Buffalo, New York – The OJHL announced today that Buffalo Jr. Sabres captain Zach Evancho has been named the Gongshow Gear South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month for December after leading the league with six goals scored during the month. Named runner-up for Player-of-the-Month honours in both October and November, Evancho now has compiled 46 points in his past 28 games played during that span in finally receiving the well-deserved accolade.
Playing in just five games during December (schedule shortened due to World Junior ‘A’ Challenge), Evancho topped the OJHL with six goals in just five games played, while registering 12 points, tops in the South-West Conference. Continuing a streak that started in November, he notched points in all five games as the Jr. Sabres finished the 2015 calendar riding high on an eight game winning streak.
Evancho had multiple points in four of the five contests, including three consecutive three point outings that was capped-off by scoring the winning goal in a huge 4-3 victory over the perennially contending Wellington Dukes. The 20-year Derby, New York native was a member of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres U18 program before joining the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL in 2011-12, where he would spend the better part of three seasons.
Returning home in 2014-15, Evancho rejoined the Sabres and the veteran made an immediate impact with his new squad, finishing the year second on the club with 18 goals and fourth in overall scoring with 35 points in just 37 regular season games played. His play helped Buffalo earn the eighth and final playoff spot before falling in a tight seven game series to the South-West Conference regular season champion Georgetown Raiders.
Entering 2015-16 as one of the club’s undisputed leaders, Evancho has not disappointed and following a slow start for the team, he has them positioned well for a lengthy post-season run. He leads the Sabres in scoring with 22 goals, 32 assists and 54 points in 37 games played, which rank him sixth, second and third respectively among all OJHL scorers and earlier this season confirmed his commitment to join the Army West Point (United States Military Academy) Black Knights beginning with the 2016-17 Atlantic Hockey season.
Lucas Smilsky of the Orangeville Flyers was runner-up to Evancho as the South-West Conference Player-of-the-Month. The Flyers second leading scorer posted a league-high ten assists in just six games played throughout December. __________________________________________________________________________About the OJHL – “League of Choice” The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 22 member clubs. A proud member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including the CIS, NCAA, CHL, Minor Pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL has had more than 100 commitments in 2014-15, including 51 NCAA Division I scholarships. For more information on the Ontario Junior Hockey League, please visit www.ojhl.ca.
