Posts Tagged ‘Postgame’

Amerks Feel the Heat and are Forced to a Game 7

April 26, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

Before everyone starts writing a eulogy for this Amerks team just remember that it’s not over yet.  When a playoff series is on the line every team wants home ice advantage, something the Amerks earned.  It’s up to them to use it to their advantage.  It’s their building.  This team has done a lot this season, the last they they want is this season to be considered one big choke.

The only other time in Amerks history that they had a 3-1 series lead that eventually went to a game seven they won the series on their way to a Calder Cup in 1983.

That’s what we have to hope at least.  On to the game….

The Abbotsford Heat scored three goals in a span of two minutes and nine seconds that turned out to be too big of a hole for the Amerks to climb out of.  The Heat won the game thanks to speed, passing, bad giveaways and poor defensive coverage by the Amerks.

Evgeny Dadonov gave up the puck after being chased down by Mikael Backlund in the Amerks zone which led to a goal by Jason Jaffray.  It only took 41 seconds for the Heat to [...]Read More

Video: Amerks at Heat Game Five Scoring

April 24, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

Thanks to the Abbotsford Heat for supplying scoring highlights pretty quickly to the media after games.  Here’s the four goals scored during the game and the Jason Jaffray penalty shot.

1. ABB Rheault, (2) (Spurgeon, Sutter), 7:45
1. ABB Murray, (1) (Lammers, Cunning), 10:27
1. RCH York, (2) (Matthias), 13:04
3. ABB Van der Gulik, (1) , 9:48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRFyzROShHM

Here’s hoping for some better highlights on Sunday!

Heat Defeat the Amerks to Force Game Six Sunday in Rochester

April 24, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

The Abbotsford Heat were down 3-1 in the series heading into Friday nights game and scored two first period goals on their way to a 3-1 win over the Amerks to force a game six on Sunday in Rochester.  Don Stevens said on the broadcast that the team has to be up at 4am to begin their travel back home, based on how tired the teams looked tonight let’s hope they drink some red bulls for the game on Sunday.

The game was more like game one in Rochester than the previous four.  The Heat took an early lead and were able to limit the quality scoring chances for the Amerks.  There was not a lot of scoring and definitely not a lot of hitting.  That can easily be contributed to the third game in five nights after traveling across the country.

It did appear the Jeff Taffe had scored a goal late in the third period that would have made it a 3-2 game but it was called no goal by referee Frederic L’Ecuyer.  Every Amerk player on the ice at the time celebrated and even David Shantz looked for the puck but it was waved off.  Benoit Groulx [...]Read More

Huge 8 to 4 Win for the Amerks in Game 3

April 20, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

The Amerks got out to a slow start on Monday night on the road against the Abbotsford Heat but came back in a big way ending the game with an 8-4 win.  Abbotsford had a 2-1 lead up until 8:03 of the second period when Shawn Matthias tied the game and that opened up the scoring.  By the end of the game  Shawn Matthias, Graham Mink and Clay Wilson each had two goals and Mike York and Jason Garrison each had three assists.

The win gives the Amerks a 2-1 lead in the series heading into the next game on Wednesday night.  The win also guarantee’s at least one more Amerks home game whether it’s the end of this series or the next round.  Keep the ice cold and the locker room doors unlocked, the Amerks will be coming back home!

I wrote prior to game one that Shawn Matthias has the big game experiences this time of year and it doesn’t come down to just the veterans and he’s proving that.  Mike York and Graham Mink are also playing huge but Matthias has been the one to step up in these past two games.

David Shantz was pulled [...]Read More

Hard Nosed Hockey Leads Amerks to Tie Series

April 18, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

Saturday night in Rochester was the definition of playoff hockey.  The Rochester Americans defeated the Abbotsford Heat in game 2 on Saturday night, an excellent rebound of a game from the way they played on Thursday night.

“It’s playoff hockey and both teams were trying to set the tone and trying to get the teams going,” Shawn Matthias said.  “It’s going to be a long series so we wanted to show them we’re not scared of them.  If you watch they’re always starting things after every whistle so we’re responding well and trying to play a hard nosed style.”

That’s not a style of hockey the Amerks have had to play every other night but it’s what they’re going to have to do in this seven game series against the Abbotsford Heat.

“We knew we needed to win this game,” Tyler Plante said talking about the game.  “Tonight it really felt like playoff hockey, we worked hard for 60 minutes and I really give the team credit for that.”

Plante was excellent in net and proved he should have been the starter to begin with in this playoff series.  The only goal scored on him in this series was not [...]Read More

Regular Season Mistakes Sink the Amerks in Game 1

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April 16, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

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

Crunch Finally Defeat the Amerks, In Game Number 80

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April 11, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

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

Amerks Hold on Tight and Defeat Marlies in Shootout

April 10, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

The Rochester Americans got the job done on Friday night defeating the Toronto Marlies to clinch home ice advantage for their first round in the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs.  It may not have been pretty as the Amerks gave up a three goal lead but they found a way to get the job done, and that seems to have been the story of the season.

There’s a couple different ways to look at the game.  One of which is that it was an ugly victory and not the way you want to play during game #79 heading into the playoffs.  Another way to look at it is that the Amerks had four players who’ve played under 10 professional games, are still missing a lot of others and that they fulfilled their goal of making the playoffs with a much needed win.

One game remains on the regular season schedule and that’s Saturday evening on the road against the Syracuse Crunch.  According to Chris Taylor just because the team has clinched the playoffs and home ice don’t expect the team to take the night off.

“It’s good to see that even though we only played a solid period tonight we found [...]Read More

Griffins Double Up Amerks to Halt Winning Streak

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April 8, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

The Amerks had the odds stacked against them against Grand Rapids with majority of the teams defense either called up or injured.  The Griffins were able to score six goals against the Amerks in their 6-3 win which also denied the Amerks the chance to clinch home ice advantage.  The magic number is now one point.  The Amerks need either one point in one of their last two games to clinch home ice.  The other possibility is that they need the Abbotsford Heat to lose once in regulation in one their final two games.

Jordan Henry and Michael Caruso were the teams top two defensemen on Wednesday and had assistance from Luke Beaverson, Matt Duffy, Carl Hudson and Corey Syvret.  Those guys work hard at what they do but that’s more of an ECHL calibre defense than that of a 2nd place AHL team.  Rory Fitzpatrick did not make the trip, I assume he’s resting up his groin for the weekend.

Here’s the teams official recap:

For Immediate Release
April 7, 2010

GRIFFINS DOUBLE UP AMERKS TO HALT WINNING STREAK

(Rochester, NY)… The Grand Rapids Griffins scored twice in each period en route to a 6-3 win over the [...]Read More