Going into Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, the Panthers were on a six-game winless streak. The Ducks took an early lead in the game, but David Booth would have nothing of that. He scored three consecutive goals for his first career natural hat trick. Booth scored 22 goals in his first full NHL season with the Panthers and is now a fan favorite in Sunrise where you can hear fans yelling “Booooooottthhh” often during games.
During last night’s game, a familiar Beatles’ tune was played after one of the Moose’ goals. As “Help!” was playing I was laughing a little to myself, thinking about how badly we really need some help. And no, it can’t just be from anybody…we need huge changes.
This topic has already been discussed a million times this season (and in the pre-season when the lineup was first looked at). Any fan of hockey could tell that the team we were being handed wasn’t going to go very far. But, we all hoped for the best. We all thought we must be getting some veterans to spice up our lineup and teach our team, that is basically made out of rookies, how to play professional hockey.
But, no. Here we are, more than a month into the season, and we have only won two games. So, what do the Panthers do to help us? Send Tyler Plante to the ECHL and call up David Shantz. That is the answer we have all been looking for! Who needs vets when you can trade a goalie for another goalie of the same caliber?
And the next big move by the Panthers and Amerks? Send Doug O’Brien down [...]Read More
Defenseman, Doug O’Brien, has been reassigned to the Florida Everblades today. O’Brien registered two assists and eight PIM in 12 appearances with the Amerks this season. Doug was one of the Florida Panthers’ big off-season moves for the Amerks.
Karl Stewart is out on the ice taking some shots today. Not game ready though…he is in his warmup pants. I expect him to be ready for Friday’s game. But, that’s just me.
Jack Birch is here watching the team. I sure hope he doesn’t think because we played one good game on Saturday that we are fine and just need more time to work on our problems. Come on Jack…it’s overhaul time. Instead of watching practice, why don’t you get on the phone and make some calls right now. Everyone’s agents are working by 10 a.m.
Riley Emmerson continues to impress me with his work ethic. You can tell he doesn’t just want to sit there and be a goon. He is working hard to get himself onto the 4th line and get some ice time. We saw him getting more ice time on Saturday and he didn’t screw up royally. We asked Benoit Groulx about Emmerson getting more ice time, of course he stated the obvious that it depends how the game itself is going. ”His role is to have a presence, but as he improves his skating and continues to check more he’ll earn chances [...]Read More
Another home game in Rochester tonight. The Amerks will take on the Manitoba Moose for the 3rd time this season. In their first two meetings in Manitoba, the Moose won both games 3-1 and 4-1. I would be hard pressed to find a person who doesn’t think this is going to happen again tonight. But, you know me…Little Miss Sunshine. I think the Amerks will get two points tonight.
I don’t know why I keep putting faith in these guys. I think it has to do with my son loving them just as much as I do unconditionally. It makes me think the same way. But, I digress.
Lines for tonight look like this:
Meyer – Sprukts – Mikflikier
McArdle – Larman – Glass
Duco – Matthias – Repik
Emmerson – Brine – Collins/Calla
Henry – O’Brien
Caruso – Ellerby
Fitzpatrick – Garrison
-Aston (scratched) - Beaverson (scratched)
-MacDonald (scratched)
Tyler Plante
-Chris Beckford-Tseu
With Jordan Henry making his return tonight, he better show us that he is worth the roster spot. At the end of last season, he was finally coming into his own and giving the other [...]Read More
My husband and I took our son to the annual Season Ticket Holder’s Skate with the Players tonight at Blue Cross Arena. Last year I had a lot of fun at this event, but my son was just a little too young and a lot too shy to go with us. I personally think this is one of the best events the Amerks’ put on throughout the year.
From 6:00-7:00 p.m. the veteran players were on the ice. This included Rory Fitzpatrick, Janis Sprukts, Drew Larman, Stefan Meyer, Peter Aston, Tanner Glass, Dan Collins, Kenndal McArdle, Jordan Henry, Doug O’Brien, Chris Beckford-Tseu, Franklin MacDonald, David Brine and Tyler Plante.
Karl Stewart was out with the first group. He wasn’t skating because of his knee injury. But, he stayed on the bench the whole time and was pleased to talk with whomever sat down next to him. This was the first tiem I had gotten the chance to talk to Karl and he is a very nice and passionate guy. He said his knee injury is an old one that flares up sometimes and he just needs to rest it and it is fine again.
Not even two minutes after we [...]Read More
Barack Obama was called up from the Senate to the White House today after he demolished John McCain in the race to become the 44th President of the United States of America. The White House will also be recalling Joe Biden to be at Obama’s side as his Vice President.
Jody Gage was just on the bench talking first to Jacob Micflikier and then to Andrew Sweetland. I don’t know what that was about, but if they are going to send Micflikier away it would be a crying shame. He is a bright spot on this team. Andrew Sweetland I often forget exists, so if he is going to the ECHL or something, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Jordan Henry is out with the team for a full practice today. He is expected to return to the ice for Friday’s game if he makes the lineup. Personally, I would like to see more of Luke Beaverson on the ice.
Janis Sprukts is also on the ice today. He is wearing a red jersey though, so he is probably not playing full contact just yet. It will be good to have him back on the ice for games though. Although some fans don’t think he has been living up to his signing yet, he is a player who can calm things down when they are getting a bit out of hand. And he was gelling well with Matthias and Repik before his injury. Well, that was a quick practice for [...]Read More
After a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies last night, the Amerks are back on the ice preparing for their second game of the weekend tonight against the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are hot right now, and if the Amerks think they are going to get a win out of them they need to play better than they did last night.
An improvement for the Amerks is that the Marlies didn’t score any 5-on-5 goals. All their goals were while they were on the powerplay (the last goal was an empty netter). But, the Amerks only had 1 shot on goal in the second period.
I am hoping Tyler Plante starts again tonight. He looked good last night. He made some amazing saves including one where he had no stick and ninja kicked the puck out of the air.
Jordan Henry is one of the first out on the ice today. Maybe this means he will actually be doing a full practice with the team today. It would be nice to see him back if he can add something we don’t have right now. Which wouldn’t be hard. But, if he sucks just send him and [...]Read More
The Rochester Americans start a six game home stand tonight against the Toronto Marlies, and concludes two weeks later on November 14th against the Chicago Wolves. There will be no lack of tough games in the coming weeks.
Tonight the Amerks take on the Toronto Marlies for the first time this year. The Marlies are 3-3-1 so far and have a superior team to ours. If the Amerks want to win this game they are going to have to step it up a lot defensively to keep the puck away from our net for a while. Hitting some people through the boards wouldn’t hurt either. And let’s see Riley Emmerson get into another fight… at home… where the crowd can cheer him on!
Don’t forget that tonight is Halloween. So, dress up, and come out and bring your kids to get some yummy candy during sweets in the suites. Yum.
Tomorrow the Amerks take on the Hamilton Bulldogs for the first time of the season. They are 5-2-1 and don’t look like they are going to slow down any time soon. The game starts at 7:35 p.m.
On Friday, November 7th, the Manitoba Moose come into town to [...]Read More
Shawn Matthias has been recalled by the Florida Panthers. Matthias has played eight games with the Rochester Americans and has one goal and one assist.. It seems he will be centering the third line for the Panthers tonight when they take on the Ottawa Senators in Miami.
The team is working in smaller groups today. Right now half the team is sitting on the bench while the other half practices puck movement. It is very informative. They are really getting some good passing and scoring going on. Kenndal McArdle, once again, can stick the puck anywhere he wants to in the net. In the smallest hole between the shoulder and crossbar.
But, Kenndal was just told “Don’t go below the dot to take your shot, if you do that, you won’t be on the power play.”
This drill looks fun to me. But, they are learning some great plays for the powerplay. I hope Toronto takes some stupid penalties tomorrow, I would like to see how this translates to the gameday situations. Repik looks great out there. It looks like the first line of the PP will be:
Repik – Meyer – McArdle Fitzpatrick-Garrison
Repik was being switched in and out with Karl Stewart. Both looked pretty solid, but Repik looked better by a small margin. Either way this top power play squad seems like a good choice to me. Obviously, I am far less knowledgeable than Benoit…so, his choices will most likely make sense [...]Read More
