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Game 2: Stay Out of the Box and Play Physical Near the Net

April 17, 2010 - By

It’s only game two of a seven game series tonight between the Amerks and Heat but it’s possibly one of the most important games.  If the Heat win and return home for three games everything is in their favor.  If the Amerks win the series starts over as a best of five with three straight in Abbotsford and the Heat are not as good on home ice.  I’m heading down to the arena shortly for the morning skate and hopefully it’s not the last.

The game plan should be pretty simple, stay out of the penalty box, create some battles in front of David Shantz and do not let Keith Seabrook shoot the puck from the blue line.  Seabrook had two goals on Thursday night, the first and the game winner.

Attendance should be better tonight for game two at 7:05pm at Blue Cross Arena.  The Red Wings are scheduled to open their season today at home but the weather does not look to be very baseball like.  Pass the word, get some fans in the building to cheer on the hometown team.  The Sabres play at 1pm so keep the day going with more WNY playoff hockey!

A few [...]Read More

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Regular Season Mistakes Sink the Amerks in Game 1

April 16, 2010 - By

Benoit Groulx made the decision to start rookie goaltender Alexander Salak in the first game of the 2010 playoffs for the Rochester Americans and the decision back fired on him.  The Heat scored three first period goals against Salak and that was enough for him, he was pulled after the first period and replaced by Tyler Plante who had a two period shutout.

Tyler Plante was the hot goalie down the stretch and will get the start on Saturday night for game 2.  Just about everyone in attendance was wondering why that did not happen in the first place.

The Heat had 11 power play opportunities, the Amerks had eight.  Both teams scored two power play goals.  The penalties were an issue but both teams had plenty of chances, the difference was playing at even strength and the Heat had that advantage scoring a goal only 35 seconds into the game.  Rochester was not able to recover from that at all.

Chris Taylor could have wrote this article in one sentence with his comment saying, “One bad period really cost us the game.”

The Abbotsford Heat also deserve credit for a well played and well coached game.  They got [...]Read More

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Example of Horrible Officiating by Koharski

April 16, 2010 - By

Jamie Koharski is one the worst ref’s in hockey and proved it again on Thursday night during the Amerks and Heat playoff game.  There was a total of 19 power plays.  That’s right, 19.  Has anyone ever seen so many penalties in a playoff game?  Now, a lot of them were valid penalties like the high stick video below but you’ll also notice in the video that Mike Duco takes a high stick to the face but somehow it’s not seen.

The Amerks lost the game for a lot of different reasons, penalties was one of the reasons but that’s something they can control going forward.  I doubt that the Amerks players chirping Koharski early helped to get him on their side, how come Benoit Groulx or Jason Cipolla never had a word with the guy?  Jim Playfair gave Koharski a mouthful recently, I imagine they just think there’s no point.

How did he miss the high stick on Mike Duco in this video?  It’s not as if it happened on the other side of the ice, they were practically next to each other.  We’ll never know.  The officiating in this league seems to get worst, not better (or maybe [...]Read More

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Gameday: Rory Out, Observartions, Matthias has the Experience

April 15, 2010 - By

The Rochester Americans and Abbotsford Heat face off tonight for Game 1 of their Calder Cup playoff series.  The Amerks missed the playoffs the last two seasons after having two of the worst teams in franchise history.  A pretty remarkable turnaround, big thanks to the wallet of Amerks Owner Curt Styres.

A few quick things before the part about Matthias:

** Rory Fitzpatrick is a healthy scratch, that’s the biggest news.  Mathieu Roy is in.  Roy has only played in one game for the Amerks and is coming off of an ankle injury. Sucks for Fitzpatrick, but a healthy Roy is probably better.  Is game #1 of the playoffs the time to really take a gamble and expect 20 minutes out of the guy?  Groulx is taking a gamble, hopefully it pays off.

Has the Captain of a team ever been forced to sit in game 1 like this? Rory didn’t sound too happy in his comments to Kevin O at Hockey O-Zone.  It’s part of the game, but… why make him the captain if you don’t think you can count on him?

** Rob Tallas, the Panthers goalie coach has already left town.  At least Salak and Plante got [...]Read More

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Round 1 Preview of the Amerks vs Heat

April 14, 2010 - By

The Amerks begin their run for the Calder Cup on Thursday night against the Abbotsford Heat in I’m guaranteeing will be a great round of hockey.  The two teams met four times during the regular season with the Heat winning three of those games but the teams that played each other during the regular season are not the same teams playing now in the playoffs.

Only one of the four games was a “blowout” where the Heat were the clear winners and that was on December 5th when the Amerks had Chris Beckford-Tseu in net.  Chris Taylor had also been kicked out of that game half way through the first period.  The defense was also without Rory Fitzpatrick at the time.

In other words, the four previous games do not really mean anything heading into the first round.

“They play hard, a lot of fast little forwards that finish their checks,” Jeff Taffe said talking about the Heat this past Friday.  “It’s something we have to battle through and expect.”

Speed has not been a redeeming quality of the Amerks this season so slowing down the Heat will be one of many keys to the Amerks winning some games.

Every [...]Read More

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Alexander Salak Likely the Starting Goalie for Amerks

April 14, 2010 - By

As I would have predicted, Alexander Salak is all but confirmed by the coach to be the starting goaltender for the Rochester Americans when they open the first round of the playoffs on Thursday night against the Abbotsford Heat.  Benoit Groulx said that he will officially announce it on Wednesday but Tyler Plante had let the cat out of the bag on Tuesday when he said he was not starting.

“It’s disappointing but it’s playoff time and everyone has a role,” said Plante.  “You have to fill those roles. Sally had a great year and coach decided to go with him so I’m going to support that and be there for my teammates.”  (Source: YNN News)

Salak played in 49 games this season for the Amerks and ended the season tied for fourth with 29 wins amongst AHL goalies.  Salak was also the starting goaltender for Planet USA at the 2010 AHL All-Star Game.  The only people who’d be concerned about Salak are Amerks fans, a lot of other people I’ve talked to around the league have been impressed with Salak this season.

Alexander Salak also told YNN News, “At the start of this season, coach asked me how [...]Read More

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Enter the Calder Cup Challenge, Pick Top Players

April 13, 2010 - By

Take a few minutes and enter the Calder Cup Challenge prior to 7pm on Wednesday to win some prizes from The AHL.  Long story short, pick the players who you think will score the most points.  A fantasy hockey team.  The one amusing part is seeing Daneil Steiner listed in the list of Defenseman #2 but Clay Wilson is not anywhere to be found.

Here’s all the details:

The American Hockey League has launched the 2010 Calder Cup Challenge, a free on-line contest offering AHL fans the opportunity to test their postseason knowledge and win exciting prizes.  Contest entries must be received prior to the start of the first game of the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET.

Click here to enter the contest.

Registration is underway now at theahl.com. Participants will select a total of 10 players from among the 16 teams in the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs, and accumulate points in the contest as their players rack up goals, assists, wins and shutouts.

Contestants will also be asked to answer bonus questions (e.g., “How many overtime games will there be this postseason?”) to receive additional points.

The 2010 Calder Cup [...]Read More

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Confidence is Key for the Amerks, They May Have it Back

April 13, 2010 - By

The Rochester Americans team that played in October and November was a much different team than the one that played down the stretch.  The team that played early in the season had a sort of swagger to them, some excitement and even appeared to be having fun.  The team did not lose their fourth game of the season until November 28th, the 20th game of the season.  At some point after that game the swagger slowly faded away.

After talking to a number of different players over the past week and watching practice on Tuesday morning I get the feeling that the swagger and confidence that has been talked about and also disappeared is back.  It’s pretty simple, you’re happy when you’re winning and you’re miserable when you’re losing.

I’ve watched a lot of practices in the mornings and the team that practiced on Tuesday morning looked to be a different team than the one I watched a few weeks ago.  The execution of drills, the passes, the shots and even the saves by Alexander Salak and Tyler Plante looked better.

It may have also helped that the coaches were more interactive and also giving a lot more specific directions.

Speaking [...]Read More

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Seven Players Return to Amerks, Three Players Released

April 12, 2010 - By

The season is over for the Florida Panthers which means the return of players previously called up and also that the only way players will leave the Amerks lineup is with an injury.  The end of the Panthers season meant that seven players were sent to the Amerks for the playoffs.

Hershey Bears head Coach Mark French said to me back in January at the AHL All-Star game that he thought the Amerks were a really good team, “if the Panthers would leave them alone.”  Pretty strong statement from the coach of the best team in the league and now it’s time to see.

A few players were also released.  Corey Syvret, Alex Petizian and Andrew Lord were released.  Lord is rejoining his ECHL team the Wheeling Nailers.

The players returning to the Amerks are Shawn Matthias, Jason Garrison, Keaton Ellerby, Steve MacIntyre, Victor Oreskovich, Evgeny Dadonov and Tyler Plante.

There is some concern about the players getting back into the Amerks system, the different level of play and also some chemistry.  I’d say the hope is that after time in the NHL they’ll all be ready to accomplish something special in the AHL before some of them have full [...]Read More

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Playoff Practices Start for Amerks

April 12, 2010 - By

Watching practice this morning feels more like training camp than the team getting ready for the playoffs with all of the new players still around. Half the team is on its way back from Florida and some of the others are doing off ice workouts.

The team practicing on a Monday morning though is the big sign that the playoffs start this week, I don’t think the team ever practiced on a Monday morning during the regular season.

Alexander Salak is getting the most help this morning with the arrival of Florida Panthers goalie coach Rob Tallas. Instead of just skating around and stretching on his own Salak is getting specific directions and tips on ways to make saves and play the puck better. Seems like a no brainer being coached, but it’s something that him and Plante have dealt with all season not having a goalie coach.

John de Gray is back on the ice participating in practice after being out the past almost two weeks.

If you know anyone who wants to know more about the Amerks do me a favor and tell them about this site. In a way it feels odd that Rochesters professional hockey team [...]Read More

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Panthers Sign Adam Comrie, Jenks to be Signed

April 11, 2010 - By

A couple of new faces will likely arrive in Rochester in a few days as the Panthers start signing drafted players to entry level contracts now that their junior seasons are finishing up.  The first player being Adam Comrie who just signed a three year entry level contract with the Florida Panthers.  The defenseman had 14 goals and 26 assists for the Guelph Storm in the Ontario Hockey League in the regular season.  In five playoff games the defenseman had one goal and two assists.

A.J. Jenks, a winger from the the Plymouth Whalers is also expected to sign his entry level contract in the coming days.  In 52 games for the Whalers in the regular season Jenks tallied 23 goals and 40 assists.  He played in nine playoff games and scored four goals and had eight assists.

Comrie was a third round pick and Jenks a fourth round pick in 2008.  Comrie’s contract still needs to be approved by the NHL but that should go through with no problems.  The same for Jenks once he officially signs.

Randy Sexton told Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel that both are likely headed to Rochester for the playoffs but neither was on [...]Read More

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Crunch Finally Defeat the Amerks, In Game Number 80

April 11, 2010 - By

The game on Saturday night meant absolutely nothing to the Rochester Americans.  A win against the Crunch would have been a great way to end the season with a complete sweep of the ten games between the two teams but it wasn’t meant to be, the Crunch won the game 5-2.

The supposed plan was to start Alexander Salak in the game but I don’t think that was ever going to happen.  Even if Tyler Plante did not get called up I think someone else would have been brought in to start in net for the Amerks.  With nothing on the line and the Crunch with a strong dislike for both goalies it was obvious that something would have happened.

Jon Mirasty spent time during the warmups chirping at Salak but Salak didn’t give him the time of day.  Maybe if those players spent less time worried about trying to intimidate their opponents during warmups they’d be in the playoffs instead of scheduling locker cleanout day.

Alex Petizian Save on Chad Kolarik

Alex Petizian was the unfortunate goaltender to get the call and make this is his first professional game.  The game will either scar him for life [...]Read More

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