Sabre Noise
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Buffalo Sabres Ryan O’Reilly’s Court Date Adjourned To Dec. 24

By Melissa Kania

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Buffalo Sabres fans, stop me if you’ve heard this before: Ryan O’Reilly‘s court date has been adjourned. Again.

This marks the seventh adjournment of O’Reilly’s court date.

He was scheduled to appear on Monday in London, Ontario, but wasn’t there. Instead, his lawyer came to set up a pre-trial and the case was adjourned, this time to December 24.

As the folks at the London Free Press wrote, it almost appears as if O’Reilly’s court case has been frozen. Delayed time after time, pushed back once, twice, now seven times — and there’s no end in sight just yet.

O’Reilly still needs to face the courts for his July 9th incident near London, Ontario – an event that could result in jail time or a fine, a suspended license, or a suspension from the NHL.

For those who need a little refresher on the course of action re: how things have gone in his case to date, here’s a quick one:

More from Sabre Noise

  • July 9 (~4:05 am): O’Reilly was arrested and charged after his pickup truck reportedly crashed into a Tim Hortons in Lucan, Ontario, about 30 minutes from the city of London. O’Reilly reportedly kept driving, before leaving the vehicle on foot with his unnamed male passenger. The pair were eventually located less than a mile from the truck, and O’Reilly was served with an appearance ticket to show up in court in London on August 20. O’Reilly blood-alcohol content at the time was over 80 mg, or 0.08 – a low level, but still enough to be considered legally intoxicated.
  • August 20: Scheduled court date #1; O’Reilly’s attorney appeared on his behalf. Adjourned.
  • September 10: Scheduled court date #2. Adjourned.
  • September 17: Buffalo Sabres report to training camp. Preseason begins four days later.
  • October 1: Scheduled court date #3. Adjourned.
  • October 22: Scheduled court date #4. Adjourned.
  • November 5: Scheduled court date #5. Adjourned.
  • November 22: Scheduled court date #6. Adjourned.
  • December 14: Scheduled court date #7. Adjourned.
  • December 24: Next court date.

Through 32 games with the Buffalo Sabres, Ryan O’Reilly leads his team in goals (11), assists (17) and points (28). Thirteen of his points have come on the powerplay, including five goals, and he’s also added two game-winners and an overtime-winner.

O’Reilly is averaging 21:52 per game and has registered 80 shots on the season – second-most on the team, behind only Jack Eichel‘s 101.

He’s been a leader on the ice for his new team, and has also taken to the Buffalo community. He was part of the group of Buffalo Sabres players who went to Camp Good Days and Special Times recently, baking with children there.

He also met with the Buffalo Sabres Thunder Special Hockey team after Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Despite all of that, there could still be serious consequences coming for the Buffalo Sabres forward.

Potential penalties for the summertime incident include up to six months in jail, fines between $400 and $2,000, seven demerit points on his license and a suspended license for up to two years.

That license suspension, of course, will be valid not only in Canada, but anywhere else as well – including the United States.

Even if O’Reilly avoids jail time, without a license, he’d be unable to drive himself to practices, games, etc.

And that’s all without even considering the possibility that the NHL itself could choose to suspend him (though at this point, that seems unlikely.)

Next: O'Reilly Showing What He's Worth

So – for now, we’ll wait until December 24 and see what happens then. The Sabres are off between December 20th and 26th for a little holiday break, so it’s possible O’Reilly could make that December 24th court date – or that his lawyer could appear once more on his behalf and set a “real” date for a future time.

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