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Gameday Notes: Amerks vs Bulldogs; Big Crowd Expected

December 30, 2011 - By
Gameday Notes: Amerks vs Bulldogs; Big Crowd Expected

The Amerks have a chance to take first back first place in the North Division with a win tonight over the Hamilton Bulldogs, a team they’ve had difficulty beating so far in six games this season.  The Bulldogs have 12 wins this season and five of those have been against the Rochester Americans.  Both teams are playing improved hockey lately so it should be a competitive game starting at 7:35 at the War Memorial.

Rochester is on a four game winning streak having just defeated the Oklahoma City Barons in a shootout and overtime.  They handed the Lake Erie Monsters a 4-1 loss last Wednesday and almost two weeks ago defeated the Houston Aeros on the road.  The winning streak has the Amerks within one point of first place in the North Division and thanks to a Toronto Marlies loss on Thursday they have a chance to move up.  They’re a young team finding ways to win through injuries, call ups and overall simply working as a team.

Hamilton on the other hand has won six of their last 10 games and picked up points in eight of those games.  On Monday the Toronto Marlies were winning 3-0 at the [...]Read More

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Guest Spot on the Power Play Post Show; Article About the Marlies

December 30, 2011 - By
Guest Spot on the Power Play Post Show; Article About the Marlies

I’ve mentioned the Power Play Post show before but not as often as I should since as far as I know it’s the only in depth radio show/podcast in the world with in depth discussion of the American Hockey League.  The show is based out of Binghamton but is focused on the entire league, not discussion about Binghamton first and then everyone else.  The show typically starts with the hosts Bob Howard and Jason Wilcox discussing what has happened over the previous week followed by Bob interviewing a few guests.  For the 11th episode of their 8th season I was a guest on the air to talk about the Amerks along with forward Ryan Keller of the Oklahoma City Barons and Mike Kelley who is the play by play broadcaster for the Springfield Falcons.

If you’d like to take a listen head on over to http://pppshow.net to download or stream the recent episode!  I’m more of a writer than talker (at least I think I am – I never listen to myself) so if you listen let me know how I did even if I was horrible.  I can’t be too bad if Bob keeps having me back as a guest.

[...]Read More

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Taylor Chorney Hit on Amerks Evan Rankin

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December 29, 2011 - By
Taylor Chorney Hit on Amerks Evan Rankin

During the December 27th game between the Rochester Americans and Oklahoma City Barons the hit in the video below took Evan Rankin out of the game and he did not return.  He had to be helped to the ice by the trainer and missed the game the next night on December 28th.  I may be biased but it sure looks like Chomey skates at him and raises his shoulder as he goes in for the hit.  There was no penalty called on the play.

Rankin has been the a key player on the ice for the Amerks since joining them on November 25th when he was signed to a professional tryout.  In 13 games with the team he has seven goals and five assists which includes two games with two goals.  The 25 game PTO will run out at the end of January and assuming he’s not out for long it should be a guarantee he’ll land an AHL contract to stay here the rest of the season.  The only other player with seven goals in that same time frame is Derek Whitmore.

Here’s the video:

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Amerks Shootout Win Extends Streak to Four Games; Adversity is No Problem

December 29, 2011 - By
Amerks Shootout Win Extends Streak to Four Games; Adversity is No Problem

(Update: Added shootout video and Travis Turnbull incident) This Rochester Americans team is supposed to lack goal scoring.  It’s supposed to be missing a couple of players as veteran leadership.  It’s supposed to lack depth.  It’s also supposed to be torn apart by all of the injuries and call ups but the players put everything out on the ice and won in a shootout against the top team in the league.  They were down 2-1 and 3-2 during the game but came back each time and didn’t slow down at all.  With the four game winning streak in hand the Amerks have climbed back to within one point of the North Division leading Toronto Marlies.  The players are certainly giving reasons to believe that the glass is half full and filling up.

(Picture by Steven Christy from http://okcbarons.com/)

Paul Szczechura, Shaone Morrisonn and Evan Rankin were all out of the lineup with injuries but watching the game it was hard to tell.  Sure, the team failed to score on five power play chances which is where a Szczechura or Rankin could have helped but when you can score at even strength it’s not as bad.

We’ve shared concerns about this [...]Read More

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Amerks Extend Win Streak to Three; Rankin Down; Back at it Tonight

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December 28, 2011 - By
Amerks Extend Win Streak to Three; Rankin Down; Back at it Tonight

The Amerks travelled to to play a two game set against the Oklahoma City Barons and they came out on top of the first game with a 4-3 win in overtime.  The team was up 2-1 before the Barons scored two goals in 56 seconds and then Paul Szczechura scored halfway through the third to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime.  Watching the game online they had some struggles but didn’t back down from the top team in the league and came out victorious with an overtime goal scored by Drew Schiestel.

This was the third straight win for the Amerks and just like that they’re within three points of the North Division leading Toronto Marlies.  They’re still eighth in the Western Conference but can quickly jump to third by taking over the top spot in the division.  Assuming the team keeps playing hard every night, players can stay healthy and there’s few call ups anything is possible.. as everyone says, it’s a long season and it’s still only December.

Back to the game….. Paul Szczechura (aka Chewy.. aka Sahara if you listen to Rick Jeanneret) fresh off a recall to the Buffalo Sabres scored the first goal [...]Read More

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Sabres Return a Healthy Whitmore

December 26, 2011 - By
Sabres Return a Healthy Whitmore

The Sabres sent Derek Whitmore back to the Amerks today after his short two game promotion, surprisingly they didn’t harm him in any way while he was called up..  Whitmore didn’t put any points on the scoreboard but his hustle, scoring chances and hard work should earn him another call up this season if the need comes up and it likely will.  The Sabres signed Whitmore out of Bowling Green State University and as a college student not drafted many questioned if he’d have what it takes to play in the NHL and he finally got the chance to prove that he could.  It only took 272 games in the American Hockey League to get to this point but he was finally able to fulfill his dream of playing in the NHL.

Derek Whitmore is currently the Amerks leading scorer with 13 goals and seven assists in 29 games.

The Amerks are off to Oklahoma City to play two games against the Barons on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

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The Amerks 12 Days of Christmas 2008 to 2011

December 22, 2011 - By
The Amerks 12 Days of Christmas 2008 to 2011

The Amerks have continued the tradition in 2011 of having the players sing their own version of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Starting with 2008 and then this seasons is down at the bottom.  Derek Whitmore and Jacob Legace offer the best moments in this years.  It’s a shame they couldn’t squeeze in a “Legend of Joe Finley” somewhere.  Grab a hold of things that gain even a slight amount of popularity and run with it!  They’re all worth watching and are classics that will follow these guys through their careers.

Starting with 2008 and then 2011 at the bottom..

2008 featuring Drew Larman, Keaton Ellerby, Jordan Henry, Dan Collins, Franklin MacDonald, Tanner Glass, Michael Caruso, Riley Emmerson, Jason Garrison, David Shantz, Andrew Sweetland, Michal Repik

2009 featuring Tyler Plante, Mike Duco, Andrew Sweetland, Jimmy Bonneau, Shawn Matthias, David Brine, Brady Calla, Luke Beaverson, Evgeny Dadanov, Michal Repik, Jason Garison, Alexander Salak

2010 featuring Jacob Markstrom, Adam Comrie, AJ Jenks, Evgeny Dadanov, Brady Calla, Scott Timmins, Colby Robak, PJ Fenton, Eric Selleck, Paul Baier, Michael Caruso, Tyler Plant.  I’m missing two faces here, who are they?

2010 Bloopers

2011 Version:

Bloopers:


Enjoy!

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Grit, Guts and Goaltending Leads to Amerks 4-1 Win

December 22, 2011 - By
Grit, Guts and Goaltending Leads to Amerks 4-1 Win

The story leading up to the Rochester Americans vs Lake Erie Monsters game on Wednesday night was that the Amerks were short on players with what seems like half the team up with the Buffalo Sabres.  On paper there wasn’t much hope for the game considering they’re a squad that at times has had problems scoring goals and they were about to face the American Hockey League’s best goaltender in Cedrick Desjardins.  No one should deny that the current Amerks roster has it’s challenges against other top teams in the league but one thing is certain, this team works hard and puts everything they have out on the ice and they proved that again with a 4-1 win over the Lake Erie Monsters.

“I give a lot of credit to our guys coming back from Texas and being able to bounce back at home and put the effort there,” said Head Coach Ron Rolston.  ”I think they did that tonight so we were very happy with that.” (from the Amerks press release)

Drew MacIntyre had a solid night in net for the Amerks and besides the one goal allowed he made a number of big time saves, including a glove [...]Read More

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Amerks Add a Campbell and Igor to the Lineup; Foligno Sent Back

December 21, 2011 - By
Amerks Add a Campbell and Igor to the Lineup; Foligno Sent Back

The press release is below from the Amerks announcing the addition of Scott Campbell and Igor Gongalsky.  Marcus Foligno was also sent down by the Sabres.  The chances of Foligno playing are very slim, this would be his fifth game in six nights if he plays and that’s something no team wants a player going through.  I think everyone would be all for him playing, we’ll see at game time what the coaches decision is.

Out of the two players added Scott Campbell appears to be the one with more of an offensive upside.  Campbell has scored 9 goals and 8 assists in 28 games with the Las Vegas Wranglers.  Gongalsky was recently released from a PTO with the Portland Pirates where he played in 13 games and had one assist.  He also played in 54 games with the Pirates last season and tallied four goals and six assists.  We’ll see what they can do tonight.

(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans announced today that the team has signed forward Scott Campbell of the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers and forward Igor Gongalsky of the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators to professional tryouts. Earlier today, forward Marcus Foligno was assigned to the Amerks by [...]Read More

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Amerks Need Some Players with 163 Man Games Lost Already

December 21, 2011 - By
Amerks Need Some Players with 163 Man Games Lost Already

Here we are in late December and the offensive side of the Rochester Americans lineup has just about dried up and as of this morning the team is short on players heading into tonights game against the Lake Erie Monsters.  Based on the Amerks roster that played on Sunday minus Whitmore and Foligno they have six defensemen, two goalies and ten forwards.  The simple math indicates that leaves them two forwards short.  As of Tuesday night there was not any news of additions to the roster.

Don Stevens had mentioned on Sunday that Shaone Morrisonn and Joe Finley were out with injuries from that game.  Morrisonn was also handed a one game suspension from the American Hockey League for an elbow this past Friday against the San Antonio Rampage.  It’s possible that Morrisonn was just sitting the game out ahead of the pending suspension.  We should find out sometime today what the status is of Finley and Morrisonn.

There’s often talk about “man games lost” due to injuries on a team and I can’t imagine another team having a number as high as the Rochester Americans right now.  The number combined between injuries and call ups (based on my late [...]Read More

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Sabres Call Up Whitmore and Foligno from the Amerks

December 19, 2011 - By
Sabres Call Up Whitmore and Foligno from the Amerks

Another day and more players called up to the Buffalo Sabres from the Rochester Americans.  The Amerks returned from Texas today and good news awaited Derek Whitmore and Marcus Foligno as both players are on their way to join the Sabres.

Whitmore has played in 272 regular season games between the Portland Pirates and Rochester Americans and will finally get his shot at the show he has worked so hard for.  In 29 games this season with the Amerks he has scored 13 goals and tallied seven assists.  Whitmore puts everything he has out on the ice night in and night out and will do the same with the Sabres.

Marcus Foligno hopes to make his debut after only 27 games.  In the 27 games played with the Amerks he has scored nine goals and tallied three assists.  There’s no way that Foligno would have expected to get called up this early in his career but will be thankful for the opportunity.  That’s not to say that Foligno wasn’t playing well but with the players above him in depth it just didn’t seem likely.

Assuming Foligno plays he’ll be playing in his first NHL game agains his brother Nick Foligno. [...]Read More

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Six Goal Scorers Saved the Weekend for the Amerks; Finley and Morrisonn Injured

December 19, 2011 - By
Six Goal Scorers Saved the Weekend for the Amerks; Finley and Morrisonn Injured

What was shaping up to be a disaster of a road trip was saved on Sunday when six different players scored six goals to lead the Rochester Americans to a 6-2 win over the Houston Aeros.  The Amerks lost in overtime on Friday night to the Rampage, were blown out 6-2 on Saturday night against the Stars and then came back for the big win on Sunday.  Three out of a possible six points on a long road trip with a lineup missing a lot of key players isn’t too bad of an achievement.  (picture featured courtesy of The 3rd Intermission)

Derek Whitmore, TJ Brennan, Alex Biega, Jacob Legace, Travis Turnbull and Maxime Legault all scored goals on Sunday.  Goal scoring has been an issue all season so hopefully the six of those guys lighting up the board will give them all confidence that it can continue to be done.

Read a game recap from The 3rd Intermission: Aeros Do The Patriotic Things And Lose To The Americans

The bad news:  the Aeros lost 6-3 to the Rochester Americans, the team with the worst road record in the AHL.  And if not for a burst of scoring in the first [...]Read More

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