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2009 (Page 3)

Archive for 2009

New Defenseman A.J. Thelen; Koistinen Injured; Garrison Likely Up

December 17, 2009 - By

The news of the day out of downtown Rochester is that Ville Koistinen is likely done for the season with a knee injury, Jason Garrison is likely to be called up on Friday, and that A.J. Thelen has been brought in from the Florida Everblades for extra help on defense.

Koistinen probably hurt his knee during a shift on Tuesday night where he first kicked the puck like a soccer ball and then followed it up by trying to jump over and through a check along the back boards.  He almost made it but his legs were smashed against the boards and I don’t think he played after that.  According to Kevin O. he tore his ACL.

Apparently Bryan Allen is questionable for the Panthers game on Friday which is why Garrison will likely be called up.

Thelen was a first round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2004 but never made it very far in their system.  The Wild blog  “Hockey Wilderness” wrote that many consider Thelen to be one of the biggest draft busts in Wild history.  Based on his stats he seems to be more of an offensive defenseman.

Just have [...]Read More

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Salak Tabs October Honors, Johnston Top Player in November

December 16, 2009 - By

(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans, in conjunction with Morgan Stanley, announced today that rookie goaltender Alexander Salak and forward Jamie Johnson have been named the Morgan Stanley Players of the Month for October and November, respectively.

Salak, 21, takes home the first award this season for the Amerks. The first-year netminder posted a flawless 6-0-0 record between the pipes for Rochester, allowing just 11 goals and turning away 198 saves in seven games in the month of October en route to being named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month. The Strakonice, Czech Republic, native, recorded six wins, the most of any goaltender in the AHL, throughout month to help the Amerks clinch the top spot in the American Hockey League standings.

Currently, he boasts a league-best 16-3-0 record with 538 saves in just 20 games. His 2.26 goals-against average and .928 save percentage are currently eighth and sixth among league netminders, respectively, while his 16 wins are presently a league best. In 20 games, Salak has only allowed 42 goals.

Johnson, in his seventh season of professional hockey, receives the November honors after registering 11 points (5+6) throughout the month, during which [...]Read More

Categories: Amerks

Amerks Win Seventh Game this Season vs Crunch

December 16, 2009 - By

The second period may have been one of the worst this season for the Amerks but they were able to hold on and after 60 minutes left the ice with a win and two more points in the standings.

It was the seventh win this season for the Amerks against the cross state rival Syracuse Crunch.  The only element missing from the game was the typical chirping, cheap shots, and fights between the two teams.

Mike Duco opened the scoring for the Amerks at 6:52 of the first period.  Jordan Henry had just gotten out of the box and fed a pass to Jamie Johnson who brought the puck across the blue line.  Johnson was stopped in his tracks by a Crunch player, passed the puck to Duco who let a shot go through some legs and beat Dan Taylor five hole.

Brady Calla scored his first goal of the season (pictured) and it was also the game winning goal.  It was the type of goal that’s been talked about with players stepping up and contributing.  Jimmy Bonneau did a great job getting Calla the puck to score.

Nick Tarnasky led the Amerks with two goals [...]Read More

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Chris Beckford-Tseu Taking a Trip to FLA and Back

December 16, 2009 - By

Chris Beckford-Tseu 12-15-2009 PracticeYou can probably file this one under the category of not really important in any way… but Chris Beckford-Tseu packed his bags after tonights game to fly to Florida and play one game for the Everblades and then return on Thursday.

It’s entirely possible we’ll see Beckford-Tseu get a start this weekend for the Amerks so it’ll help him to get a game in.

The Amerks have a home and away series with the Hershey Bears on Friday and Saturday and then return home to play the Hamilton Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon.

He was stopping pucks during practice on Tuesday morning and played a decent game on Hershey last Saturday.  The confidence in him still is not very high, but I’m still hoping for miracles.

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Gameday: Crunch At Amerks Tuesday Dec 15th

December 15, 2009 - By

The game is not on any printed schedule as it was moved from a date in January, but make sure you don’t miss out on the seventh game of the season between the Syracuse Crunch and Rochester Americans.  These two teams do not have any love for each other.  If you know other fans make sure to remind them about the game tonight!

The Amerks have won all six games so far between the two teams this season, the last game was a 7-4 victory in Syracuse.  After that game Crunch coach Ross Yates called Salak a “cocky kid.”  Jared Aulin of the Crunch called him an “average goalie.”  Salak had the last laugh in that game winning 7-4 and celebrating at the end.

With call ups and injuries the Amerks fan base has become frustrated at the level of play we’ve seen recently.  This should be the perfect game to help get the team out of a funk.  It’s a home game and a game against a rival.  The Crunch are a team that is beatable but also a team that could really lay it on.

Nick Tarnasky is here on conditioning and Mike Duco [...]Read More

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Garrison and Duco Sent Back to Rochester

December 14, 2009 - By

The Panthers have sent Mike Duco and Jason Garrison back to the Amerks on Monday afternoon.

Garrison had been called up as a precaution in case Leopold could not play tonight.

Dominic Moore returns tonight after missing a game for jabbing himself in the stomach so with his return we get back Mike Duco.

Two more bodies than the team had this morning for Tuesday nights game.

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Panthers Recall Jason Garrison; Amerks vs Crunch Tuesday

December 14, 2009 - By

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to Amerks fans that the Panthers played another game and have called up another player, this time it’s Jason Garrison.

Jordan Leopold was hit by a shot on Saturday night and is hobbled by a sore leg or foot. It’s possible he’ll be fine and Garrison will fly back to Rochester on Tuesday.

Dominic Moore participated in the Monday morning skate and could play tonight. Hopefully that happens and we could see Repik sent back on Tuesday as well.

Update 1:08pm — apparently Moore and Leopold will play tonight so we should have Garrison and one other player back for Tuesday.

Based on how the season is going though chances are someone else will get injured tonight and more changes will happen.

If you have not seen or heard all of the announcements, the Amerks have a game on Tuesday night Dec 15th at 7:05pm vs the Syracuse Crunch. The game was originally scheduled for January 27th.

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12/12 Jimmy Bonneau vs Grant McNeil Fight Video

December 13, 2009 - By

Jimmy Bonneau has been a consistent enforcer for the Amerks this season and with the team already trailing 4-0 he dropped the gloves to square off with Grant McNeil.  A decent fight even after the jersey went over his head he continued to connect with punches.  Bonneau has not only been a consistent enforcer but also a consistent player that Benoit Groulx can rely on for a regular shift without being a liability on the ice.

Unfortunately Steve MacIntyre appeared to back down from two different requests to fight during the game, at least that’s how a couple of fans viewed things from the game.  I don’t have any names of Bears players that challenged him, but I also have no reason to doubt those who told me this.  The only reason I mention that is because it’s becoming a common occurrence for MacIntyre.  He has gone from an anticipated heavyweight bringing some action to a complete snooze.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x60JtwtaCaU

The Amerks welcome the Syracuse Crunch back to Rochester on Tuesday night.  The Amerks are 6-0 against the Crunch this season and it’s a losing streak I know the Crunch would like to end, especially [...]Read More

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Panthers Send Nick Tarnasky to Rochester

December 13, 2009 - By

Nick TarnaskyThe Florida Panthers sent winger Nick Tarnasky to Rochester on Sunday afternoon on a conditioning stint.  Tarnasky has not played in a game since fracturing his orbital bone in a fight with Chris Neil during the Panthers first preseason game on September 15th.

Some additional help is coming at the right time, I’m not sure how much Tarnasky can provide but we’ll take it.  We just have to hope that he can produce more than Ville Koistinen has.

Steve Gorten is reporting that Tarnasky will return to Florida before their Christmas break so I expect he’ll be in Rochester through the end of next weekend.  An NHL player can be sent to the AHL for conditioning for two weeks without having to go through the waiver process.

The game on Tuesday against the Syracuse Crunch is likely to be a physical one as always, it’ll be interesting to see if Tarnasky gets into the game that way or shys away to avoid any further injury.

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Amerks Chased Down by Bears, Lose 6-2

December 13, 2009 - By

The complete team won on Saturday night and that team was the Hershey Bears.  The game ended with the Bears winning 6-2 which goes along with the Amerks motto this season of losing big if they’re going to lose.

I did not watch the game so I can’t offer too much, but from what I was told it was an obvious case of they have their full team and we have a shell of a team.  That’s not making an excuse, it’s what is happening.  We just have to hope the Panthers get healthy soon or this shell of a team puts something together.

Video highlights below….

Other than the loss the biggest news out of the game was that Graham Mink did not play after his second shift of the game.

He told PennLive.com the following:

“I couldn’t move after that,” Mink said. “Hopefully, it’s minor and I can be back soon.

“Very disappointed. Obviously, this isn’t the result that we wanted as a team. Personally, I really wanted to play. I love playing against friends of mine.”

He says that it’s minor and not a big deal, but no one will really know until he wakes up tomorrow.  [...]Read More

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Gameday: Amerks Travel To Hershey

December 12, 2009 - By

At the start of the season these three upcoming games against the Hershey Bears were games that we were looking forward to.  They were supposed to give us a preview of the Calder Cup finals.  They were supposed to be the two elite teams in the AHL in an early season battle.  With call ups and injuries we’ll get the opposite.  The game will be a shell of an Amerks team playing against a full roster of Hershey Bears.

I think our hopes for the game are in the hands of Graham Mink and Alexander Salak.  If anyone is to motivate the team it’s going to be Graham Mink.  Mink is a two time Calder Cup winner, both of those when he played against the Hershey Bears.

Mink is looking forward to the game and said, “I’ve always played my friends harder than my enemies and I’m really looking forward to beating those guys tomorrow on their home ice.”

Alexandre Giroux and Keith Aucoin were just sent back to the Hershey Bears and Mink commented on that with a smile saying, “I would have liked to see those two in the NHL longer.”  They are two [...]Read More

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Dylan Hunter Brings Bad Karma; Amerks Lose 2-1

December 12, 2009 - By

The headline sounds like one I would have written two seasons ago during one of the worst seasons the Amerks have ever played.  The game we witnessed tonight resembled one of those games more than it did the Rochester Americans of the 2009/10 season.  I don’t really blame Dylan Hunter and don’t really think that he brought bad karma, but it makes for a good headline.

I don’t get the sense that Amerks fans are hitting the panic button yet, but signs of frustration are part of every conversation and for good reason.  The Panthers called up Michal Repik after the game which leaves the team short another player.  This is a shell of a team we saw a month ago.

They gave a good effort but fell short.

“I thought we were a second behind,” is what Benoit Groulx said after the game.  I think that line sums it up perfectly.  That’s all it takes to decide any sporting event, sometimes even less than a second.  That’s what happens when you go from a team that was playing four consistent lines to playing two.

The game was only decided by one goal but an early [...]Read More

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