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Amerks Highlights from 3-0 Win Over the Heat on February 2

February 6, 2012 - By
Amerks Highlights from 3-0 Win Over the Heat on February 2

The Amerks started the month of February on a good note with a 3-0 win over the Abbotsford Heat on February 2nd.  For a full recap of the two games against the Heat you can read that here.

Goaltender David Leggio also debuted his new mask at this game, you can read about that here.

Thanks to YouTube and forums user Disengage for recording these to share.

Nick Crawford opens the scoring against the Abbotsford Heat. Assist to Marcus Foligno.

Joe Finley fights Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond after boarding Brayden McNabb.

Phil Varone scores a shorthanded goal assisted by Marcus Foligno

David Leggio makes a save on a shorthanded breakaway by Carter Bancks

Travis Turnbull scores on a rebound for the Amerks’ first power play goal in 31 attempts. Assists to Brayden McNabb and Paul Szczechura

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Szczechura Hat Trick Leads Amerks to Comeback Win Over the Crunch

February 5, 2012 - By
Szczechura Hat Trick Leads Amerks to Comeback Win Over the Crunch

Anything is possible with this Amerks team.  The Amerks came back for the second night in the row to tie a game in the third period, this time they were able to leave the arena with two points and an overtime win.  Paul Szczechura was the hero of the game for the second night in a row as well this time with three goals and an assist.  On Friday night he scored the game tying goal in the third period that carried the game into overtime, unfortunately they lost that one.

Based on how the team continues to play with a few key players out of the lineup it continues to bring up the thought, what’s possible when players return to the lineup?  See yesterday’s post Playing the What if Game.

(Photo by Lauren Long / The Post Standard)

I’ll take this way of thinking at this time of the season compared to a “grumbling fan base” that seems to be going on in Syracuse.

From Crunch reporter Lindsay Kramer:

The uninspired programming that is the Syracuse Crunch’s season has apparently gone into winter re-runs.

To a growingly grumbling fan base, it looks like a sure ratings loser.

Rochester’s [...]Read More

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Playing the What If Game with the Amerks Standings and Roster

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February 4, 2012 - By
Playing the What If Game with the Amerks Standings and Roster

One of the biggest challenges for the Rochester Americans is an inconsistent effort in games they have the chance to win (like Friday night against the Abbotsford Heat) which can be attributed to young players and the expectations of players to put in a lot of ice time.  The result?  The Amerks have lost 15 combined games due to a one goal margin.  That breaks down to six in regulation, six in overtime and three in the shootout.  Considering the fact that the Amerks are only four points behind the division leading Toronto Marlies we can see how even a few more wins would put the season in a different light right now.

Assuming the Amerks had found a way to win at least half of those 15 losses they’d be the division leaders and be considered one of the top teams in the league in the standings.  Add seven wins to the 20 that the Amerks currently have and they’d be tied with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and one win behind the league leading St Johns IceCaps who’re at 28 wins.

That’s a great way to look at things with the glass is half full attitude considering the injuries and [...]Read More

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Amerks Jersey Auction Raises Over $8000, Joe Finley Sold the Highest

February 4, 2012 - By
Amerks Jersey Auction Raises Over $8000, Joe Finley Sold the Highest

On Friday February 3, 2012 the Rochester Americans had on special Men’s Healthy Night jerseys to raise both funds and awareness for prostate cancer.  The Amerks teamed up with Urology Associates of Rochester for this special promotion.  The jerseys were a unique design and color that most agreed looked pretty good.  Based on the unofficial numbers in the image below the team raised $8,550 and there’s still more to go with online auctions.  Proceeds from the jersey auctions will go to www.ZeroCancer.org and The Lipson Cancer Center

After the game was over the team came back out on the ice to literally take the jerseys off of their backs and hand it to the winning bidder and pose for a picture.  It probably wasn’t the one thing anyone really wanted to do after a tough 3-2 loss in overtime against the Abbotsford Heat but it was probably a way to clear their minds quickly after the game.

Joe Finley’s jersey went for the highest amount at $875.  David Leggio was second at $850.  Brayden McNabb was third at $500.

Joe Finley wearing the blue Mens Healthy Night jersey on February 3, 2012. Picture courtesy of David Sturm.

Here’s the pic with results [...]Read More

Categories: Amerks

Leggio Earns the Amerks 3 out of 4 Points Against the Heat

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February 4, 2012 - By
Leggio Earns the Amerks 3 out of 4 Points Against the Heat

We’re now in the month of February and this is the time of the season that teams make a push for the playoffs and determine how they’ll be able to play once in the playoffs.  The NHL trade deadline is Monday February 27, 2012, just over three weeks away.  There’s one position that the Amerks have started to gain some consistency and that’s in goaltender David Leggio.  In two games he earned a shutout, overtime loss and combined 62 saves.  Leggio had an outstanding 33 save shutout on Thursday night and then two of the three goals scored against him on Friday night were the result of the puck being redirected, can’t really blame the goalie on those.  Now if only the Amerks could get healthy and possibly add a real scorer this team could start to make a better run.

The Amerks gained three out of four possible points in the standings so far this week which is acceptable looking at it that way.  The Amerks started the night three points behind the Marlies but the Marlies beat the Crunch and increased the lead to four.  Both teams have played 46 games.

In Thursdays game the Amerks looked like [...]Read More

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Update and Info about Matt MacKenzie Injury

February 3, 2012 - By
Update and Info about Matt MacKenzie Injury

Matt MacKenzie is a defenseman on the Rochester Americans roster that only played 15 games up until his nasty injury on December 3rd against the Hamilton Bulldogs in which he had his leg cut wide open.  Lisa McRitchie who writes for the Oil Patch on Kukla’s Korner recently caught up with MacKenzie and wrote the following below.  He’s expecting to be back on the ice in a couple of weeks and will slowly work towards getting back into game shape.

Sadly, this was not a simple nostalgic trip to Calgary. Instead, Mackenzie has been recovering from a laceration to his quad suffered in a game in Hamilton on December 3rd.

“It was just a weird play,” Mackenzie said of the injury. “We both fell and I didn’t know that I had fallen on his skate at first. We fell and my whole leg went numb so I knew that something was wrong.

“I went to the bench and I saw the blood on my socks and I got rushed to the trainer’s room.  I went right to hospital. They looked at me and did a surgery. They did another surgery when I got back to Rochester.

“Five weeks of [...]Read More

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New Goalie Helmet for Amerks David Leggio

February 2, 2012 - By
New Goalie Helmet for Amerks David Leggio

I’ll always find goalie helmets in hockey fascinating because of the stories some of them have behind them.  David Leggio is debuting his new helmet this week which again has a split theme between the Rochester Americans and Buffalo Sabres.  The new paint job is because he has a new helmet from Bauer that they believe will be safer and fit his head better.  He’s been using the new style helmet in practice for a while now getting used to it while still using the previous style in games.  He’s finally comfortable with the style so he sent one off to DaveArt to get painted.  This helmet isn’t as colorful as the last one but it again has some great things involved.

(Click here for the old helmet (bottom section of the article) and information behind it)

The left side of the helmet has the word Americans across the top along with a portrait of Terrence K. Crow who was killed in action over in Iraq in 2005.  Terrence K. Crow was the father of one of Leggio’s friends.  He was also on the first helmet Leggio wore.  There’s also a charging buffalo coming from the cage.

The right side of [...]Read More

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Much Delayed 2012 AHL All-Star Game Recap

February 2, 2012 - By
Much Delayed 2012 AHL All-Star Game Recap

The 2012 version of the American Hockey League All-Star festivities ended on Monday night and for the most part I’d say it was another successful event.  The skills competition was “so so” and the game itself didn’t get exciting until the last half of the third period when the West realized it needed to make a comeback.  One of the real highlights was the mascots game during the first intermission and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony featuring Joe Crozier.

(The delayed recap is due to forgetting to hit publish after a well rested night of enjoying Atlantic City and not realizing it until now)

One complaint I heard from people who weren’t there was that they didn’t like the fact that the game wasn’t in a league city.  If you weren’t planning on going anyways does it really matter?  Atlantic City was an excellent host city with a lot to do at all times.  The fact is that cities haven’t been banging down the door trying to host the game so when the opportunity was there for AC the league accepted.

Rob Sanderson (Drop the Puck Radio) and I arrived in Atlantic City a little later than expected [...]Read More

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Talking with Joe Crozier at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony with Video

January 30, 2012 - By
Talking with Joe Crozier at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony with Video

Joe Crozier is turning 83 years old and hockey is still an every day part of his life and when he was called and told he was being inducted to the American Hockey League Hall of Fame he said, “It was like winning another Calder Cup.”  It’s almost impossible to put into words how amazing it is talking to someone like him about the sport.  Anyone who says that “hockey is just a game” and thinks people are crazy for devoting time to it is an indication that they aren’t around the sport very much.  It’s an every day part of life for a lot of people.  It’s so much more than the 60 minutes played during a game.  Hockey is the best sport on the planet (I’m biased of course).

(keep reading for video of the ceremony as well as the speech that Rich Crozier gave for his dad)

Joe is still very much in tune with what’s going on with the hockey community.  He follows the Sabres and Amerks closely.  ”The Amerks aren’t too far behind Toronto,” he said.  He’s always watching the NHL Network.  He always has tapes and dvd’s around as well.  There’s no reason he [...]Read More

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Dave Andrews 2012 AHL State of the League Address

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January 30, 2012 - By
Dave Andrews 2012 AHL State of the League Address

Every season the morning of the American Hockey League All-Star Game the media gathers in a room with AHL President Dave Andrews to discuss the state of the league.  Some seasons there’s a lot to talk about with teams in financial troubles, team movement or affiliation changes but there really wasn’t any of that this year.  It was a short 40 minute meeting.

Here’s a quick run down of topics discussed:

You can also listen to the audio:

For the past few years it’s seemed like a struggle behind the scenes to find a host city for the All-Star game but going forward they expect to announce next years city in the coming weeks and even have plans for years going forward.  Ted Black had mentioned recently that they’d love to see the game back in Rochester but next year will NOT be the year.  It’s something the Amerks would like to host again at some point.  There’s a lot of time and money that goes into hosting the event which is why AHL cities aren’t exactly begging for the game.  Not every team has a large office staff to handle the logistics.  The need for a sponsor is also [...]Read More

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2012 AHL All-Star Game Coverage; Joe Crozier Hall of Fame Induction

January 28, 2012 - By
2012 AHL All-Star Game Coverage; Joe Crozier Hall of Fame Induction

The 2012 American Hockey League is holding it’s All-Star festivities this Sunday and Monday in Atlantic City and I’ll be travelling down there to cover the event.  I’ll have news on everything from the skills competition, the All-Star game itself, the state of the league address and also the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  I’ll also talk to Zack Kassian who is representing the Rochester Americans.

Keep LetsGoAmerks.com bookmarked, follow me on Twitter @LetsGoAmerks, on Facebook.com/LetsGoAmerks and also through my Android and iPhone applications.

One of the highlights will be Joe Crozier being inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame on Monday morning.  The Rochester Americans have won six Calder Cups in the history of the team and out of those six Joe Crozier has won three.  Crozier coached the Amerks to Championships in the 1964/1965, 1965/1966 and 1967/1968 seasons.  He also returned to coach the Amerks during the 1983/1984 season and coached that team to the finals.  Ask a long time Amerks fan and Joe Crozier is one of the first names they’ll mention.

More on Joe Crozier from The AHL:

One of the most identifiable figures in the annals of the Rochester Americans, [...]Read More

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Amerks Shutout in Syracuse; Toronto at 3pm Today

January 28, 2012 - By
Amerks Shutout in Syracuse; Toronto at 3pm Today

The Amerks were shutout on Friday night by the Syracuse Crunch with most of the credit given to Crunch goalie Iiro Tarkki.  He was perfect in the game with 31 saves.  On the other end of the rink Drew MacIntyre was scored on four times.  The Amerks have only won three out of their past 10 games.

Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier was in Syracuse to watch the game and so was Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray.  Were they talking trades in person?  Just watching some hockey?  With the NHL All-Star break they were likely there just to watch the prospects but everyone can insert their own assumptions.

Lindsay Kramer of the Post Standard had this in his writeup:

The first two markers were chunks of raw meat for a sellout crowd of 6,353 fans, which then in turn pushed the team into a higher gear game. The bounceback came after Syracuse dropped both ends of a home-and-home series to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last weekend.

“It pushes them (the Amerks) on their heels. And the crowd was great,’’ Schofield said. “We focused on coming out (hard) early all week. Losing two in a row, that was the main emphasis (in practice). [...]Read More

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