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Buffalo Sabres Ryan O’Reilly Still Awaiting Court Date

By Melissa Kania

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Things are finally getting into full swing for the Buffalo Sabres. The team is now nine games into the season and appears to finally be putting together some chemistry. Shuffling lines are allowing different player combinations to see how they work together. Jack Eichel has been pretty spectacular for a kid who’s barely 19. Sam Reinhart notched his first NHL goal, and despite adversities like Robin Lehner, Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian injuries, things might finally be looking up.

Of course, there’s still one dark cloud looming on the horizon for the Buffalo Sabres: Ryan O’Reilly‘s court date.

O’Reilly still needs to face his court date for the July 9th incident that occurred near London, Ontario — a court date that could result in jail time, fines and more.

Here’s the timeline of how things have happened so far:

First, we need to take things back to Thursday, July 9th.

At approximately 4:05 a.m., 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, which is enough to be considered legally intoxicated.

Fast forward a little over a month, to August 20th. O’Reilly’s scheduled court date came, but only his attorney appeared on his behalf. The court date was adjourned for the first time, pushed back to September 10.

September 10th came – a week before Buffalo Sabres veterans were scheduled to report to training camp – and once again, the court date was adjourned, this time to October 1. Just a few days prior, O’Reilly issued an apology in a piece from The Buffalo News. But apologies don’t add up to much in a legal court.

Meanwhile, O’Reilly and teammates reported for camp as usual on September 17. Preseason for the Buffalo Sabres began September 21 and continued on.

October 1st rolled around, with the Sabres in the heart of the preseason. The Sabres played in Minnesota that night, and O’Reilly didn’t travel with the team – but he didn’t make his court date, either. It was postponed to October 22.

October 22 came around, a Thursday in between a pair of home games for the Buffalo Sabres against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

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Once again – yep, you guessed it – the court date was adjourned, this time for the fourth time. It was then scheduled for November 5 in London – on a day when the Sabres host the Tampa Bay Lightning later that evening.

UPDATE: That day came, and once again – it was adjourned, this time to November 22.

That’s a Sunday; the Sabres are scheduled to play in Dallas the night prior, and in Buffalo against St. Louis the Monday after.

It’s a matter of time to see whether or not that court date will actually pan out, or whether it will be adjourned again…. and again…. and again.

It’s easy to ignore the situation, or at least try. As of October 28, Ryan O’Reilly was currently leading the Sabres with eight points in nine games. He was tied for the team lead in goals with 3 (Eichel and Ennis have the same). He lead the team in assists, with five. His two power-play goals were tied for top on the Sabres, and his 21 shots were one of the best. His 14.30 shot-percentage was also one of the best.

But no matter how much we can try to ignore it – and ignore the fact that the Sabres handed out a leadership position (an A) to a guy who’s been charged with driving a motor vehicle while ability impaired and leaving the scene of an accident, as if that’s a good example to follow – this isn’t a thing that is just going to go away.

Celebrity or not, busy or not, at some point in the future, O’Reilly WILL have to face that court date, and the end result may not be great for him.

Potential penalties for the 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.

For now, we’ll hang on and wait until November 22 to see if Ryan O’Reilly finally faces his court date or if it’s adjourned yet again — but all the while, there’s that little dark cloud hanging out over the Buffalo Sabres.

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