“Save me some goals”: Buffalo high school hockey player scores 3 goals in 23 seconds

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) – A local high school hockey player enjoyed the game of his life this week scoring three goals in just 23 seconds.

Jett Malczewski, a sophomore at Iroquois High School, recorded the incredible feat in the third period of a game at HarborCenter on Monday. His hat trick opened a draw and lifted Iroquois / Alden against Amherst, 7-3. Captain Sam Staerker helped set up all three goals.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Malczewski told News 4. “The energy from everyone from the coaches to my teammates and teammates was amazing. The atmosphere was great. My passes from my teammates were amazing. just perfect… Everyone was like ‘save me a few goals’.

Iroquois / Alden coach Duke Ziegler said he hasn’t seen anything like it in his 30-plus years as a coach.

“Some of the kids were like, ‘Change that, Coach? I said ‘no, let them go’ after the first one. “Coach gear change? “No, let them go,” Ziegler recalled, laughing. “I don’t think I’ll ever see this again. It’s just crazy.

Chris Watson, spokesperson for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, said the organization did not have such precise records. “But I can say this,” he added, “I have never heard of someone who has scored three goals faster than that.”

The fastest three goals in NHL history were scored 21 seconds apart by Hall of Fame member Bill Mosienko for Chicago in a March 1952 game against the Rangers. Center Gus Bodnar assisted on all three, winning the record for the fastest three assists.

The only other NHL player to score three goals in less than a minute was 10-time Stanley Cup winner Jean Béliveau, who did so 44 seconds apart in 1955. In recent times, Brayden Point of Tampa Bay scored three goals 1:31 apart in November 2018.

Ziegler believes Malczewski’s incredible feat deserves to draw positive national attention to the sport, especially with the NHL suspended due to Covid-19 and the league announcing on Wednesday that it will not send players to the Olympics .

“We’re trying to get him out. We’re pretty excited, ”Ziegler said. “It’s good for the region, Buffalo High School hockey, it’s good for the Districts, Iroquois and Alden. It’s just good overall.

“We hope the networks will pick it up.”

Ziegler said the team were excited when ESPN’s John Buccigross tweeted about the feat.

“He devotes a lot of time and effort to his skills,” Ziegler said of Malczewski, who plays in the trips for the Buffalo Regals SCTA team, which faces Canadian opponents. “I think he has things that are untapped. He can skate like the wind and his edges and everything is fine. If he can just put together the overall game package, he’s going to have something special at such a young age.

Malczewski scored the first goal shortly after coming out of the penalty area, joining a run and finishing an assist from Kevin Rieman with 14:48 left. On the face-off that followed, Staerker pushed the puck forward on a stopped play and Malczewski and Rieman made it to the races, scoring just six seconds later. (The NHL record for the two fastest goals is four seconds apart.)

Amherst won the next face-off but quickly gave up the puck. Defender Ethan Iozzia picked him up and sent him out of the board to Staerker, who conceded a perfect pass behind Amherst defenders as Malczewski recovered and knocked the keeper away with 14:25 to go, 23 seconds after his first goal.

Malczewski has scored one goal this season ahead of Monday’s game. He was happy to share the credit with his teammates Iroquois / Alden, who currently occupy the top spot in ECIC II with a 3-0-1 record in the league (5-0-1 overall).

“My teammates,” said Malczewski, “they just put the puck in the right place and I put it in the net.