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Posts tagged 'Buffalo Sabres' (Page 4)

Posts Tagged ‘Buffalo Sabres’

2011 All Star Game, vs Pirates, Diff Divisions, Misc

July 2, 2009 - By

The big news of the day on Tuesday was that the Amerks hired Ted Nolan as the new VP of Hockey Operations.  I had the chance to talk to Rochester Americans Owner Curt Styres about a few other things that I felt were newsworthy.

The team did formally submit a bid for the 2011 AHL All Star Classic to be hosted in Rochester, something I first mentioned January 28th.  Styres was not sure if any other teams had put in a bid for the game.  The game in 2011 will be the 75th Anniversary of the league so American Hockey League President David Andrews had hinted that he was hoping to have the game be in either Hershey or Rochester.  Styres said that at a recent Board of Governors meeting Andrews asked if anyone wanted to host the game and then looked directly at Styres.

The Rochester Americans and Syracuse Crunch will be in different divisions next season.  He said that he believes the teams will be playing each other eight times, down from 12 during the 2008/2009 season.

Styres did not have any other information about divisions or schedule formats.  It sounds like the schedule is pretty much [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks

Ted Nolan Hired by Rochester Americans

July 1, 2009 - By

The announcement today that Ted Nolan has been named the new VP of Hockey Operations for the Rochester Americans is hopefully the start of many big announcements to come.

Today is the start of the free agency period and it’s a time that the Florida Panthers and Rochester Americans have said that they will be busy getting veteran players signed in Rochester.

Hockey fans in Western New York will remember Nolan from his days at the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres from 1995 to 1997.  He was named coach of the year for the 96/97 season.  That was also his last season with the Sabres after a highly publicized dispute between himself John Muckler and Dominik Hasek.

If we go back even further in time he did play for the Rochester Americans during the 1984-1985 season.  During that season he played in 65 games scoring 28 goals and 34 assists for 62 points.

Ted Nolan and Jody Gage (who is still employed by the Amerks) also have a history when they played together with the Adirondack Red Wings back in the early 80′s.

Most recently Nolan coached the New York Islanders from 2006-2008.  In his first season as head [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks

Florida Panthers Interested in Andrew Peters?

June 25, 2009 - By

Apparently Andrew Peters and the Florida Panthers have talked of a potential two way deal for next season.  I hope that Curt Styres, Lewis Staats, and Jody Gage have all called Randy Sexton to tell him that this would be a terrible idea.  If it turns out that any of them thought this was a great idea it will hurt their image amongst the fans.  We’ve been promised that the Panthers would be active during free agency in building up a winning team in Rochester, let’s hope that this is not the start.

Based on the fact that it would be a two way deal I could not imagine that the Panthers would actually want him playing for them in the NHL.

I’m not one to jump on rumors and write about them, but this one deserved a post in hopes that it does not happen.  It seems as if I’m not alone either based on the reaction by some dedicated fans on Rochester Sports Fan where this story originated from.

Andrew Peters played in an Amerks uniform for three seasons from 2000 – 2003, played in 173 games, and spent 729 minutes in the penalty box.  During that [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks

Panthers to visit Rochester in 2010?

April 21, 2009 - By

The Florida Panthers could be making a visit to Rochester prior to the start of the 2010/11 season when the Amerks and Panthers enter the third year of their affiliation agreement. I had read or heard somewhere about this being a possibility so I asked Jacques Martin when he was in Rochester recently and he confirmed it’s something they’d be looking into.  It would not be an option for the start of the 2009 season because the Panthers will be opening their season in Helsinki, Finland.

I would think for this to happen that the Buffalo Sabres would have to agree to any type of game within their market.

Why would they be doing this?  Try and grow the Panthers brand.  The Panthers have had an interest in the Rochester market since 2005 yet very few people care about them or can even name more than a few players on the team.

This is nothing more than idea at this point, but it’s one I’d welcome.

The Panthers need to do one thing before any Amerks fans would welcome them into town and that is to produce a winning environment.  If next season is anything like the one that just [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks

Sitting Down With Steve Donner of the Rochester Americans

August 18, 2008 - By

On Saturday afternoon Steve Donner took some time to sit down with a group fans in the middle of August in the Amerks locker room to discuss the past and future of the team.  It was a great opportunity for everyone, how often does an owner/president/whatever his role is now sit down with fans to discuss hockey.  The discussion was enlightening and brought back a sense of optimism after the worst season in Amerks’ history.

All topics were touched on from the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, the affiliation, new ownership, money, veterans, leadership, coaches, pride, tradition, politics, advertising, marketing, concessions, jerseys, radio, and even the television broadcasts.  I’ll break things down into categories and still hope all of this information is not all over the place.

Affiliation

The discussion of who wanted to be a sole affiliate and who wanted the dual has gone back and forth for some time.  The Buffalo Sabres were right in saying they wanted to be the sole affiliate with the Amerks and even wanted a long term agreement, the catch was that they could then bring in a sub affiliate that they controlled.  So, technically they would have been the sole affiliate.  More on [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines

Florida Panthers Release 08/09 Schedule

July 17, 2008 - By

The Florida Panthers released the 08/09 regular season schedule today, they’ll be playing the Sabres in Buffalo on March 12th and March 25th.  Another game nearby that’d be worth checking them out at is on Saturday January 3rd in Pittsburgh.  This is the last season The Igloo (or Melon Arena) will be open, a great opportunity for Panthers fans to watch the team and also visit that arena one last time.  View Complete Schedule

Tags: ι ι Categories: Amerks

Sabres/Amerks Divorce is Final

June 9, 2008 - By

The Portland Pirates have a press conference scheduled for Tuesday June 10th to introduce their new affiliation, that being with the Buffalo Sabres.

The Rochester Americans and Buffalo Sabres have been affiliated for the past 29 years. The past six months between the two teams has been like a bitter divorce battle. The ongoing saga had put fans against fans, and caused a major distraction that effected the 07/08 Amerks season.

Tags: Categories: Headlines

Sabres Affiliation ‘Days Away’ from Being Over

June 3, 2008 - By

It has been known since December 2007 that the Buffalo Sabres affiliation with the Rochester Americans was near an end after 29 years. Now, Darcy Regier says an announcement is days away. The announcement is the Buffalo Sabres are signing an agreement with the Portland Pirates.

A number of people have questioned whether it was really over, but news of the past few days has made everything all but official.

The Portland Pirates were previously affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks have now reached an agreement to be the NHL affiliate of the Iowa Stars.

With that deal official, Regier said Monday he soon will reveal plans about his team’s future.

The Iowa Stars were previously affiliated with the Dallas Stars. A spokesman for the Dallas Stars, who ended their affiliation with the Iowa Stars after two seasons, said last week the team will assign its minor league players to two AHL teams next season. Those two teams being the Portland Pirates and Iowa Stars.

So the Buffalo Sabres will be back to sharing an affiliation with an AHL team.

All of this opens the door for the Florida Panthers to be the sole NHL parent team of the [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks

MacArthur Back, Stewart to Florida

December 1, 2007 - By

With Adam Mair back in the Buffalo Sabres’ lineup tonight, Clarke MacArthur has been reassigned to Rochester.  Anthony Stewart was called up to the Florida Panthers today.

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks

Golisano Doubts The 29-year Marriage Can Be Saved

November 28, 2007 - By

“I think it may be too late,” Golisano said on Tuesday afternoon, following his speech to the Rochester branch of the American Marketing Association at the Riverside Convention Center.

A lot can be said regarding the relationship the Rochester Americans and Buffalo Sabres have had in recent years, but we also wonder a lot about what is going on with the current financial situation of the Rochester Americans.

The Buffalo Sabres have shown interest in buying the Amerks and then signing a contract with the city of Rochester to manage Blue Cross Arena, yet Steve Donner has not shown interest in selling the team.  Steve Donner has reported though that he has two potential investors that are interested in purchasing a stake in the Amerks.

A number of questions have been raised that we are yet to have any answers for.

If the Sabres doubt the 29-year marriage between the two teams can be saved, who would the Sabres obtain an affiliation with?

The Florida Panthers have reportedly been looking into establishing an affiliation elsewhere, but with the Sabres out of the picture would the Panthers remain solely with the Amerks?

If neither the Sabres nor Panthers are interested in staying [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Amerks, Headlines