ROCHESTER – Jack Quinn went days without drinking water or eating a meal, yet even he was surprised at the number on the scale when he weighed himself for the first time since battling mono.
Quinn was down to 168 pounds, approximately 17 pounds lighter than when he last played a game for the Rochester Americans on Nov. 27.
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“I didn’t feel light or anything,” Quinn said following the Amerks’ morning skate Wednesday at Blue Cross Arena. “I’m back at 178, 179 now, so all good.”
The weight has returned. So have Quinn’s skating stride and elite right-handed shot, clearing the way for the 2020 first-round draft choice to return to the Amerks’ lineup Wednesday against Syracuse. Despite missing nine games, Quinn entered the day ranked ninth in goals with 11 and 11th in points with 24. He was only five goals off teammate Michael Mersch’s league-leading 16 and accomplished that through only 17 games.
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Rather than lamenting about the timing of the illness, Quinn was grateful this wasn’t an injury and expressed confidence that he only needs to knock off the “rust.” But there’s no question the absence prevented Quinn from debuting with the Buffalo Sabres last week.
When coach Don Granato’s Sabres were beset by a Covid-19 outbreak, three of Quinn’s teammates at the time, JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs and Arttu Ruotsalainen, were summoned to the National Hockey League.
Peterka, a linemate of Quinn’s for much of the Amerks’ season, was impressive in two games, while Krebs recorded his first point as a Sabre before entering Covid-19 protocol. If it wasn’t for mono, Quinn would have debuted alongside them, but as he’s done at every encounter with adversity, the right wing found a positive spin to the delay of his arrival in Buffalo.
“A few people have asked me that and honestly, it wasn’t (frustrating),” Quinn, 20, told The Buffalo News. “Mainly because they had a Covid outbreak and guys got games, but I talked to (Rochester coach Seth Appert) and said, I want to prove myself in this league and that I kind of can move on from it. I don’t need a Covid break to move up to the NHL. It really didn’t matter for me. I’m going to come back from mono, I’m going to keep improving, keep doing my thing and hopefully there comes a time when I can go up and stay up. It wasn’t really bothersome that I didn’t get a couple games.”
There’s no longer a question of whether Quinn can succeed in the AHL. He recorded multiple points in eight of 17 games, including five points in the last two games in which he appeared, and he had been held without a point only three times this season.
Drafted eighth overall in 2020, Quinn wasn’t pleased with his production in Rochester last season, as he totaled only two goals and nine points in 15 games before undergoing season-ending surgery on a hernia.
The Sabres are scheduled to host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night in KeyBank Center.
But struggling at the pro level showed Quinn what he needed to do to get NHL-ready. Quinn improved by quickening his shot release and adding some deception to fool goaltenders. He also pinpointed how he could start to use that shot in the middle of the ice, as opposed to on the perimeter. That’s led to an improved shooting percentage and more quality scoring chances.
“I thought I was getting to the inside well, and that was a factor of what I was producing,” Quinn said . “If it’s something I’m doing well, it’s usually reflected stats-wise. I just think the little details of my game were pretty good. Winning battles, that kind of stuff. I was clicking with my linemates, JJ and (West Seneca native Sean Malone). We had a lot of success together.”
Quinn was on the cusp of a promotion when he fell ill with flu-like symptoms. He missed two games and tested negative for the flu and Covid-19. Finally, Quinn tested positive for mono, an illness that causes extreme fatigue, fever and body aches. He estimates that he didn’t eat for four or five days.
When Quinn faced a long recovery, the Sabres and general manager Kevyn Adams encouraged him to go back to the Ottawa area to spend time with family for the holidays last month. At first, Quinn couldn’t work out because exhaustion can disrupt a person’s recovery from mono. Eventually, though, Quinn began basic squats and stickhandled in the basement to stay fresh.
“It’s rare you have to tell a kid to maybe back off sometimes,” said Rochester assistant coach Michael Peca, a former Sabres captain with a Selke Trophy and 14 NHL seasons on his resume. “There are times where it’s, ‘OK, listen, Jack.’ He’s in the shooting room pretty much every morning, then he’s on the ice a half hour before practice shooting on goalies, and then he spends time after practice continuing to shoot. The level of maturity he has isn’t just in the work he does to be good. It’s identifying where his weaknesses are and continue to work on those. … The one thing you always say as a coach is I can’t want it for you unless you want it for yourself. He really wants it for himself, so it makes it easy.”
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Quinn returned to Rochester with the rest of the Amerks on Dec. 26 and continued to work his way back from the illness. With Dylan Cozens among a group of Sabres in Covid-19 protocol, Peterka and Krebs were summoned to Buffalo.
The duo, like Brett Murray and Casey Fitzgerald before them, had some impressive moments for the Sabres. Quinn beamed Wednesday when asked about those debuts and the impact those performances had on everyone in Rochester’s dressing room, himself included. And Quinn expressed confidence that when he returns to form and shows continued development, his call will come.
“It was awesome,” Quinn said. “Krebsy a little later than JJ, but I’ve kind of spent the whole year with those two and we became really close. One, because they’re good guys, and two, we’re in similar situations. … Almost the whole year, it’s been guys periodically going up and I think it says something about the culture we have here that guys can go up and fit right in.
“Guys like (Murray) earn themselves a spot. I think it’s encouraging for everyone that they can come through here, develop, go up there and be a good player.”
