play the defending League champion St. Michael's Buzzers on Sunday, December 15 at Frontier Field in Rochester - the OJHL's first-ever Outdoor Game. This game joins a slate of other great hockey action - an Amerks game, RIT men's & women's games, Section V high school hockey, plus a Sabres-Amerks alumni game.

This is going to be one hell of a ride. Is it September yet?

 

[Moncton man]

Don't scare people with that northeastern Ontario talk, eastern Ontario is fine.

Those communities are pretty much on the shores of Lake Ontario, an hour or two east of Toronto.

Northeastern Ontario you're talking Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay etc.

Good luck with the team and your responsibilities.

 

[Chainshot]

The 2013-14 Ontario Junior Hockey League schedule was released today. Some basics:

* 53-game schedule (26 home / 26 road / 1 Governor's Showcase game)

* Home & Home w/ each team in other Conference
* Home & Home w/ each team in your Conference's Division
* Remaining schedule in-division

The 2013 OJHL Governor's Showcase will be held in Oakville, Ontario & will be hosted by the Oakville Blades on September 28-29. (Can anyone imagine Buffalo hosting this in HARBORcenter / FNC?)

Jr. Sabres schedule highlights:

Season opener: Sunday, Sept. 8 at North York Rangers
Home opener: Monday, Sept. 9 vs Toronto Lakeshore Patriots
Two games at First Niagara Center - Nov. 12 vs Milton Icehawks & Jan. 14 vs Pickering Panthers

With the inter-conference play, we'll be making trips up to the Northeast Ontario (Kingston, Lindsay, Cobourg, etc).

There's just one more thing:

We're going outside.

The Jr. Sabres will play the defending League champion St. Michael's Buzzers on Sunday, December 15 at Frontier Field in Rochester - the OJHL's first-ever Outdoor Game. This game joins a slate of other great hockey action - an Amerks game, RIT men's & women's games, Section V high school hockey, plus a Sabres-Amerks alumni game.

This is going to be one hell of a ride. Is it September yet?

If we are in the area, I'm definitely going to take my son to the outdoor game.

Sounds like a great season in the making Burg.

 

[HockeyH3aven]

The 2013-14 Ontario Junior Hockey League schedule was released today. Some basics:

* 53-game schedule (26 home / 26 road / 1 Governor's Showcase game)

* Home & Home w/ each team in other Conference
* Home & Home w/ each team in your Conference's Division
* Remaining schedule in-division

The 2013 OJHL Governor's Showcase will be held in Oakville, Ontario & will be hosted by the Oakville Blades on September 28-29. (Can anyone imagine Buffalo hosting this in HARBORcenter / FNC?)

Jr. Sabres schedule highlights:

Season opener: Sunday, Sept. 8 at North York Rangers
Home opener: Monday, Sept. 9 vs Toronto Lakeshore Patriots
Two games at First Niagara Center - Nov. 12 vs Milton Icehawks & Jan. 14 vs Pickering Panthers

With the inter-conference play, we'll be making trips up to the Northeast Ontario (Kingston, Lindsay, Cobourg, etc).

There's just one more thing:

We're going outside.

The Jr. Sabres will play the defending League champion St. Michael's Buzzers on Sunday, December 15 at Frontier Field in Rochester - the OJHL's first-ever Outdoor Game. This game joins a slate of other great hockey action - an Amerks game, RIT men's & women's games, Section V high school hockey, plus a Sabres-Amerks alumni game.

This is going to be one hell of a ride. Is it September yet?

Please excuse my ignorance, where are the majority of the home games played?

 

[BUCKSHOT]

Don't scare people with that northeastern Ontario talk, eastern Ontario is fine.

Those communities are pretty much on the shores of Lake Ontario, an hour or two east of Toronto.

Northeastern Ontario you're talking Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay etc.

Good luck with the team and your responsibilities.

all great towns though !

 

[LaxSabre]

Please excuse my ignorance, where are the majority of the home games played?

Lexus Feature Rink
Northtown Center at Amherst
1615 Amherst Manor Drive
Amherst, NY 14221

http://buffalojrsabres.pointstreaksites.com/view/buffalojrsabres/rink-ticket-information

Its located across the road from the main UB campus.

 

[Burgmania]

@ Niagaradad: Didn't mean to scare anyone. Last year was my first with the team - I was only exposed to the South-West Conference (I got to the MasterCard Centre complex & Oakville's Sixteen Mile complex, which was really cool). There are some great barns up there . . . Port Credit comes to mind.

I guess I can let this out of the bag now, too. I'll be running game pres for the Jr. Sabres this year. I'm excited for this additional opportunity. I'll also continue to contribute to the social media (we're on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Vine) & assist with broadcast setup/tear-down for home games.

[spoil] Now where's eSabre to tell me I suck & what I'm doing wrong before I event start? Just kidding. [/spoil]

 

[BUCKSHOT]

@ Niagaradad: Didn't mean to scare anyone. Last year was my first with the team - I was only exposed to the South-West Conference (I got to the MasterCard Centre complex & Oakville's Sixteen Mile complex, which was really cool). There are some great barns up there . . . Port Credit comes to mind.

I guess I can let this out of the bag now, too. I'll be running game pres for the Jr. Sabres this year. I'm excited for this additional opportunity. I'll also continue to contribute to the social media (we're on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Vine) & assist with broadcast setup/tear-down for home games.

[spoil] Now where's eSabre to tell me I suck & what I'm doing wrong before I event start? Just kidding. [/spoil]

Good job and good luck, Burg !