The Jr. Sabres began their weekend regular season wrap up with a matchup against the Coburg Cougars at home on March 1st. The Jr. Sabres would trail 5-1 to end the first, with the lone goal coming from Patrick Cole assisted by Haeden Ellis and Danny Phelan. The Jr. Sabres would make the comeback to force overtime. They had goals in the second period from Tyler Isherwood assisted by Cameron Doran and Michael Kull along with a goal from Ellis assisted by Doran and Dylan Mcfadden. Doran would score in the third period assisted by Cole and Mcfadden. Kull assisted by Doran and Carter Cwiklinski would get the Jr. Sabres fifth goal to force overtime. Ultimately, the Jr. Sabres would fall to the Cougars with two seconds remaining in the first overtime.
March 2nd the Jr. Sabres were on the road against the Georgetown Raiders. Ultimately, the Raiders would run away with the game and the 6-1 victory. Cole would get the lone Jr. Sabres goal assisted by Alex Perreault and Cwiklinski. Ekblad had 31 saves in the Jr. Sabres loss.
The regular season saw the Jr. Sabres face off on the road against the Oakville Blades on March 3rd. The Blades proved to be a strong opponent for the Jr. Sabres as they struck first. Beckett Hinchsliff would tie it up for the Jr. Sabres with assists from Zach Derito and Nick Shaw. The Blades would score two more goals before the Jr. Sabres would score another, this one scored by Brody Seitz assisted by Cole. The Blades were able to keep the Jr. Sabres off the board and get the 3-2 win.
The Jr. Sabres would finish their regular season return to the OJHL with 31-20-0-5 record and fifth place in the West Conference. General Manager and Head Coach Sean Wallace said, “I am really proud of the way the group has come together and competed this season. We were ‘cautiously optimistic’ headed into the season and for the first year back we are very happy with the group.”
With a young team the Jr. Sabres found themselves facing obstacles in their return to the league. Despite the obstacles the young team faced they were able to finish the regular season with an above .500, solid record. According to Wallace, “The in-season success wouldn’t have been possible without our leadership group. Dylan [Mcfadden], Gavin [Klaassen], and Patrick [Cole] have really helped steer the ship through the highs and lows of the season.”
The Jr. Sabres proved that they deserved a place in the league and earned a berth into the playoffs. The Jr. Sabres are excited to have earned a playoff spot in their first year back. Of the playoffs Wallace said, “We had to wait until the conclusion of our last game to see who are match up would be against which I think is the best thing about our league. The competition is tremendous, and you have to play your best hockey each night.”
Of the young team’s playoff run Wallace said, “I know our group is up for the challenge. ”
Patrick Cole would end the regular season as the Jr. Sabres leading scorer with 37 goals. Cole also had 23 assists to also see him leading in points in the regular season with 60 points. Cameron Doran and Dylan Mcfadden would both lead the way in assists with 35. Mcfadden had 58 points on the regular season while Doran would have 56 points in the regular season.
Aiden McKenna would finish the regular season with a 20-13-0-2 record having made 886 saves. Leif Ekblad would finish the regular season with 9-7-0-2 record having made 518 saves.
