67’s’ grad Quinn thriving at next level
By Brandon Maki/ottawa67s.com
Of all the Ottawa 67’s players who saw their 2020 season abruptly ended, cut off from the deep playoff run that they seemed destined for, it may have been the most disappointing for Ottawa native Jack Quinn.
Quinn was the 39th overall pick in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection, by his hometown 67’s. After racking up 52 points in 45 games with the Kanata Lasers AAA program, it was only fitting that the young sniper would get to continue his career in the nation’s capital, playing most of the next season with the Lasers in the CCHL.
Congrats Jack Quinn!
Former @Ottawa67sHockey 52-goal scorer made his #NHL debut with the @BuffaloSabres on Tuesday at the age of 20.#OHLAlumni | #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/5BPDY8y3Zm
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) January 12, 2022
After two years of getting his feet wet in the Ontario Hockey League, the 2019-20 campaign saw Quinn and the Barber Poles holding the first-place spot with a nine-point cushion, at the time of the pandemic shutdown. The hometown boy was a critical component of his team’s success, scoring 52 goals — second best in the league — and 37 assists for 89 points, in 62 games.
It was a marked improvement for Quinn, who had posted 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points, in 61 games the season prior.
The jump in production didn’t just catch the collective eye of 67’s fans, but also the attention of NHL scouts, and executives. Leading up to the 2020 NHL Draft, billed as one of the biggest of all time, even in spite of its virtual format, Quinn’s was a name that found itself bouncing around scouting circles, and pockets of NHL fans, eager to see their team bag a promising young scorer.
Ultimately, it would be the Buffalo Sabres that selected Quinn, eighth overall. He would quickly put to rest any naysayers who opined that he was chosen above his station, as a modified 2020-21 season was set to begin.
After signing his three-year entry level contract with the Sabres on November 16, 2020, it soon became apparent that Quinn wouldn’t be able to take the usual path of returning to the OHL, with the league’s 2020-21 season lost to the pandemic.
An official scoring change has credited @AmerksHockey forward Jack Quinn with the game-tying goal in Saturday’s game vs. Belleville.
His hat trick has become the first 4-goal game in the AHL this season! ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/Axod1HlVzF
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) January 18, 2022
As the makings of a reworked year of hockey began to take shape, Quinn began 2021 in Edmonton, Alberta, representing Canada at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, along with then-67’s coach Andre Tourigny, General Manager James Boyd, and Equipment Manager Chris Hamilton. He scored a goal and added four assists, on Canada’s run to a silver medal.
Unable to return to Ottawa, Quinn was assigned to the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, earning a rare opportunity to play professional hockey as a 19 year-old. He appeared in 15 of Rochester’s 32 games, recording an assist against the Utica Comets in his first AHL appearance, on February 18, 2021. Quinn scored his first professional goal against those same Comets on March 10, 2021, and posted two goals and seven assists for nine points, when all was said and done.
As the 2021-22 season rolls on, it is becoming apparent that year-to-year progression is something of a trademark for Quinn, now 20 years old. In 23 games with the Americans, thus far, he has scored 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points, including a dazzling four-goal performance against the Belleville Senators, on January 15.
Again, Quinn is seeing that improvement leads to opportunities. He was called up to the Sabres for their matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 11, suiting up for his first NHL game. He notched three shots on goal, earning 16:30 of icetime.
If history is any indicator, it won’t be long before Quinn is a full-time NHLer, and putting up numbers similar to those he produced in his heyday with the 67’s.
(Photo: Buffalo Sabres)
Playing the reigning Stanley Cup champ for your NHL debut >>
Welcome to the National, Jack Quinn!@BuffaloSabres pic.twitter.com/6gHRlddwub
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) January 12, 2022
