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October (Page 4)

Archive for October, 2008

It's Hockey Night in Rochester!

October 10, 2008 - By

The Amerks play the Syracuse Crunch tonight for the 2008-2009 home opener.  The game starts at 7:35pm at the Blue Cross Arena.

I went down to practice today to see what the team would look like on a game day.  Last year, whenever I was at a game day practice it just looked like kids in a gym class, players skating around in circles just passing the puck to each other and usually playing some childish game at the end.

Today was a whole new ballgame.  There were continuous drills from players working extreemly hard. 

Yesterday Beaverson, Collins, MacDonald, Brine, McArdle, Garrison, Caruso, Duco, Clark and Calla had to be told to get off the ice.  Something that never would have been said last year.  The team actually wanting to be on the ice this year is a nice change of pace.  Today they again the players were told that they needed to be off the ice in five minutes.  They are more than willing to be out there all day.

Benoit is very happy with the way things are going with the team.  When asked if he is excited about tonight. “Yes, I’m very excited. We have [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines

Amerks Opening Night Festivities

October 10, 2008 - By

The start of the 2008/09 Rochester Americans season is finally upon us!!  The organization has new ownership, a new sole affiliation, new players, new fans, new web site.. let’s play some hockey.  Here’s some additional notes for opening night, along with events at the arena.

When asked about Fridays opener after practice on Thursday morning, head coach Benoit Groulx commented, “Yes, I’m very excited.  We have a good group.  The kids are working really hard.  We’ll see tomorrow if it’s paying off.”

Keaton Ellerby has an “upper body injury,” but whatever that injury may be, it doesn’t impact his skating one bit.  After practice on Thursday morning he was doing sprints for about 15-20 minutes with Cipolla.  On the way off the ice Keaton jokingly commented to a 4yr old watching, “don’t play hockey, never play hockey.”  We still think Cipolla could suit up for the team if needed.  He replied, “yea, behind the bench.”

As of Thursday afternoon Shawn Matthias was on his way to Rochester to join the team.  Matthias made headlines last season when the Panthers called him up from juniors and he had an immediate impact on the team.  He should be exciting to [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines

Ryan-James Hand and James DeLory at Training Camp

October 9, 2008 - By

Ryan-James Hand and James DeLory two took a moment at the end of practice to share some moves with each other.

Categories: Amerks

Amerks Roster Heading into Opening Night

October 9, 2008 - By

The roster for the Rochester Americans season opener is pretty much set.  It appears as if we won’t have that goon / enforcer / muscle that we had all hoped for, but it’s time to move beyond that (for now).  Assuming the team can put in a solid effort for 60 minutes, the team should will be successful.  We have an excellent new head coach, improved goal tending, and a commitment to success.  One thing is for certain, if the season starts out slow we’ve been told that we will see changes.  With Shawn Matthias still in Florida we are still short on someone at center for opening night.

Rory Fitzpatrick will be wearing the “C” on his jersey this season.  Still no news on who will wear the “A,” but two excellent choices would be Stefan Meyer and Janis Sprukts.  Both are consistent players that continue to play strong every night and have shown leadership on and off the ice.

Keys to a win (pretty obvious): A full 60 minutes of effort, and play physical.  The Syracuse Crunch are a physical team, the Amerks need to set the tone showing they won’t back down.  Even [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines, Players

Improvements for Opening Night at Blue Cross Arena

October 8, 2008 - By

The Amerks start the 08/09 regular season labeled as “A New Day for a Rochester Tradition” on Friday night,  you’ll also see some noticable differences as you arrive at Blue Cross Arena.  An update on the team we’ll see on the ice Friday night is going to be posted later tonight.

As you approach the arena you’ll see an improved outside with tree’s planted and alternating sidewalk slabs painted.  A nice improvement over lots of empty concrete.  Inside of the arena crews were also busy touching up paint and cleaning the place up.  There’s an improved sound system that should be clearer, not just louder.

Once inside of the atrium you’ll be greeted by a large bronze statue of an indian lacross player, the statue is  named “For Love of the Game.”  It was donated by Curt Styres and his sons Wakeriat Bowhunter and Radowits Bowhunter.  Click the link for the full story of the statue on the Knighthawks web site.

Once you get to the top of the stairs you’ll also see an Amerks information booth, which was also present at the preseason game as well as the fun fest.  It’s only [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Amerks, Headlines

Amerks in need of an Enforcer, MacIntyre wins job with Oilers

October 7, 2008 - By

The Edmonton Sun has reported that Steve MacIntyre has won a job with the Edmonton Oilers.  MacIntyre was originally signed on July 10th by the Florida and introduced as our “policeman.”  He was going to be our heavyweight that would prevent the Amerks from getting pushed around all season.  Many fans had said he would make the games worth going to again.  Unfortunately on his way to Rochester from Panthers training camp he had to be put on waivers and was picked up by the Edmonton Oilers.

Ryan-James Hand was the next logical choice, but he was released on Sunday morning.  At that time we’ve been told everyone was waiting to see what the outcome would be with MacIntyre and the Oilers.

MacIntyre was one of the first players signed by the Panthers over the summer.  During the typical slow summer months that got a number of people excited as it showed the Panthers were ready to make improvements.  To go along with that, once it was announced that the Amerks and Crunch would be playing against each other to start the season the excitement grew even more anticipating a Mirasty vs MacIntyre battle.

Approximately three days and seven [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Amerks

Subscribe to the LetsGoAmerks RSS Feed

October 6, 2008 - By

Lets Go Amerks RSS Feed -  If you’re already familiar with RSS, click the link and subscribe, otherwise read on.  This may seem “complicated,” but take a moment to read on.  It’s one of those things that once you take a few minutes to understand it you’ll wonder how you ever used the internet without using feeds before.

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a format used to deliver information from your favorite websites and pages that get updated regularly. An RSS document (which is called feed) contains either a summary or the full content from a website.

The main benefit of RSS is that it enables you to stay connected with your favorite websites without having to visit them. Once you subscribe to a particular RSS feed, you will automatically receive updates from the website that publishes the feed, whenever they release new content.

If you regularly use Google or Yahoo!, both have RSS Feed Readers that you can easily use.  Most web browsers also have Feed Readers built in as well.

I use Google Reader for all of my feeds, mostly because Gmail is my email of choice.  Any other service you use will work [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Amerks

Get Amerks News and Scores via text message!

October 5, 2008 - By

Want to receive Rochester Americans news, scores, updates, and more via text message?

Three EASY steps!

1) Send a new text message to 40404

2) Write ‘follow letsgoamerks’

(make sure you include the apostrophes)

3) Reply to the confirmation message with your name!

4) Start receiving new updates on articles and scores from games.

How often will I get updates?  Often on game nights depending on how much action is happening on the ice.  Otherwise anytime there’s new news, we’ll update you.

What will be sent out?  Near real time scores and updates from all home games.  We’ll try our best with away games.  As well as any news, roster changes, injuries, call ups, etc..

How much does it cost?  NOTHING!  It’s just a standard text message.  If you have an unlimited plan than you have nothing to worry about.

Will I receive spam?  No.  You’ll simply get Amerks updates from us, nothing else.  I’ve used twitter for well over a year and never received unwanted messages.

Will we have access to your phone number?  No.  Phone numbers are not public.

You can also subscribe to the twitter RSS feed for our updates if that’s your preferred method.

All [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Amerks

Amerks' Fun Fest a Success

October 5, 2008 - By

Today, the Amerks held their first Fun Fest at Blue Cross Arena.  My husband and I brought our son down to see what was going on.  It was a great time for all of us.

At 1:00 when the doors opened there were plenty of kids getting their skates on who were very excited to skate with the players.  They had to wait a little while longer because the team was going to be announced at center ice.

The whole team came out one by one to fans cheering for them.  Stefan Meyer and Drew Larman got the loudest cheers from kids and adults alike.  Then Lewis Staats came out to tell the fans how much he appreciates them and how proud he is to be the owner of the Rochester Americans.  After that Benoit Groulx came out to introduce himself and say how he is more than happy to be coaching the Amerks this year.  Last but not least Rory Fitzpatrick came to the mic to speak on behalf of the players.

Then the doors were opened and all the kids and adults (big kids) were let onto the ice.  All the players had their own [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines

Ryan Hand and Nine Others Cut From Amerks

October 5, 2008 - By

Today the Amerks cut down the roster by ten players.  Most of the players everyone thought were going to be gone but, one stands out as a shocker for a lot of fans…Ryan James Hand.

Hand was the player all the fans wanted to keep around.  He was kind to people and just a general nice guy.  But, more than anything…he was a fighter.  “I’m pretty rattled.” Hand said when asked how he is.  “[They told me] this am…I’m ok now.”

Last season the Amerks were pushed all over the ice by whoever felt like it because there was no one they would have to go toe to toe with afterwards.  Teams looked at us like we were weak, and they were right.  And now it’s starting to look like we won’t have that strong authority figure we have all been hoping for.

Maybe the Amerks brass think that Neil Clark will be able to handle the team’s problems.  I hate to tell them but, just because he got into two fights in one night (with non-fighting players), doesn’t mean he can take care of anything when a real enforcer comes calling.

I don’t think it is going [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines, Players

Amerks Fall To Crunch 5-2 In Preseason Matchup

October 2, 2008 - By

The Amerks lost to the Syracuse Crunch tonight 5-2 in their first preseason game.

Everyone knew they could look forward to a few fights tonight and I’m sure a lot of people wanted to see (or hear about) Ryan James Hand take on Jon “Nasty” Mirasty.  But, who was ready for the four fights that took place?  After last season, one fight would have been a treat.

Hand of course dropped the gloves first, only 3:19 into the game.  But, it wasn’t with Mirasty.  It was with Mike Sgroi who is a real heavyweight.  This bodes well for Hand showing he isn’t afraid to take on people a bit bigger than himself.

Hand never did get to take on Mirasty.  In fact, Mirasty didn’t fight anyone tonight.  Ryan didn’t mind though saying, “I’m not really upset [about not fighting Mirasty], I have a lot of respect for him.  I’ll get my chance.”

The second fight of the game was between James DeLory of the Amerks and Trevor Hendrikx of the Crunch.  Kevin O said this one was pretty much another draw.

The third and fourth fights involved Neil Clark who played for the Grand Rapids Griffins last season.  First he tossed down [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines

Gameday Skate at ESL

October 2, 2008 - By

Here we are at the morning skate at a colder than usual ESL Centre.  The first group is on the ice right now, the group that we assume will be playing tonight against the Crunch.  Shantz and Beckford-Tseu are the goalies on the ice.  Would guess that Shantz will be starting tonight, Plante tomorrow.  Kenndal McArdle and Peter Aston are on the ice as well.

“This isn’t a light skate, it isn’t just a game day skate, it’s a practice.”  Could be heard after the first round of drills.  The guys were also being yelled at to gain speed once they hit the blue line whether they have the puck or not, and not to slow down.

Nice save Shantz!  He’s quite vocal on the ice as well as well as faster.

Slick pass by McArdle.  He’s probably not guaranteed a roster spot, but as long he stays healthy he should be around.

RJ Hand may not be the fastest skater on the ice, but he seems to have a great sense of what’s going on around him on the ice and keeping opposing players off the play.

Shantz finally has his helmet painted!

They’re really [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Amerks, Headlines