(Amherst, NY) – For the second time in history, a Sabres team routed an opponent by a score of 14 to 2. Only this time, it was the Junior Sabres and their victims were not the 1975-76 Washington Capitals but rather the Burlington Cougars in an Ontario Junior Hockey League game Monday night at the Northtown Center at Amherst.
Josh Kielich (file photo, courtesy OJHL Images) and Ryan Schmelzer both scored twice. Nick Smith and Nathan Sucese, rookie call-ups, scored their first Junior-A goals while Nick Scamurra and Darrin Trebes both added three assists. Backup goaltender Bobby Bloomfield turned aside 18 shots while Buffalo put a total 43 shots on the Burlington net.
Ironically, the leading scorer for the Jr. Sabres and entire OJHL, Tyler Gjurich, was not in the lineup to participate in the rout, as he was serving the first game of a two-game ban for a misconduct penalty assessed last Saturday in the team’s 4-2 loss at Georgetown.
The Jr. Sabres (29 wins, 11 losses, 3 shootout losses) enjoys a week off to practice and rest until their next game, a home game Tuesday, January 15 at 7:30pm against the Orangeville Flyers.
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Nick Smith, who was called up for Monday’s game, wore the #23 that forward Tim Kielich usually wears. Kielich was scratched from the lineup to rest what was defined as a minor injury. Also returning to the Buffalo lineup was Kollin Schultz, who played a full season for the Jr. Sabres before moving elsewhere this season to play junior with Valley Junior Warriors before returning to Buffalo. Schultz, who wore #4 last season, wore #12 in his return to the team.
