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OJHL Buffalo Jr. Sabres

Notable Alumni

Notable Franchise Alumni

Since the mid 1970s, Western New York and the Buffalo Junior Sabres have offered elite amateur hockey players the opportunity to develop their skills and advance to higher levels of hockey.

Hundreds of players who played for the Junior Sabres franchise throughout its history (including the Niagara Scenic and Buffalo Lightning eras) have moved on to college hockey at either NCAA Division I or Division III. 

As of July 2015, a total of 18 Junior Sabres alumni have been drafted by NHL clubs. Those chosen few have not only been selected by teams but have thrived in the league, including Stanley Cup championships. Combined, Junior Sabres alumni have appeared in more than 3,600 NHL games.

Below is a listing of alumni who advanced to college hockey.  Those highlighted among them were also drafted by teams in the National Hockey League. 


AIR FORCE ACADEMY
Lenny DeFazio, Tony DaCosta

ALABAMA - HUNTSVILLE
Rick Julyia

ALASKA - FAIRBANKS
Rob Duke

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE
Neil Sullivan

AMHERST COLLEGE
Kevin English

ARMY
Matt Quinn, Bob Mansell, Ron Adimey, Mike Mansell, Don Sisson, Parker Gahagen

BABSON
Chris Rozanski

BECKER COLLEGE 
Harrison Welch

BOSTON COLLEGE
JEFF FARKAS***, BRIAN GIONTA*** +

BROCKPORT STATE
Ron Cappellazzo, Nick Fattey, Mike Utzig, Brian Tefft, David Braunstein, John Braunstein, Geoff Schweikhard, Alexander Pelligra, Nicholas Panepinto, Chris Luker, Dylan Howatt, Nathan Pelligra

BROWN
Les Rechan, Mark Rechan, Mike Rechan

BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE 
Henry Jurek, Cory Waszkielewicz, Mike DeMarco, Brian Janke, Kevin Kozlowski, Clayton Lewis, Ryan Conroy, Kyle Gunn-Taylor, Mario Cote, Kyle Granville, Matt Bessing, James Durham, Nick Melligan, Zaid Hussein

UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO (SUNY) 
John Elphick, John McFall, Phil Mann, Jim Mourgas, Rick Weislo, Joel Morawski, Cory Waszkielewicz (transferred from Buffalo State College)

CANISIUS
Fred Korey, Bob Rosen, Greg Keller, Chuck Lamarca, Mike Sisti, Tony Zeniuk, Grant Hanley, Dave Gotham, Joe Aquino, John Russell, Robert Carroll, Jon Braun, Mike Scheu, Christopher Barrea, Matt Grazen, Josh Kielich, Ryan Schmelzer, Nolan Sheeran

CASTLETON STATE COLLEGE 
Andrew Brolsma

CLARKSON
Deron Bauer, Joe Loftus, Tony Calandra, TODD MARCHANT*+, Kerry Blanchard, Jeremiah Crowe

COLBY COLLEGE 
Eric Simmons

COLGATE
Ken Baker

CONNECTICUT COLLEGE
Mason Evans

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
TODD KRYGIER
*, Tom Janosz

CORNELL
Al Laventure, Tim Rice, Jason Kuczmanski, MARK McCUTCHEON*

CORTLAND STATE
Scott Stelmach, Rich Glica, Dan Barwicki, Chris Rurak, Joel Zangara, Nick Catanzaro, Robert Podlucky, Mike Maier (transferred from Niagara), Chris Kaleta, A.J. Moyer, Darren McCormick

CURRY COLLEGE 
Derek Mohney

DARTMOUTH
LEE STEMPNIAK*, Mike Devine

ELMIRA
Mike Bycina, Terry Dixon, Jeff Helenbrook, Tim Johnson, Norm Wachowiak, Sal Capizzi, Tom Moses, Pete Feola, Justin Siebold, Rick Lynch, Matty Owczarczak

FERRIS STATE
Marc Farrell

FRANKLIN PIERCE
Andy Tinti, Jay Stempniak (transferred from Johnson & Wales)

FREDONIA STATE 
Ron Targaszewski, Steve Clark, Mark Jarmusz, Paul Murdoch, Nick Fattey (transferred from SUNY Brockport), Marc Fattey, Mike Smietana, Matt Hart, Doug Florkowski, Tyler Matecki, Darrin trebes

GENESEO STATE
Mark Chait, Aaron Coleman, Mike Drezek, Matt English, Dan Maynard, Jon Campbell, Jason Kuczmanski (transferred from Cornell), Jeff Kuczmanski, Tom Metzger, Manny Hawkins, Matt Greene, John Gamble, Eric Cooper, Mark Chowaniec, Mike Peters, Anthony Scorsone, Jack Staley, Nick Ryan, Dennis Playfair

GUSTAVUS
Joshua Leal

HAMILTON COLLEGE
Pat Murphy, John Duke, Joe Baudo, Chris Baudo, Matt Mesi

HARVARD
Nick Carone, Greg Gicewicz

HOLY CROSS COLLEGE 
Matt McGirr, John Bombard, Tom Pawlak

IONA
John Balogh, Joe Cipriani

JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY 
Jay Stempniak

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
BRIAN LUKOWSKI*, TERRY MARCHANT*

LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE 
Matt Terreri

MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE
Aaron Wallace, Jay Chrapala

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS - LOWELL (formerly UNIVERSITY OF LOWELL) 
Mike Opre, Tim Smallwood, Michael Scheu

UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
BOB BEERS*

MERCYHURST
Kevin Ayer

MERRIMACK COLLEGE 
Teal Fowler, Jason Wolfe, David Burkholder

MIAMI UNIVERSITY (OHIO)
Brian Stancampiano, Joe Tonnello, Joe Silverstre, Jim McCarthy, John Lenz, KEVYN ADAMS**

MICHIGAN STATE
Dave Arkeilpane, DAN McFALL*, TONY TUZZOLINO*, Justin Hoomaian

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Peter Mason, John Hawkins, Frank Downing Jr.

MICHIGAN TECH
John Fields

MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING 
Mike Jantzi, Chris Keller

MINNESOTA DULUTH
BRIAN GLYNN*

NAZARETH COLLEGE
David Seward

NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE
Kyle Kozlowski

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND
Paul Kashmanian

NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE
Corey Lessard

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY
Jay Kasperek, Aaron Mierzwa, John Maksymiu, Rob Bumbaco, Pat Oliveto, Allen Barton, Jason Jones, Mike Maier, Kyle Rogers, Chris Moran, Dan Baco, Tyler Matthews, Michael Benedict

NICHOLS COLLEGE
Nick Unger

NIPISSING UNIVERSITY
Tyler Gjurich

NORTHEASTERN
Jeff DePerio, Scott Campbell, Chris Bombard

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
Jay Maciejewski

NOTRE DAME
Mark Murnane

OHIO STATE
Keith Rathbun, ROB PETERS*, SHANE SIMS*, Brendan Arniel

OSWEGO STATE
Tom McFall, SEAN FITZGERALD*,Sean Green, John Staerker, Alan Heerdt, Mark Pienta, Kurt Schwenk, Mike Wachowiak, Joe Murphy, Kevin Weber, Frank Tobias, Bo Tucker, Rob Madia, John Stringfellow, Amel Paolucci, Nathan Zurek, Todd Griffin, Matt Juneau, Matt Michaud, Paul Mueller, David Perona, Ryan Scott, Kyle Gunn-Taylor (transferred from Buffalo State), Garren Reisweber, Mike Gilchrist, Sean Federow

PLATTSBURGH STATE
Lou Martin, Herb Streng, CHRIS PANEK*, Chris Fess, Mickey Gebo, Pat O’Neil, Tim McNeil, T. J. Cooper, Michael Cassidy

POTSDAM
Josh Brosell, Max Fogel

PRINCETON
Chris DeFazio, Dave Downing

QUEENS UNIVERSITY (ONTARIO) 
Steele De Fazio

RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
ADAM BARTELL*, Kevin Kurk

ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY
Jamie Flury

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Brian Hall, Bob Carello, Charlie Mendola, Pat Staerker, Brent Alexin, Max Mikowski

SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY
Neil McKenney, John Shook

SKIDMORE
Lou Almond

ST. BONAVENTURE
Jeff Bartkowiak, Joe Puglisi

ST. LAWRENCE
Dave Thrun

ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE
Ryan Conroy (transferred from Buffalo State)

UTICA COLLEGE 
Jeff Mohney, Trent Flory, Shane Presley, Josh Schmitt, David Burkholder (transferred from Merrimack), Steve Zappia, Kollin Schultz, Nick Desimone

VERMONT
Jeff Schulman, AARON MILLER*+, Matt Syroczynski

WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY 
Adam Drescher

WESTERN MICHIGAN
Andy Atkinson, MIKE POSMA*, Steve Duke, Kevin O'Connor

WESTFIELD STATE COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY 
Dave Ciminelli

WILLIAMS
Ken Settles, John Kulpa 

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - EAU CLAIRE 
Ross Janecyk

WORCESTER STATE COLLEGE 
Connor Deubell, Barry Cassevoy, Brian Goodness, Bryan Kalczynski 

* DRAFTED INTO NHL

** FIRST-ROUND NHL DRAFT CHOICE

*** USA WORLD JUNIOR TEAM

+ U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM

 


OTHER NOTABLE ALUMNI

 The following are former Junior Sabres franchise players who were later drafted by the NHL but did not play college hockey:

Rob Butler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Ryan Callahan (New York Rangers), Dennis Gilbert (Chicago Blackhawks), Nick Tuzzolino (New York Islanders)


(Please note - some of the past leagues in which the franchise played did not maintain or preserve thorough player records. As a result, some players may remain missing from this list. We regret any inadvertent omissions.)