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Amerks to Practice Outdoors on Monday Morning in Rochester

January 15, 2012 - By
Amerks to Practice Outdoors on Monday Morning in Rochester

The Amerks will be practicing at 11am Monday morning January 16, 2012 at Manhattan Square Park in downtown Rochester so if you have the day off from work or school make sure to get down there and watch the guys have some fun.  I’m sure it’ll be well covered by the Amerks and the other media outlets for those of us that will be stuck at work.  Manhattan Square Park Ice Rink is located at 353 Court Street (Google Maps).  This team is a tight group of players who seem to get along very well and something like this will be a fun way to start the week and act as a great segway into the second half of the season.  If you have a way to get down there you should.

Every season there’s always a group of players who are dedicated to the community but this team seems to care much more than others in recent memory.  It probably helps that Derek Whitmore is a local and understands the importance of events like this. It probably also helps that Ron Rolston gets it as well and would put the final stamp of approval on something like this.

If you [...]Read More

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Joe Finley vs Kyle Neuber Fight Video

January 15, 2012 - By
Joe Finley vs Kyle Neuber Fight Video

This past Friday night the Toronto Marlies defeated the Rochester Americans in overtime by the final score of 2-1 and in the second period Joe Finley and Kyle Neuber dropped the mitts in the fight below.  After the game Finley was called up to the Buffalo Sabres to fill in for an injured Brayden McNabb and he went on to fight Matt Martin of the New York Islanders.

I apologize about the black and white like quality of the video but it’s the best I could get from the AHL Live site.

Joe Finley vs Kyle Neuber

Joe Finley vs Matt Martin

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Leggio Leads the Amerks to the Second Half of the Season with a Win

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January 15, 2012 - By
Leggio Leads the Amerks to the Second Half of the Season with a Win

Another weekend has come and gone and another pair of solid performances by the Rochester Americans.  The team finished the set of games with three out of a possible four points with an overtime loss to the Toronto Marlies on Friday and regulation win against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday night.  David Leggio has stepped up to becoming the star of the team right now with his fourth straight standout performance.  Leggio had 35 saves in a win against the Bulldogs on Saturday and over the course of the past four starts he has made 165 saves in net.  That’s a lot of pucks to be stopping.  Oh defense where are you?

This team has needed the goalie to steal wins and the win against Hamilton could be considered one of those games.  Right now that goal is David Leggio and he’ll have more starts on the horizon.

Back to the win over Hamilton.. the Amerks are now 9-0-1-0 when leading after two periods of play.  When this team can find a way to build a lead they’ve done an outstanding job of holding on to it.

Mark Voakes put the Amerks on the board first with his fifth goal [...]Read More

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Injury Updates but No Timeframe for Ryan, MacKenzie or Rankin

January 11, 2012 - By
Injury Updates but No Timeframe for Ryan, MacKenzie or Rankin

As of writing this there are three Rochester Americans players still out with injuries, Michael Ryan, Matt MacKenzie and Evan Rankin.  I guess we could also include Colin Stuart on this list even though he’s still on the Sabres roster and has not been sent back down yet.  So here’s a quick update on these guys:

Michael Ryan has only played in three games this season and there’s still no timeframe for his return.  He has been back on the ice trying to get back into shape but when I recently asked Ron Rolston if that meant he’ll be ready to play when he is in shape he said no.  The team would love to have him playing.  Ryan would love to be playing but it’s just not close to happening.  Exactly what’s wrong?  Still no idea.  Rolston hasn’t shared any information and I get the idea talking to him that they don’t know either.  Unless anything changes with Ryan, like we see him on the ice in full contact practice, this will be the last update saying there’s no update.

Matt MacKenzie was injured on December 3 on the road in a game against the Hamilton Bulldogs and is [...]Read More

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Amerks Comeback Takes the Bears to the Shootout; Successful Weekend

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January 9, 2012 - By
Amerks Comeback Takes the Bears to the Shootout; Successful Weekend

The Amerks loss to the Hershey Bears can be looked at a few ways but the best way to look at it is that this team has a lot of heart, character and a never say die attitude that’s awesome to watch.  After two periods the Bears were winning the game and had a 36-9 advantage in shots, they had a 15-3 advantage after the first period.  The game appeared to be a game of kids amongst men but it was still only 2-0 after 40 minutes with plenty of time for the Amerks to make it a game.  They did just that 15 seconds into the third period and then tied it up with 61 seconds left on the scoreboard to send the game into overtime and the eventual shootout.

(photo courtesy of Sweetest Hockey on Earth, a Hershey Bears site similar to this one)

It was a successful weekend for the Amerks picking up four out of a possible six points in the standings.  They lost in the shootout on Friday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and defeated the Binghamton Senators on Saturday.  I’ve often said not so nice things about the quality of video that you get [...]Read More

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Varone and Leggio Lead Amerks to 3-2 Win Over B-Sens

January 8, 2012 - By
Varone and Leggio Lead Amerks to 3-2 Win Over B-Sens

Sounds like the game came down to the final moments on Saturday night when the Amerks defeated the defending Calder Cup Champion Binghamton Senators.  I was not able to see or listen to the game so here’s the press release below…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2011

VARONE, LEGGIO POWER AMERKS TO 3-2 WIN OVER B-SENS

(Rochester, NY)… Rochester Americans rookie forward Phil Varone scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, and David Leggio made a season-high 44 saves to power the Amerks to a 3-2 win over the defending Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators tonight at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The win improves Rochester (15-13-4-2) to 3-1-0-0 this season against the B-Sens as it has now collected points in six of its last seven games.

The two-goal effort was the first multi-goal game for Varone, who also extended his point streak to six games. The game also featured the return of forward Zack Kassian and defenseman T.J. Brennan, who were reassigned to Rochester earlier this morning. Kassian made an immediate impact in his first game back in the lineup, assisting on Varone’s first goal of the game and finishing with a +1 rating.

Andre Petersson (1+1) [...]Read More

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Another One Goal Loss, Pens Defeat Amerks in the Shootout

January 6, 2012 - By
Another One Goal Loss, Pens Defeat Amerks in the Shootout

The Amerks picked up a point again on the road against a tough Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team which is better than nothing.  It came down to the skills competition where Eric Tangradi scored in the eighth round scoring top corner glove side on Drew MacIntyre for the win.  These one goal losses and one point games could come back to haunt the Amerks in April.  A week ago they were only one point back of the first place Marlies and after tonight their seven back from first in the division but tied for eighth in the conference.

The game started with both teams skating back and forth for the first 10:48 before the first whistle of the game and then they finished the first period in under a half hour.  At 17:11 of the first period Marcus Foligno put the puck on goaltender Brad Thiessen who tried to go for the glove side but it went off the edge of his glove.  The puck landed to the side of the net where Phil Varone was skating in and scored for his third of the season.

Jason Williams tied the game at 11:07 of the second period with a shot from the [...]Read More

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Gameday: Maturing Amerks Hit the Road Again; Morrisonn and Tropp Return

January 6, 2012 - By
Gameday: Maturing Amerks Hit the Road Again; Morrisonn and Tropp Return

The Amerks hit the road again for the start of a busy almost second half of the season.  They’ll be playing three games in three nights starting tonight against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and then Binghamton Senators and then closing out the weekend against the Hershey Bears on Sunday.  The team will play every Friday and Saturday night until April 6th which is the second to last weekend of the season.  This will also be one of five sets of three games in three nights to finish the season.

Last weekend the Amerks ended the year one point behind the Toronto Marlies for first place in the division and here we are a week later and the Amerks are now six points behind them and ninth place in the conference.  It’s not October or November anymore, this is the time of season when points start to have a lot more meaning when it comes to the playoffs.  There are 43 games remaining and there’s only four points separating the Amerks from where they are in ninth place to the Hamilton Bulldogs in 13th.

The Rochester Americans have been maturing as the season goes on which is great instead of a quick [...]Read More

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Brayden McNabb Picked for the AHL All-Star Game.. Why Whitmore Was Not

January 5, 2012 - By
Brayden McNabb Picked for the AHL All-Star Game.. Why Whitmore Was Not

It was somewhat surprising when the American Hockey League announced the playing roster for the AHL All-Star Game later this month in Atlantic City and Brayden McNabb was listed as representing the Amerks.  That’s not meant to take anything away from McNabb.  The obvious choice was Derek Whitmore but that was without looking at statistics around the league.  McNabb has been playing with the Sabres since November 26th and is making a big case for himself to stay up there as long as possible.

Brayden McNabb played in the first 19 games of the season for the Amerks scoring one goal and putting nine assists on the scorecard.  There’s a reason the rookie was called up to the Sabres and has stayed up there, he’s a good defenseman.  Well, the other reason was that no one else was ready so he got the call and he proved himself.  TJ Brennan was already called up and Joe Finley didn’t have an NHL deal at the time.

Will McNabb play in the game?  If he’s back in Rochester by January 28th, yes he will.  If he’s still with the Sabres he will not.  Well, that’s my guess at least.  It’s doubtful a [...]Read More

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Corey Tropp Sent Down; AHL Replay in Preliminary Stages

January 3, 2012 - By
Corey Tropp Sent Down; AHL Replay in Preliminary Stages

The news from Monday was that the Buffalo Sabres sent Corey Tropp back to the Amerks now that he’s recovered from a concussion.  Unless you’ve been following the Sabres you’ve probably forgotten about Tropp as an Amerks forward.  He’s only played in 12 out of 33 games for the Amerks this season with 10 of those in October.  In those 12 games Tropp scored four goals, had three assists and 19 penalty minutes.  He also played a game in November and December.  I was in Buffalo when Tropp scored his first NHL goal and you can read about that here.  Tropp wears #14 with the Amerks (or at least did) and his return to the Amerks assumes that the Sabres will stay healthy.

Another bit of information came out yesterday from Bridgeport where it has been confirmed that The AHL is going to be testing out a replay system at four Bridgeport Sound Tigers games this season.  This may come as a surprise for some who don’t follow the American Hockey League too closely.  It’s one of the few professional leagues left in the world that has not had any type of replay system.  The league has said that [...]Read More

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Top 11 Articles on Lets Go Amerks from 2011

January 2, 2012 - By
Top 11 Articles on Lets Go Amerks from 2011

It was a busy second half of 2011 for this site with acquiring a bigger audience with the sale of the Rochester Americans to the Buffalo Sabres.  Here’s a quick look back at what was popular over the past year (more like 6 months, I didn’t write much last season).

( AHL Playoff Format for 2010-2011 Season ) - The most popular post was about the American Hockey League playoff format for the 2010/2011 season.  The information had spread pretty quickly which generated hits but it’s now old.  Here’s the format that changed completely for the 2011/2012 season, so here’s a link to that ( AHL Alignment and Playoff Format for 2011-2012 Season ).

( Drew MacIntyre’s Lid Features Care Bears and Potato Heads ) – Everyone enjoys the story behind a goalies helmet and what it means to them, no surprise that MacIntyre’s has been a popular topic of conversation.  It’s a simple design with meaning behind it.

( Big Joe Finley, Strong on Defense, Can Also Throw Lawn Mowers and Attack Mascots ) - Joe Finley has made quite the impression since being an invite to the Sabres training camp, earning an NHL contract and then getting his first call up.  Here’s a little back story on [...]Read More

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A Few Random Postgame Thoughts, Another One Goal Loss for the Amerks

December 31, 2011 - By
A Few Random Postgame Thoughts, Another One Goal Loss for the Amerks

The story of the night once the game started was the enormous crowd that showed up to see the Rochester Americans tonight.  The line to get tickets at the box office and will call nearly filled the lobby well past the start of the game.  The attendance announced was 9,7771 which is the largest crowd I’ve ever seen in that building since I started going to games in 2006.  A crowd of 10,136 was announced on January 12, 2007 but no one I’ve talked to ever remembers that large of a crowd that season.  That was the end of an era of padded numbers with tickets printed, not actual attendance which is reported now.  Anyways… hopefully everyone was entertained and comes back again!

I don’t have the time to do a typical post game report so here’s a few random thoughts:

** This was the Amerks 11th loss by one goal.  Include a game where an empty netter was scored and it’s really their 12th.  There’s probably a few ways you can look at a stat like that.  Is it due to goaltending letting in one too many soft goals?  Typically the case.  Is it due to the lack of [...]Read More

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