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Posts tagged 'Derek Whitmore'

Posts Tagged ‘Derek Whitmore’

Leggio Earns the Amerks 3 out of 4 Points Against the Heat

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February 4, 2012 - By
Leggio Earns the Amerks 3 out of 4 Points Against the Heat

We’re now in the month of February and this is the time of the season that teams make a push for the playoffs and determine how they’ll be able to play once in the playoffs.  The NHL trade deadline is Monday February 27, 2012, just over three weeks away.  There’s one position that the Amerks have started to gain some consistency and that’s in goaltender David Leggio.  In two games he earned a shutout, overtime loss and combined 62 saves.  Leggio had an outstanding 33 save shutout on Thursday night and then two of the three goals scored against him on Friday night were the result of the puck being redirected, can’t really blame the goalie on those.  Now if only the Amerks could get healthy and possibly add a real scorer this team could start to make a better run.

The Amerks gained three out of four possible points in the standings so far this week which is acceptable looking at it that way.  The Amerks started the night three points behind the Marlies but the Marlies beat the Crunch and increased the lead to four.  Both teams have played 46 games.

In Thursdays game the Amerks looked like [...]Read More

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Griffins 3 Goals in Under 3 Minutes Defeats Amerks; Gongalsky vs Piche

January 26, 2012 - By
Griffins 3 Goals in Under 3 Minutes Defeats Amerks; Gongalsky vs Piche

The Amerks lost on Wednesday night and there’s two ways you could look at the standings after this game.  The glass half empty way is that the Amerks are following the Buffalo Sabres lead and slowly sinking in the standings.  There’s only four points that separates the Amerks from the Rockford IceHogs who are in last place in the conference.  They’re also only six points from last place in the league.  The glass half full way is that the Amerks are only two points from eighth place in the conference and four points from sixth place.  The good news is that the Amerks play nine out of 12 games in February on home ice so if there was ever a time to really turn things around it’d be in February.  The ship hasn’t sunk but there’s reason for concern.

The real downfall has been the inconsistencies.  Everything from goal scoring to goaltending to wins and losses.  This is a hard working group of hockey players with a lot of potential how much they can really accomplish is the question.  The hope for any sports team is to get into the playoffs and then anything can happen.  It’s going to take [...]Read More

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Gameday Notes Amerks vs Griffins; Finley and Morrisonn Back

January 25, 2012 - By
Gameday Notes Amerks vs Griffins; Finley and Morrisonn Back

The best news for the Amerks second game of this road trip against the Grand Rapids Griffins is that they’ll have Joe Finley and Shaone Morrisonn back on defense after they missed a few games.  Morrisonn has missed the last three games while serving a three game suspension.  Finley has missed the past four Amerks games while called up to the Buffalo Sabres.  The defense has gotten by but those two are much more capable defensively against the top lines of opposing teams.

Rochester came back from being down 3-1 this past Saturday against the Griffins and won in the shootout, final score was 4-3.  Nick Crawford, Zack Kassian and Mark Voakes scored in regulation and Paul Szczechura, Jonathan Parker and Shawn Szydlowski scored in the shootout for the win.  David Leggio made 35 saves for his 12th win of the season.  Leggio is now 12-10-1 with a 2.82 GAA.  My guess is that Leggio gets another start tonight.

The key to an Amerks win is simple, build a lead through the first two periods and hold on to it going into the third.  Pretty basic.  The Amerks are 18-4-2-1 when they have a lead going into the third period.  They’ve found ways to come [...]Read More

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Amerks vs Barons Again.. Pre Game Notes and Thoughts

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January 20, 2012 - By
Amerks vs Barons Again.. Pre Game Notes and Thoughts

The Amerks lost on Thursday by three goals and they’ll get another crack tonight at the Barons.  The difference between the Amerks and Barons was defense and goaltending.  The Barons were able to keep the puck clear of their zone and advance the play which ultimately lead to goals scored.  Yann Danis was also great coming up with some big saves when needed.  Paul Szczechura, Marcus Foligno and Jonathan Parker all had great chances but Danis was able to make the save.

Drew MacIntyre will be starting for Rochester tonight.  It’ll be another chance for MacIntyre to have a big game and challenge Leggio for the top goaltending spot he’s had recently.  Rolston said he has no confidence issues in either goalie but didn’t think Leggio was as sharp as he has been so MacIntyre will get the start.  This team as it is needs the goalie to be able to bail them out of games.

Drew Schiestel wasn’t at the morning skate today but is traveling and Ron Rolston expects to have him back in the lineup tonight.  Schiestel hasn’t been one of the top defensemen but he’ll make the defense better than they were last night.

As for [...]Read More

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Whitmore and Bonneau Interviews on the Power Play Post Show

January 16, 2012 - By
Whitmore and Bonneau Interviews on the Power Play Post Show

The Power Play Post Show is a weekly podcast/online radio show that is a must listen to for every fan of the American Hockey League.  If you don’t have it bookmarked to download weekly you’re missing out.  I say that because it’s the only show that talks in depth about the AHL and interviews a variety of players (and even myself once in a while).

This past week Bob Howard interviewed three former Amerks and all are great interviews.  He talked to Jimmy Bonneau and the topic of fighting (even brings up the many battles with the Amerks against Mirasty).  Click here for many Bonneau fights as an Amerk.  He also talks to Derek Whitmore about the team and the season so far in Rochester as well as Colby Robak who played for the Amerks last season.

Season 8 Episode 14:  (Download Link and More Info)

A much anticipated interview with Worcester Sharks enforcerJimmy Bonneau was Bob’s first guest for this episode. Bob and Jimmy discuss fighting in hockey; Jimmy’s introduction into the fighting aspect of hockey and Bob gets into the mind of a hockey player who knows what his role truly is. This is a [...]Read More

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Amerks to Practice Outdoors on Monday Morning in Rochester

January 15, 2012 - By
Amerks to Practice Outdoors on Monday Morning in Rochester

The Amerks will be practicing at 11am Monday morning January 16, 2012 at Manhattan Square Park in downtown Rochester so if you have the day off from work or school make sure to get down there and watch the guys have some fun.  I’m sure it’ll be well covered by the Amerks and the other media outlets for those of us that will be stuck at work.  Manhattan Square Park Ice Rink is located at 353 Court Street (Google Maps).  This team is a tight group of players who seem to get along very well and something like this will be a fun way to start the week and act as a great segway into the second half of the season.  If you have a way to get down there you should.

Every season there’s always a group of players who are dedicated to the community but this team seems to care much more than others in recent memory.  It probably helps that Derek Whitmore is a local and understands the importance of events like this. It probably also helps that Ron Rolston gets it as well and would put the final stamp of approval on something like this.

If you [...]Read More

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Another One Goal Loss, Pens Defeat Amerks in the Shootout

January 6, 2012 - By
Another One Goal Loss, Pens Defeat Amerks in the Shootout

The Amerks picked up a point again on the road against a tough Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team which is better than nothing.  It came down to the skills competition where Eric Tangradi scored in the eighth round scoring top corner glove side on Drew MacIntyre for the win.  These one goal losses and one point games could come back to haunt the Amerks in April.  A week ago they were only one point back of the first place Marlies and after tonight their seven back from first in the division but tied for eighth in the conference.

The game started with both teams skating back and forth for the first 10:48 before the first whistle of the game and then they finished the first period in under a half hour.  At 17:11 of the first period Marcus Foligno put the puck on goaltender Brad Thiessen who tried to go for the glove side but it went off the edge of his glove.  The puck landed to the side of the net where Phil Varone was skating in and scored for his third of the season.

Jason Williams tied the game at 11:07 of the second period with a shot from the [...]Read More

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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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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

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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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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