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Three Awesome Words: Benoit Groulx Resigns

June 1, 2010 - By

The news broke on Monday that Benoit Groulx had resigned as Rochester Americans head coach and returned to his prior position, coach of the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.  From the QMJHL press release, “Under his reign, the Olympics won three championships in six seasons. Groulx led the team to three appearances at the MasterCard Memorial Cup where the Olympics reached the final on two occasions in 2003 and 2004.”

There’s no hiding the fact that Groulx was not very liked as the coach of the Amerks so this news was a perfect way to get the summer started.  The players disliked playing for him, the teams management did not understand him at times, everyone questioned his decisions during games and all of that led to the fans chanting for him to leave at the last game of the year.

A bigger issue at hand could be that the Amerks management found out about this through the media, not from the Florida Panthers directly.  Groulx’s resignation would have been approved by the Panthers so he could officially take on the new job, but no phone call was made to anyone with the Amerks.  Interesting.  Just [...]Read More

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Sources: G Jacob Markstrom signs with Florida Panthers

May 28, 2010 - By

An expected move, but great to see that the signing of Markstrom is official.  Dale Tallon will have his work cut out for him to place.  Markstrom and members of the Panthers organization have said they planned to start him in Rochester, but that could all change if Tomas Vokoun is traded.  We’ll have to wait and see.  Either way, the Panthers are looking pretty strong in goal with this kid now in the system.

Originally posted at Litter Box Cats…

Sources close to the Swedish Elite League have informed LitterBoxCats.com that Panthers goaltending prospect Jacob Markstrom – whom many observers consider the best netminder currently outside the NHL – has signed a 3-year entry-level contract with Florida. Details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Markstrom – fresh off a bronze medal in the recently concluded IIHF World Championship in Germany – is a second round selection (31st overall) by Florida in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and is widely viewed as the Panthers’ “future” in net.

This was an expected development, as GM Dale Tallon recently stated he and Markstrom’s agent were speaking regularly. More to follow soon.

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Amerks in the Guelph Storm 20th Anniversary Alumni Game

May 26, 2010 - By

Some former and a current Rochester American are going to be playing the Guelph Storm 20th Anniversary Alumni Game on Saturday June 12th at 2pm.  The current Rochester American playing is Mike Caruso.  Some former Amerks playing in the game are Adam Dennis, Craig Anderson, and Dan Paille.  Rochester native Ryan Callahan is also playing in the game.

Before the Alumni Game and Skills Competition, participants will be available for an autograph session inside the Sleeman Centre for fans purchasing a ticket to the game.

All tickets for the game will be only $10 (including GST) with all net proceeds from the event being donated to the Guelph Wish Fund For Children.

It’s a tempting day trip.

Team Blue

44(F) Todd Bertuzzi
16 (F) Dan Paille
92 (F) Jeff O’Neill
08 (D) Drew Doughty
07 (D) Ryan Parent
02 (D) Fedor Tyutin
01 (G) Craig Anderson
28 (G) Adam Dennis
17 (F) Brian Wesenberg
02 (D) Mike Caruso
19(F) Mike McLean
17 (F) Charlie Stephens
23 (F) Matt Ryan
43 (F) Dwayne Hay
32 (F) Jason Jackman
19 (F) Mike Pittman
11 (F) Lindsay [...]Read More

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Calder Cup Finals are Set, Hershey vs Texas

May 26, 2010 - By

At the start of the season it was easy to predict that the Hershey Bears would be in the Calder Cup finals, predicting the Texas Stars would be there opponent would not have been a prediction.  The Stars defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs in game 7 to advance to the finals.  All eyes are on the Stanley Cup finals at this point, but this should be a decent series for the Calder Cup.

Here’s the NHL.com recap of the Stars win:

The first-year Texas Stars rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-2 on Wednesday night to win Game 7 of the AHL Western Conference Finals and a berth in the Calder Cup Finals.

The Austin-based Stars won Games 6 and 7 in Hamilton to earn the opportunity to face the defending AHL champion Hershey Bears, the top farm team of the Washington Capitals, beginning on June 3 at Hershey.

The Stars become the first team since the Chicago Wolves and Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2002 to reach the Calder Cup Finals in their first AHL season. In doing so, Texas won a pair of Game 7s on the road – just the fifth time in AHL [...]Read More

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Rumor Mill has Started, Rangers and Amerks A Possible Match

May 22, 2010 - By

This story confuses me, but it was only a matter of time before these rumors started popping up now that the Rochester Americans ownership has stated they’re unhappy with the Florida Panthers.  The Biz of Hockey is reporting that according to their source the New York Rangers are unhappy with their relationship with the Wolfpack and are “very interested in becoming the parent club of the Americans.”  The article was written by Matthew Coller who also reported the news this morning on The Blue Line Show which airs weekly on 950AM in Rochester.

The question I have would be that if the Rangers own the Wolf Pack, how can a team be unhappy with another team that they own?  If anything they’re not unhappy with the Wolf Pack, they’re unhappy with Northland AEG, the company that operates the XL Center, the arena the Wolf Pack play in.   Northland AEG is responsible for the day-to-day business operations of the Wolf Pack, including marketing, sponsorship and ticket sales.  Madison Square Garden and the Rangers take care of on ice decisions including coaching and player movement.

MSG had run operations at the XL Center until the Connecticut Development Authority (CDA) selected Northland [...]Read More

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Tune in to the Blue Line Show Saturday at 10am

May 21, 2010 - By

Another Saturday means another edition of The Blue Line radio show hosted by Matthew Coller on ESPN Sports Radio 950am in Rochester.  Matthew Coller does an excellent job talking about all things hockey for the entire show, a topic rarely covered by other local shows.

This Saturday one of the guests will be Donny Rivette, owner of Litter Box Cats, an awesome Florida Panthers blog on SB Nation (a great affiliate of Lets Go Amerks and a site I also write on).  There’s a lot for them to cover with the news of new GM Dale Tallon and talks of the Amerks and Panthers pending divorce.

You can tune in online at www.sportsradio950espn.com or if you still own a radio that gets an AM signal you can turn the dial in Rochester to 950am.  If you have an iPhone, Blackerry or Android device do a search for FlyCast to be able to listen live on your phone (great app that I use all the time).

If you miss the show you can download it later on through their archives.

Tags: ι Categories: Amerks

Divorce is Mentioned, A Year of Distractions ahead for the Amerks

May 20, 2010 - By

It was only a matter of time before this topic came up, the affiliation between the Rochester Americans and the Florida Panthers.  The divorce word has been mentioned and we’re now looking at a year of distractions as this affiliation comes to a close.

Over at Hockey O-Zone the blog post by Kevin titled “An Amerk-Panthers divorce could be in the works” is getting it all started.  Take a few minutes to read it through.

Here’s my thoughts, just say this is the last season of the affiliation and let it end.  Curt Styres and Lewis Staats had no choice but to sign an agreement with the Panthers when they bought the Amerks.  I think it’s been pretty clear that very few people like the Florida Panthers and enough people have probably put it in their heads that the Panthers are the problem for low ticket sales.  I have no idea what else at this time will be available, but with the way things work in the AHL it seems like nothing is ever set in stone no matter what is reported.

The Amerks have not even met with the Dale Tallon yet, the Panthers new GM.  It seems [...]Read More

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Oklahoma City Barons are the Newest AHL Team

May 20, 2010 - By

The American Hockey League officially welcomed it’s newest team into the league today with the announcement of the Oklahoma City Barons.  The Barons will be the affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers who in recent years have had their prospects playing for the Springfield Falcons.

The Barons will likely join the West Division along with the Wolves, Stars, IceHogs, Admirals, Rivermen, Rampage and Aeros.  I would be surprised to see any other division changes occur which means the Amerks will continue to play in the North Division/Western Conference.

Other known changes for the 2010/11 season will be the Albany River Rats moving to Charlotte.  The Lowell Devils are moving to Albany.  The Springfield Falcons will be the new affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Syracuse Crunch will be the new affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.

Here’s a part of the press release announcing the team:

“The choice of the name Barons symbolizes many aspects of the spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship that exists in Oklahoma,” Funk continued. “The city of Oklahoma City continues its growth on a local, national and international scale in large part to the entrepreneurial spirit and vision of its citizens.”

“I am proud [...]Read More

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No Quick Changes Expected for the Amerks

May 18, 2010 - By

Dale Tallon was officially introduced on Tuesday as the new GM of the Florida Panthers, but for Amerks fans don’t expect any “big news” quickly.  Tallon left Florida today to head to Germany to attend the World Championships.  As demanding as we are in Rochester for news, the Amerks are not going to be his top priority over the NHL club that has not made the playoffs in 10 years.  I could be wrong though if he’s looking from the dark depths of the system all the way up to the top.

I’ll be talking to Tallon once he returns from Germany to get his thoughts that status of things here in Rochester and his thoughts about development in the American Hockey League.

For more info on the press conference and about Tallon check out Steve Gorten’s blog, tons of great info there.  Everything from Sexton, draft picks, status of players and how this had been in the works for a few weeks now.

Randy Sexton’s recent comments make a little more sense now, he had said that the organization would take a few weeks to evaluate everything.  He knew the team was looking for a new GM and that it was going [...]Read More

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Dadonov Wants NHL Guarantee, Threatens to Leave

May 17, 2010 - By

We may have seen the last of Evgeny Dadonov in a Rochester Americans uniformm he wants an NHL guarantee or has said he’ll go back to the KHL and play for Traktor Chelyabinsk.  Some translation websites have produced the following comments from Dadonov, based upon this article at SportBox.ru:

“If Florida will give me the guarantee that I will play (in the NHL), then I will remain. If no clear promises are given (by the Panthers), if they do not give (me a) chance to appear, then I am ready to play for Traktor.”

The Panthers do everything they can to get him over to North America last season, he plays a decent but not amazing rookie season in the AHL and now he thinks he can make demands and make the jump?  Yea, I don’t think so.  It’ll be interesting to see how new Panthers GM Dale Tallon takes care of this situation.  I would expect something like this out of Michal Repik but not Dadonov.

In 73 games with the Amerks he scored 17 goals and had 23 assists playing with Chris Taylor and Graham Mink for much of the season.  He improved as the season went on but I [...]Read More

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Dale Tallon to be Named GM of Florida Panthers

May 17, 2010 - By

The revolving door with the Florida Panthers organization continues with the news that Dale Tallon will take over the role of general manager replacing Randy Sexton (reported by George Richards), he’ll also be the Panthers third GM in three years.  Tallon is the former GM of the Chicago Blackhawks and has been in the role of a senior adviser since July 2009.  Tallon is credited with turning the Blackhawks around from a last place team to the contender that they are today.

That’s good news for the Florida Panthers bringing in someone with some experience in turning a team around.  We’ll have to wait and see what it means for the Rochester Americans.  The Ice Hogs have had a competitive team with winning records in recent years, not sure how much he had to do with it though.

We’ve all questioned the comments by Randy Sexton about the players and coaching staff here in Rochester and now they mean nothing as someone new will have to come in and “evaluate things.”  That can only mean good news for the Amerks, if he does his homework.

Bob McKenzie sent out a tweet saying that Randy Sexton has been let [...]Read More

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Former Amerk Craig Charron Fighting Cancer

May 12, 2010 - By

Cancer sucks.  That’s it plain and simple.  If you don’t personally know anyone with cancer consider yourself lucky.  On Tuesday it was made public that former Rochester Amerk Craig Charron is stricken with stomach cancer and is hard at work fighting it off.

If you have a few minutes and a few dollars help support the Charron family in their battle.  Click through the links below to read about his story and his fight if you haven’t done so already.

There’s also going to be a number of events this summer to help raise money, announced so far:

Celebrity Bartending Night at Murphy’s Law 6/21/10
Hockey Game at ESL with NHL Players 8/1/10
Golf with NHL Players 8/2/10

I’ll post reminders as the dates and details become clearer.  I’ve already started saving to make my largest donations at Murphy’s on June 21st.

Links:

http://craigcharron.com/ – The official site to keep updated on everything!

Hockey O-Zone – “Sharky’s resume filled with one victory after another”

Democrat and Chronicle – “Former Rochester Amerk Craig Charron fights cancer”

Amerks.com – “Charron At ‘Home’ As He Faces Next Challenge”

Quote from the D&C Article:

“I’m ready to [...]Read More

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