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Posts tagged 'Blue Cross Arena'

Posts Tagged ‘Blue Cross Arena’

Amerks to Lower Capacity at Blue Cross Arena

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February 25, 2010 - By Keith Wozniak

The Amerks have already started planning for the 2010/2011 season and one of the changes that will come is the closing of sections 211 – 217 which will lower capacity to around 7,668 seats, down from current capacity of  10,652.  This is a great move by the team that probably should have been done a long time ago to force people to sit in the center sections with the hopes of creating a better atmosphere to enjoy the games.

As it is now there can be over 1,000 people sitting in those sections for a Friday or Saturday night game with a lot of other areas left looking empty.  One thing to note is that with the new changes if a game does sell out those sections will not be opened up, the game will be considered a sell out.  There’s very few teams that can regularly sell over 10,000 seats for a game and a number of teams that also have sections of their buildings closed off.

When talking real paid attendance numbers it’s appearing as if this season could be one of the best in a number of years.  A lot of people not familiar with the topic [...]Read More

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Sweets in the Suites and a Red Hot Sunday

October 22, 2009 - By Keith Wozniak

The Amerks play their first earlier Sunday home game of the season this weekend (October 25, 2009) and they have a couple of great promotions to go along with the game.  The game starts at 5:00pm and it’s against the Syracuse Crunch.  It’s a great chance to get out to a game and be home at a decent time.

The team is off to a hot start playing some entertaining hockey.  Tell a friend, pass the word on!!

After Wednesday nights game they’re currently on a four game winning streak prior to this weekends three games in three days.  The team is playing some great hockey especially on their home ice, don’t miss out.

Sweets in the Suites

*** In the spirit of Halloween, the Amerks will again host their third annual “Sweets in the Suites” promotion, courtesy of BJ’s Wholesale Club. Wear your Halloween costume to the game and receive best-available seating for as low as $10.00.  Kids can trick-or-treat, be selected to carve pumpkins or have a chance to win trick-or-treating with The Amerks Moose or Eagle, R. Thunder. The highlight of the evening is the Best Costume Contests with fan voting selecting the [...]Read More

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Amerks Win off Strong Goaltending and Five Goals

October 10, 2009 - By Keith Wozniak

The Rochester Americans defeated the Lake Erie Monsters in a rematch of last weeks opening night contest  The Amerks won the game off of a strong performance in net from Tyler Plante as well as five goals scored by the offense.

Waitaminute… Strong goaltending and five goals leads to a a win.  I don’t think I’ve written that since I’ve started this site.

Benoit Groulx notices the play of Tyler Plante saying, “He’s competing really hard.  This is what we needed tonight to win this game.  It’s fun to see that Tyler is having this start.”

In only two games Tyler Plante has showed that he’s taking his job very seriously this season.

The down side to the night?  There was only 2,213 people at the game.  That’s a completely different topic that I’ll be addressing soon.  Anyone REALLY concerned needs to remember it’s still only the second game.  Again, more on that soon.

One of things talked about after the opening night loss was how the roster was going to be different this week and it sure was.  Six players played tonight that did not last week.  The additions of Jeff Taffe, Michal Repik, Mike [...]Read More

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Indian Head Nickel at Center Ice Again

October 1, 2009 - By Keith Wozniak

Lewis Staats places the Indian Head Nickel at center ice

The crews at Blue Cross Arena spent this past Tuesday and Wednesday putting down the ice at Blue Cross Arena for the first time this season.

Last season Lewis Staats and Curt Styres had talked about starting some traditions of their own with the new venture in Rochester.  One of the ideas was to bury a coin at center ice.

That tradition is continuing and the nickel was placed at center ice on Tuesday afternoon prior to the start of the season.

Let’s hope things work out better this season or anyone who is superstituous may want it removed.

Here’s the rest of the story about the nickel from last October:

Embedded under an inch and a half of ice, you will find one of the rarest coins in all of North America, an Indian-head nickel, also known as the buffalo nickel.

The date on the 72-year-old collector’s item reads 1936, and although the date may seem meaningless to many, it actually poses quite the opposite for the Amerks. Coincidentally, 1936 is the inaugural season of operation for the AHL, the very league the Amerks [...]Read More

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Chris Taylor Looking Over Broad Street

September 29, 2009 - By Keith Wozniak

Chris Taylor on the windows of Blue Cross Arena

The giant windows at Blue Cross Arena were given a new look this week with the addition of a couple of huge pictures.  Rochester American Chris Taylor is on the Broad Street side of the building and the Rochester Knighthawks first round draft pick Sid Smith is on the Exchange Street side.

There’s nothing on the building that indicates what sports teams play at the arena so this will give the building a great new look from the outside by showing off two players from a couple of the teams that use the building.

These will get some attention from those working downtown and any out of town people who may be visiting.

It’s awesome to see the outside of the arena have the identity of two teams that use the building.  Up until this point there had been nothing on the outside of the building to give any indication of who used it.

The current ads are sponsored by the law firm Segar-Sciortino.

I assume on a day with nicer weather you’ll be able to see these better than the pictures let on.

It’s amazing [...]Read More

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Winning is Everything for Chris Taylor

July 16, 2009 - By Keith Wozniak

The Rochester Americans put the icing on the cake Thursday afternoon by signing veteran center Chris Taylor to a 2yr American Hockey League contract.  The ownership was not joking around when they said they would be bringing in veteran leadership once free agency began.

The veteran leadership that Chris Taylor will bring to the Amerks locker room is something that has been missing in recent years.  Taylor said, “I play hockey to win, I don’t play hockey to play hockey.  I want to win and expect everyone in this dressing room wants to win.”

“This is one of those times when we can take something good that was there in the past and bring it into today to help him and help us,” Lewis Staats said before introducing Taylor.

Over the past two weeks the Rochester Americans and Florida Panthers have made a strong statement that they’re committed to winning by signing Jeff Taffe, Jamie Johnson, Clay Wilson, Graham Fink, and now Chris Taylor.

Any time a player signs a contract with a team they will say that they’re excited, most of the time they are and at other times it’s just good public relations.  When Chris Taylor said he’s [...]Read More

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Amerks Home Opener

May 21, 2009 - By Keith Wozniak

The Rochester Americans announced on Thursday that the home opener for the 2009/2010 season will take place on Saturday October 3rd, 2009 at Blue Cross Arena.  The Amerks will be entering their 54th season and second as the sole affiliate of the Florida Panthers.

That’s right, only about four and a half months until the next season begins.

The other four dates already set in stone for next season are:

Friday November 6th and 20th

Friday December 11th

Saturday December 26th

The day after Christmas is typically one of the more well attended games each season, assuming the on ice team is better than last year and the game being on a Saturday will produce a larger than usual crowd.

These dates are great, but it’ll be tough selling any of these to many fans until after fans get to see what kind of team is assembled through free agency starting on July 1st.

The deadline for “Early Eagle” pricing was extended to June 1st, so if you’re looking to save money head down to the arena and put down a deposit for season tickets.

The Amerks’ “Early Eagle” pricing deadline for the 2009-10 season is now good until Monday, [...]Read More

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Improvements for Opening Night at Blue Cross Arena

October 8, 2008 - By Keith Wozniak

The Amerks start the 08/09 regular season labeled as “A New Day for a Rochester Tradition” on Friday night,  you’ll also see some noticable differences as you arrive at Blue Cross Arena.  An update on the team we’ll see on the ice Friday night is going to be posted later tonight.

As you approach the arena you’ll see an improved outside with tree’s planted and alternating sidewalk slabs painted.  A nice improvement over lots of empty concrete.  Inside of the arena crews were also busy touching up paint and cleaning the place up.  There’s an improved sound system that should be clearer, not just louder.

Once inside of the atrium you’ll be greeted by a large bronze statue of an indian lacross player, the statue is  named “For Love of the Game.”  It was donated by Curt Styres and his sons Wakeriat Bowhunter and Radowits Bowhunter.  Click the link for the full story of the statue on the Knighthawks web site.

Once you get to the top of the stairs you’ll also see an Amerks information booth, which was also present at the preseason game as well as the fun fest.  It’s only [...]Read More

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