The review touches on everything from food to the building setup to the music (even though there’s no traditional organ music).

They also give a great nod to the fans:

After 55 years of hockey, the rich tradition of players who have skated on War Memorial ice has led to a lengthy following. I engaged fans throughout the night, randomly selecting those with either ornate jerseys or those sitting around me.

It is clear they know their players well, who is up, who is down, who is touted as a top prospect and who is on the downside of their career. You can tell they appreciate being aligned with the Buffalo Sabres-owned team again. There is more structure and tradition with this partnership.

The fans have their own cheers and are quick to express disgust and delight. On this night, when the team’s play remained sluggish in the middle frame, fans voiced their displeasure to the extent the home team came out in the third and challenged the visiting Syracuse Crunch.

 Click here to read the rest of the review.

Stadium Journey Review of the War Memoral is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

** Tickets for the home opener on October 13th are only $11 and $12 and now on sale.. it’s time for Rochester Americans fans to stop talking about the team, stop talking about the Sabres being back and to start buying tickets.

** The Amerks hosted a “select a seat” event on Saturday where they gave fans the opportunity to sit in different seats and pick what they wanted for either package deals or individual tickets.  I stopped down there to check it out and while there weren’t exactly lines out the door there were probably a few more sales than usual on the first day of ticket sales.

** Water will be frozen and the ice will be painted inside of Blue Cross Arena at the end of this week.  I’ll be stopping down to check it out and of course share some pictures.  There isn’t going to be a Sabres logo on the jersey, will there be one on the ice?  I doubt it.  Does it matter?  No.

** The Sabres hosted a chat on Twitter the other day with Ted Black and when asked about the dollar beers and dogs on Friday nights we’ve grown to enjoy the last two (or three?) seasons he said, “Working on some variations of that offer.”

I’d have to imagine they’re working on some promotions for the season but nothing has been announced yet.

** It does not appear as though the Rochester Americans will be playing in any preseason games this season.  There wasn’t one in Portland last season either.  Is a preseason game all that necessary?  I think it is for the purpose of building a little bit of excitement for local hockey fans for the season ahead.  A year ago at this time everyone was getting ready for the preseason game at Blue Cross Arena between the Florida Panthers and what would become Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

Not everyone is a Buffalo Sabres fan who has been following the prospects closely so it’d be a great chance to give fans an introduction to many of the players.  For the players and coaches though they’ll likely see enough action in Sabres preseason games on top of what they already experienced in the Traverse City Tournament.

** Players are expected to start arriving in Rochester the week of September 26th, no official word yet on an “opening” of training camp that will be open to the public.

** There will be a couple of upgrades inside of Blue Cross Arena, whether or not they’ll be finished in time for the start of the season is still up in the air.  All of the production equipment is being upgraded/updated.  There’ll be a new sound system installed and hopefully a sound engineer can properly tune it so noise levels are acceptable all around.  The scoreboard is also going to get an upgrade, not sure with exactly what just yet but a 55″ LED TV from WalMart would be an upgrade from what’s currently attached to the ceiling.

The Sabres do a lot of video work so we’ll likely get much more in terms of quality video highlights this season compared to years past.

For those paying attention to the F*N Arena in Buffalo you’ve likely heard of and noticed all of the changes going on there from the millions spent on new locker rooms to cup holders above urinals and even zamboni’s equipped with lasers.  Unfortunately major changes like that are not in the near future for Blue Cross Arena and that’s because the building is owned by the City of Rochester.

That’s it for now… stay tuned as news starts flowing out of Buffalo from the start of training camp there.

If you aren’t already, “Like” LetsGoAmerks on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/letsgoamerks and “Follow” LetsGoAmerks on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/letsgoamerks.  You can even search Amerks on the Android or iPhone markets to get new posts from here sent directly to your phone for free.. thousands of people have already downloaded it, you should too.

New to the site and wondering who I am?  I promise an introduction this week.  If you watched YNN on Saturday you may have seen me on TV being interviewed and stumbling through words, there’s a reason some of us write and don’t try to be sportscasters.

Amerks Preseason, Tickets and BCA Upgrades is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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 of comp tickets still think that attendance has been horrible compared to what was announced years ago.  The issue is when you look at the actual amount of people at the games it’s a lot more than were present during those years.

A lower capacity and everyone sitting together will help create that environment of the days when the building was smaller.  That’s what helps Syracuse, Binghamton, and other smaller arenas have that “better atmosphere” to them.  It’s smaller crowds but everyone is together.

If you’re not familiar with where those sections are, here’s a layout below.  They are the sections on the Broad Street side of the building.  The reason the closure does not continue over to 218 and 219 is because of where the production booth is up top.

Any current season ticket holders in those sections are being allowed to move their seats and stay grandfathered for one season at their current rate.

If you’re curious about cheap tickets, those will still be available in the balcony (and possibly elsewhere, I have not yet seen ticket pricing for next season).  If you just rolled your eyes about sitting in the balcony I can guarantee you that the “loud ones” up there are passionate Amerks fans.

This is an awesome realistic approach to what the market is for minor league hockey today.  This past weekend proved that the Buffalo Sabres minor league team does not attract a game changing crowd and that the attendance numbers have NOTHING to do with that.

This should help add more value to what tickets will be available and should also help the team sell more group rate tickets and really have the building full on more than one occasion.

Amerks to Lower Capacity at Blue Cross Arena is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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 winners. The first contest is for kids ages 5 and under with the winner receiving one hour of trick-or-treating with The Moose on Halloween (Saturday, October 31st).

The Best Costume winner for kids ages 6-12 will win one hour of trick-or-treating with R. Thunder. Restrictions apply to the Greater Rochester Area. As part of “Sweets in the Suites,” all children can trick-or-treat during the first intermission of the game in the suite level of The Blue Cross Arena. Three people will also be selected to compete in a pumpkin carving contest during the second period. The winner will win an Amerks gift bag.

Red Hot Sundays

*** The game also falls on the first installment of the Amerks Red Hot Sundays, courtesy of Zweigle’s. This season marks the second season that the Amerks have partnered with Zweigle’s to offer the “Red Hot Sundays” promotion. The promotion allows fans to purchase a Family Four Pack, which includes four hotdogs, four soft drinks and four tickets, for the low price of $44. In conjunction with Savor Catering at The Blue Cross Arena, the Amerks will offer this great promotion to the fans 10 times this season. Packages can be ordered by calling the Amerks office directly and speaking with a ticket sales representative. The phone number is (585) 454-5335. After the game, fans can head down to The Distillery at 1142 Mt. Hope Ave. for the official postgame party.

Sweets in the Suites and a Red Hot Sunday is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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 Duco, Jason Garrison, Mike Caruso and Rory Fitzpatrick was obvious.

The first period was scoreless and the highlight had to be the Monsters 5 on 3 power play that the Amerks successfully killed off.  They did not allow any really great scoring chances.

The Monsters outshot the Amerks 14-4 in the first period which is something this team can’t allow to happen again.

Mike York put the Amerks on the scoreboard 17 seconds into the second period.  Jeff Taffe was chasing Monster defenseman Brian Fahey towards the back of the Monsters net when Fahey appeared to lose an edge, lost the puck and fell to the ice.  Taffe was patient and waited a split second, passed the puck to Michal Repik who immediately slid the puck to Mike York who was all alone to easily put the puck to the back of the net.

It only took another 61 seconds for the Amerks to take a 2-0 lead.  Mike Caruso was leading the way down the middle of the ice with Kenndal McArdle coming up on his left side.  Caruso slid a perfect back hand pass to McArdle who unleashed a hard slap shot from the top of the face off circle and beat Trevor Cann gloveside.

To the naked eye it looked as if it should have been called for offside.  I watched the replay in slow motion and Caruso slid the puck absolutely perfectly along the blue line as he crossed over.

At 4:09 of the second period Kenndal McArdle and Chris Durno mixed things up along the boards and both went to the box for roughing.  No gloves were dropped but they did not appear to be happy with each other.

I don’t recall McArdle hitting last season as much as he seemed to tonight.  It seems as if McArdle is taking on a different role this year.  He played a solid game across the board.

I asked Groulx about McArdle and he said, “I thought he was one of our best players tonight.  He gets involved.  He uses his speed and his shot.  He was a force tonight.  He did a great job going on forecheck, provoking things, and being physical.”

The Monsters made it a 2-1 game at 9:53 of the second period off a Chris Durno goal.  The play was 4 on 2 with only Jason Garrison and Jordan Henry trying to stop the odd man rush.  Josh Aspenlind was coming down the right side when he made a cross ice pass to Derek Peltier who passed it right back to Chris Durno coming down the middle and then had a wide open shot and beat Plante stick side.

Lake Erie started the third period down 2-1 but answered back tying the game 2-2 at 5:58 with a power play goal scored by Brian Fahey.  Chris Durno made a great pass under Rory Fitzpatricks stick to Brian Fahey who outskated Clay Wilson to shoot the puck glove side.

Chris Durno was serving a two minute slashing penalty when Jeff Taffe scored the Amerks game winning goal at 9:28 of the third on the power play.  Taffe saw a clear path to the net and skated right in on Trevor Cann and just barely shot the puck through the five hole.

The Amerks scored two quick power play goals.  The first came on a 5 on 3 and with another Monster still in the box they scored again 5 on 4 within one minute.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Two goals on the power play in less than two minutes.

If this game was Jeff Taffe playing rusty after essentially having the last two weeks off I can’t wait to see him play when he’s back to the grind.  He’s fast, makes great passes, and has a great eye on where to shoot the puck.

Less than a minute later Jeff Taffe tried to put the puck on net and it bounced off of a Monster player.  Mike York snagged the loose puck and with a hard slap shot put the puck into the net for another power play goal.

With 1:29 left in the game Michal Repik put the icing on the cake scoring an empty net goal to give the Amerks a 5-2 lead and eventual win.

The Amerks were getting on a bus tonight to head to Albany for their game Saturday night against the Albany River Rats.  A solid third period was a great way to end the night.

Benoit Groulx said, “We got better as the game went on.  I thought the third period was our best and hopefully we can carry that momentum into tomorrow.”

Other Game Notes and Thoughts:

** Not too bad for a team that barely had a full week of practice together.  Taffe, Repik, Garrison, and Duco had not played in almost two weeks but they were still productive.

Groulx said, “We have many guys where their timing is not exactly what we’d like to see, its a matter of time.”

I can’t wait to see what this team does once they really create some chemistry and know each other a lot better.

** David Brine is an asset to this team.  I’d be curious to know his face off percentage.  He’s also constantly used on the penalty kill and power play.  He may not be a big time goal scorer but he contributes in other ways and is consistent.

** Brady Calla and Andrew Sweetland received a decent amount of ice time during the first two periods.  With no real room left on the roster for any more additions these two need to do everything they can to impress management.  Calla seems to be winning the battle.

When asked about those two players Benoit said that he thought Calla played a good game but had a slightly different thought about Sweetland.

Groulx said, “Andrew can do much better.  He does not play with confidence and he’s responsible for it. He’s a two way player and he’s got to find a way to make better plays with the puck and its about being more assertive out there.  Right now with Andrew hes hesitant when he’s on the ice.  He’s got to do better than this.”

** I don’t recall exactly when it happened in the third period but Jason Garrison leveled David Marshall of the Monsters against the back boards.  If the team can continue scoring goals and making big hits like that it will continue to be an exciting season.

** The Amerks released Jimmy Bonneau earlier in the week and then sent James DeLory to the ECHL on Friday afternoon.  That left the team without any “muscle.”  At one point in the second period the Monsters appeared to be trying to work the Amerks harder to gain momentum but they were not successful.  The Amerks answered back offensively going on to win 5-2 but the real test for this will be on Monday against the Syracuse Crunch.

Amerks Win off Strong Goaltending and Five Goals is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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 have been members of for the past 52 seasons, but it is also the very last year that type of coin was ever produced.

And with Rochester being a cornerstone franchise of the AHL, one which is widely known for its rich history and storied tradition, the coin was welcomed with open arms by new owner Curt Styres as the next piece of Amerks’ history.

http://theahl.com/coin-bringing-change-of-luck-in-rochester-p133150

Cement floor being cooled down

Indian Head Nickel at Center Ice Again is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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 the marketing department has not been able to (at least yet) convince Fuccillo to sponsor some more of the window space.

Knighthawks first round draft pick Sid Smith on the Exchange Street side

Chris Taylor Looking Over Broad Street is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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 excited to play for the Rochester Americans he means it.  Taylor said, “There was only one place I wanted to come back and that was here in Rochester.  I’m personally excited for a team that I love.”

At the end of the season head coach Benoit Groulx talked about being contenders as the goal for the 2009/2010 season.  I think everyone would agree with him.

Taylor echoed the same thoughts by saying, “The most important thing to start the season is to play to make the playoffs.  You make the playoffs and anything can happen.  You can’t look too far beyond that.”

“The last few years it just didn’t feel right not having Tails in the lineup,” Don Stevens said.

As we talked about having a player fans know compared to some of the free agents Jody Gage commented that Chris Taylor isn’t just known by hockey fans but also “intertwined with the community.”

The ability for the Rochester Americans and Florida Panthers to be able to get players to agree to contracts is a sign that both teams are moving forward and trying to change.  Everyone knows what the past two seasons have been like for the Amerks but the fact that they’re trying to change is the biggest thing.

Chris Taylor knows what is expected of him and he does not feel any sense of relief about being back in Rochester, he feels the opposite.  “It’s scary, not a relief.  I’ll have jitters when I first step on the ice out there because I want to perform well and I expect myself to perform well,” he said.  “Every day is a working day.  Until it starts getting done and you’re winning games you can relax a bit.”

If Taylor would have been approached prior to the other free agent signings it would have been a tougher decision for him to come back to Rochester.

At the age of 37 Chris Taylor is not only looking out for his best interests with his career in hockey but also that of his family.  He has two kids that are getting older, making new friends, and wanting to do a lot more with school.  They made the family decision that it was the right decision to come back to Rochester.

Anyone who is worried about his age should not be.  Manitoba Moose winger Mike Keane is 42 and will be heading into his 23rd pro season and still competes at the highest level.

Another concern is that the season is easier in Germany with less games during the season and also only having two games on the weekends.  Taylor squashed that thought pretty quick.

He believes that players have to work harder over there.

Training camp was one example where they would have four workouts a day.  The team had 20 players so they would split up into two groups in the morning, one group would bike for an hour while the other group was on the ice and then they would switch.

After lunch they would have to run for an hour followed by another 60 to 90 minutes on the ice.

Once the season started they would always have Mondays off.

The team would be back on Tuesdays with 90 minutes of off ice workouts followed by two hours on the ice.  They’d get to go home for the afternoon and then return at night for another 60 minutes on the ice.

Practice would continue on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Play a game on Friday.  Practice on Saturday and then another game on Sundays.

When talking about Germany he said, “The games were intense.  You only play two games a week and guys are ready to go.  They’re playing for jobs, playing for a lot of money.  Every game is worth 3 points and only half the league makes the playoffs.  Winning was everything.”

Benoit Groulx did an excellent job last season of trying to teach the players about winning and playing hard, but there’s only so much a coach can do.  Having a player that can also lead by example goes a lot further.  I have not had the opportunity to speak with the other free agents the team has signed but I’m sure they’ll echo the same thoughts of Taylor.

The determination of Chris Taylor will be a big boost for the younger players in the locker room, something that has been missing in recent years.

Winning is Everything for Chris Taylor is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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, June 1st.  The new payment plan will allow fans to reserve a season ticket for as low as a $50 deposit and five easy payments of $23. Further, the Amerks’ 54th season will include a new 12-game pack to go along with the full-season option, Freedom Pack and 10-game pack. The full season prices range from $200 to $550 for the “Early Eagle” special. By taking advantage of the offer, fans can save up to $290 off game-day pricing.

Amerks Home Opener is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

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 an information booth, but it grabs your attention and should help the team as fans inquire about various things going on.

And lastly, the most exciting improvement appears as if the glass is getting buffed out!!  Crews were busy working on the glass this morning.  Anyone who sits close to the ice knows how bad it has gotten.  As you’ll notice in the 2nd picture, you can’t even take a picture through the glass and get a clear shot.  Add in thousands of marks on the glass like that and it impacts watching the game.

New ownership has not only made improvements to the Amerks, but the arena itself! Assuming we win some games, this is definately turning into a season to look forward to! See you on Friday night!

Improvements for Opening Night at Blue Cross Arena is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.