Starting with 2008 and then 2011 at the bottom..

2008 featuring Drew Larman, Keaton Ellerby, Jordan Henry, Dan Collins, Franklin MacDonald, Tanner Glass, Michael Caruso, Riley Emmerson, Jason Garrison, David Shantz, Andrew Sweetland, Michal Repik

2009 featuring Tyler Plante, Mike Duco, Andrew Sweetland, Jimmy Bonneau, Shawn Matthias, David Brine, Brady Calla, Luke Beaverson, Evgeny Dadanov, Michal Repik, Jason Garison, Alexander Salak

2010 featuring Jacob Markstrom, Adam Comrie, AJ Jenks, Evgeny Dadanov, Brady Calla, Scott Timmins, Colby Robak, PJ Fenton, Eric Selleck, Paul Baier, Michael Caruso, Tyler Plant.  I’m missing two faces here, who are they?

2010 Bloopers

2011 Version:

Bloopers:

Enjoy!

The Amerks 12 Days of Christmas 2008 to 2011 is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Drew Larman is currently playing with the Providence Bruins

The summer of 2009 has been an exciting one with the roster that has been built for the 2009/2010 Rochester Americans.  There’ll be a lot of questions from fans getting to know some of the new players but also a lot of questions wondering about some favorites from last season.

So here’s a quick rundown of players that are no longer in the Florida Panthers or Rochester Americans organizations:

Tanner Glass – He signed a one year two way deal with the Vancouver Canucks.  After a strong training camp he’s on the Canucks opening night roster.  The Panthers had said they would have liked him back but were not ready to offer him a deal prior to the start of free agency.

Janis Sprukts – is currently playing for Dinamo Riga in the KHL.  Sprukts was unhappy last season when he realized he had no real chance of cracking the Florida Panthers lineup.  So he packed up his things and went across the pond.

Mike Brodeur – The Florida Panthers were ready to offer him a $105,000 contract to stay in the organization but Brodeur thought his chances of playing in the NHL would be better with the Ottawa Senators organization.  He is currently playing for the Binhamton Senators and expected to be their #1 goalie.

Stefan Meyer – Traded to the Phoenix Coyotes by the Panthers on June 18th for center Steve Reinprecht.  The ‘Yotes were going to lose Reinprecht to free agency and were looking for something in return.  Reinprecht signed and is playing for the Panthers.

Karl Stewart – Prior to the end of the 08/09 season he signed a contract to go and play for the Straubing Tigers in Germany.  He said that he did not know what Rochesters plans were and was looking for job security.

Randall Gelech – Update: Thanks for the comment below.  Gelech is currently on the injured reserve for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Drew Larman – Signed a one year two way deal with the Boston Bruins and is starting the season with the Providence Bruins.

David Shantz – Signed with the Calgary Flames and will be playing for the Abbotsford Heat this season.

Franklin MacDonald – signed in Austria with the Liwest Blackwings of the Erste Bank Liga

Jacob Micflikier – Signed with the Albany River Rats and was just sent down to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL.

Riley Emmerson – is playing for the Springfield Falcons this season.

If anyone knows where Gelech is please leave a comment!

What happened to some of last years Amerks? is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

David Brine finished last season with 31 points (8 goals, 23 assists) and was the Amerks best center at taking face offs.  Brine played nine games during the 2007-2008 season for the Panthers.  This will be his year to step up his game.

Former Amerks from previous seasons Anthony Stewart, Drew Larman, David Shantz, Franklin MacDonald, and Tanner Glass were not given offers and allowed to become unrestricted free agents.

Luke Beaverson will likely replace the role MacDonald had on defense.  We’re hoping that a veteran center will be signed to replace Larman.  Tyler Plante, Alexander Salak, and Chris Beckford-Tseu will be fulfilling goaltending duties in the Panthers system.

The only real surprise here was Tanner Glass, but Florida Panthers Assistant GM Randy Sexton said that they would like to sign him again.  The play of Glass last season was hampered by a shoulder injury that he eventually had surgery on which leads me to believe that the Panthers want to wait and see how his recovery is going.  When he’s healthy Glass plays with grit and works hard.  The shoulder injury had been hampering his play for some time which explains many of the games where he did not appear to “show up.”

No real surprises with Larman, Shantz, and MacDonald not being given offers.  David Shantz showed some promise at the end of last season but it was a case of too little too late.  Larman and MacDonald also played well at times but in terms of development it was not enough for the Panthers to keep them around.

It’s also no surprise to any Amerks fans that Anthony Stewart was not qualified.  The Panthers wanted to sign Stewart to another two way deal last summer but Stewart won by getting an NHL only deal, something he was not able to prove he deserved.  I could have told anyone that was going to happen.

Steve Gorten of the Sun-Sentinel talked to Stewart who said:

I spoke to Stewart on the phone a little after 5 p.m. He said he was “disappointed” and it “definitely didn’t go the way I wanted it to go.” He hoped to do more on the ice and the Panthers expected he would do more.

If there’s any opening for a gritty fourth line winger on the Panthers it’ll be a perfect opportunity for Mike Duco to try and get a chance playing in the show.  Panthers head coach Pete Deboer coached Duco when he played for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.  Duco is an agitator but can also provide offensive talent.  Given the past relationship between Duco and Deboer it’s only a matter of time before he’s playing in the NHL.

Janis Sprukts is an unrestricted free agent but as expected the Panthers are letting him leave without trying to sign him again.  Sprukts had signed last summer expecting to get a chance at playing for the Panthers but the plan was just for him to play in the AHL with the Amerks, something Sprukts was not happy with.  Sprukts is heading back to Europe.

The Panthers 2009 sixth round draft pick Scott Timmins is expected to replace the roster spot that Sprukts took last season.

Wednesday is when the free agency period starts, a time that the Amerks and Panthers have said they will be active in to improve the Rochester Americans.

Brine Returning; Larman, Glass and Others May Not is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Drew Larman and Alexandre Picard had been wanting to fight for the previous few games but did not have the chance until Saturday night.  Picard was on the starting lineup for the Crunch, Larman was not for the Amerks.  All it took was Picard explaining to McArdle who was on the ice.  McArdle agreed, after the puck dropped he jumped off the ice and Larman hopped on.

By definition this was one of those “staged fights” that both the AHL and NHL seem to be on a mission to put an end to.  I asked Larman about this being a staged fight and he hadn’t heard anything about things like this considered a bad thing.  Larman said, “He’s a good player.  To get him off the ice for five minutes is an advantage.”

Drew Larman isn’t a fighter, but he certainly did much better than last year when he got into a fight with Aaron Rome (video).

Drew Larman vs Alexandre Picard Video is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

That was an excellent final home game to end a pretty lousy season.  The arena was packed.  The action on the ice was exciting.  The crowd was loud.  The Amerks played for pride tonight and it paid off.

Here’s my three stars of the game:

Drew Larman scored at 14:37 of the second period which turned out to be the game winning goal.

David Shantz had a shutout.

And Jason Garrison for laying out Alexandre Picard in front of the Amerks net late in the 3rd period.  Picard has been a nuisance the past few times these teams have played, was nice to see someone finally stop him.

I wrote an article back in November that talked about throwing in the towel on the season.  The team hit rock bottom during that month.  Once December rolled around and Mike Brodeur showed up everything turned around.

Knocking the Crunch out of the post season was a great way to get the towel back off the floor and tell the world they’re ready to be contenders again.

The team has one last thing left to play for on Saturday night – 30 wins.  We’ll be there to cheer the team on.  If you’re looking for something to do on Saturday night give the Crunch a call for tickets and head on down the 90.

I have a recorder full of quotes and camera full of pictures, but rather than go into details about the game I’m going to enjoy it for what it was – a win and knocking the Amerks biggest rival out of the playoffs.

If you want more on tonights game check out Lindsay Kramers article as well as Kevin O’s article.

Plenty more to come over the coming weeks and all summer long.  See you in Syracuse tomorrow!

Amerks Win Ruins Post Season Hopes for the Crunch is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The chances of a good fight in one of these final two games isn’t very likely.  The Crunch are on a mission to make the playoffs.  The Amerks want to play the role of spoiler and also reach 30 wins on the season.  If the Amerks get a good lead going in either of the games it’s the only way anything could possibly happen.

These two games could possibly be the best two games of the season played between the two teams.

This could very well be the last weekend in an Amerks uniform for players like Drew Larman, Stefan Meyer, David Shantz, Randall Gelech, Jacob Micflikier, and Riley Emmerson.

The only player I could possibly see coming back is Jacob Micflikier.

I know that plenty of fans would like to say good bye and move on to all of them.

Karl Stewart and Janis Sprukts are down to their last two games for the Amerks.  Stewart has already signed a contract with a team in Germany and Sprukts has said that if he doesn’t get an NHL contract he’ll be heading to Europe.

The Crunch are 7-3-0-0 against the Amerks season, including a flawless 5-0-0-0 record on home ice. The Crunch have outscored the Amerks 34-16 in the previous 10 games between the two teams, the largest goal differential among Rochester’s North Division opponents this season. The Amerks, however, still maintain an 81-74-15 record lifetime against their intra-state foes. Rochester will complete the home-and-home series and its regular season on Saturday, April 11th with a 7:30 p.m. matchup against Syracuse at the War Memorial at Oncenter.

Friday will also be the Amerks’ annual Awards Night, as the team will announce the club’s 2008-09 award winners during a pregame ceremony. The awards include Team MVP, Rookie of the Year, Most Popular Player and Scoring Champion to name a few. The first 5,000 fans will take home an Amerks team photo, courtesy of Connors & Ferris. After the game, the players will be available in the lower atrium of The Blue Cross Arena for a full-team autograph session.

Amerks vs Crunch; Final Weekend of Season is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Rochester, April 8… The eighth and final meeting between the Rochester Americans and the Toronto Marlies proved to be a battle as the Amerks came out on top of and back-and-fourth game in overtime. The Toronto Maple Leafs affiliate out-shot the Amerks all game long (31-18), but the successes were in the Rochester’s favor with the game-winner coming from Randall Gelech.

The battle began early in the first with both teams scoring within the first eight minutes of play. Toronto took first blood with Tim Stapleton picking up his 25th goal on the season after a pass from teammate Jiri Tlusty.

Rochester answered back on a goal from Kenndal McArdle, his 12th this season. McArdle was assisted by Keaton Ellerby and Michal Repik.

Amerks scored again with four minutes left in the first period as Ellerby (0+2) and fellow defenseman Matt Duffy connected with Karl Stewart at the net for the power play goal, putting Rochester up by one going into the first intermission.

The Marlies were the first to score coming out of the locker room into the second period when Andre Deveaux netted one unassisted, tying the game 2-2.

The final period was an offensive combat as Toronto scored 54 seconds into the third. It was Stapleton again as he netted his 26th with assists from Jiri Tlusty and Bates Battaglia.

Down by one, Rochester strung two key goals together to put the Amerks ahead. Stewart tallied his second goal of the night, making him team leader in goals scored this season with 20. Center Drew Larman also contributed with a goal, his 9th on the season. Picking up the assists were Larman, Jordan Henry, and Janis Sprukts.

Toronto’s Stapleton made things exciting with one minute left, netting another goal for the hat trick, and sending the game into overtime. Stapleton ranks eighth in AHL point standings, totaling 76 on the season.

In the end though, it was the Amerks who came out on top. Gelech scored the crucial overtime goal to win the game. Stefan Meyer picked up his 22nd assist on the play.

The Amerks return home to The Blue Cross Arena on Friday, April 10th to host the Syracuse Crunch in their final home game of the season. The 7:35 p.m. matchup will be the 11th of 12 meetings and the first of back-to-back weekend tilts between the longtime I-90 rivals and can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live.

Amerks Defeat Marlies in Overtime is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The video at the end of the post is Larmans first attempt at being a film maker.

“I’ve always been interested in film making, ever since i was little all i wanted to do was play hockey and make films,” Larman said when I caught up with him after Wednesday nights game.  “Last summer i went to a one week workshop to this film school in New York City, something I’d wanted to do since high school.”

Larman titled the film ‘We Are One‘ and links to a number of keywords around the idea of 2012.  When asked what 2012 is he said, “It opens peoples eyes to those kinds of things so that they can do their own research to find out what 2012 is all about.”

If you’re too lazy, here’s a Google search for 2012.

“The whole concept is that we are one and all connected in m0re ways than our conscience minds can conceive,” Drew said explaining the title.  “The more people that understand that concept and philosophy the better society will be.”

Drew entered the film into seven film festivals, he has heard back from Boston letting him know he did not get in and he’s still waiting to hear back from six more.  Larman said that he has thoughts of doing more projects and plans to put something else together over the summer.

Along with putting together more films he’ll also be looking for a contract.  Larman is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, his status with the Florida Panthers organization is unknown.

Enjoy the video!

Drew Larman the Film Maker is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The Amerks are hoping to end a six game skid against the Moose, a team they’ve been beaten twice and taken into a shootout another time.

The three short handed goals scored on Sunday night tied an AHL season high with none other than the Hamilton Bulldogs who scored three short handed goals against us earlier in the season.  The AHL record for short handed goals in one game is four.

Janis Sprukts was back on the ice for a full practice, he said that he’s expecting to play on Friday night in Syracuse.

Jacob Micflikier also participated in the full practice and kept up with everyone else.  He’s not playing Wednesday and is questionable for the weekend.

Shawn Matthias will be back on the ice tomorrow night after being out for a few games with a wrist injury.

Kyle Hagel is finally out of his sling.  It appeared as if he was going to practice but ran out of time.

And finally, the only noteworthy item during practice itself was Drew Larman running over Mike Brodeur.  “It was the hardest I’d been hit all season,” said Brodeur.  Larman meant no harm other than scoring.

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

I’m really not sure if the game was somewhat boring, or it was just the difference of being at the Knighthawks game on Saturday with over 9,000 people to just over 3,000 tonight at Blue Cross Arena.

Anyways, on to the game.  Brock Trotter scored the only goal of the first period at 9:34 with a shot from the just outside the front of the net through the five hole of Tyler Plante.  David Desharnais passed the puck from just behind the net to Trotter waiting for the puck.  Great pass, great shot, appeared as if Plante was somewhat screened on it.

The Amerks certainly had a number of close calls in the first with Randall Gelech and Karl Stewart each ringing shots off the posts.  About an inch closer inside and the puck would have gone in.  Unfortunately close doesn’t really count, just an honorable mention.

Kenndal McArdle gets the play of the game with his first goal.  Just prior to getting the puck and scoring he made a diving save on the right side of Plante, put his stick to the ice, and blocked a shot from going in.  The puck was eventually cleared down ice where Desjardins came out of net to play it.  He passed the puck up towards center ice, which is somewhat of a normal play.  The only difference this time was McArdle skating across the ice where he intercepted the pass and shot it into an empty net from just outside center ice.

The Bulldogs followed up with a goal about three minutes later by Mike Glumac.  Brock Trotter was bringing the play down the right side boards with a 2 on 1 against Ellerby, fed a perfect pass to Glumac who easily beat Tyler Plante.  Plante really didn’t have a chance on the play.

Heading into the third period down by a goal, Drew Larman went streaking up the ice getting the puck, going in on a breakaway and scoring yet another short handed goal to tie the game at two  Larman knocked it in with a back hand stick side top corner beating Desjardins.  Mike Caruso was given an assist on the play after he knocked it down the boards and Larman was able to get at it before a Bulldog touched it.

Glumac scored his second goal of the game with just under six minutes left to get the Dogs up by one.  Sergei Kostitsyn was skating with the puck behind the net being pushed around by Garrison, unfortunately Kostitsyn was able to squeeze a pass out front to Ben Maxwell who nudged the puck through the goal mouth to Glumac who was just standing there waiting for it.  Another goal and another Amerk out of position which didn’t give Plante a real chance.

Mike Caruso went to the penalty box with 2:52 left to play in the third.  Normally at that point in the game most people would have been willing to call it a game, but not tonight.  With two short handed goals already on the scoreboard it was time for a hero.  The hero tonight for at least tying the game was David Brine.  It was yet another great hustle with a sense of urgency and hustle getting the puck and going in on net.

“We’re proud of our guys for not panicking when it was 3-2,” Jason Cipolla said.

When was the last time the Amerks scored three short handed goals?  No idea, but we’re certainly going to try and find out.  The more interesting fact would be, have they ever scored short handed three times and lost?  I’ll follow up if I find any info.

It seems like it’s a common occurrence this season getting close in the third, Larman said, “We were feeling good after the second period going into the third, we adjusted our play a little bit and went a little more aggressive got a couple breaks on the penalty kill.”

In overtime the Amerks managed four shots compared to one by the Bulldogs.

The Amerks had (in order) Judd Blackwater, Michal Repik, Karl Stewart, Stefan Meyer, Mike Duco, and Michal Repik all take shots in the shootout.  Duco was the only player able to score for the Amerks.

As for the Bulldogs, they had (in order) Yanick Lehoux, Mike Glumac, Brock Trotter, Sergei Kostitsyn, David Desharnais, and Yanick Lehoux all take shots.  Lehoux scored on both his shots giving the Bulldogs the shootout win.

Coming into tonight the Amerks were on a five game losing skid, tonight marks the sixth winless game in a row.  The streak for the season is seven.  Wednesdays game against the Manitoba Moose could be a tough one.

Drew Larmen said afterwards, “Coming in we knew we needed to win, the guys didn’t quit the whole game, got the point but didn’t get the extra one.”  Larman had been out of action for a month with a rib injury that seemed to come at the wrong time for him as he was just starting to pick up his game.  The time off did not seem to have an impact on his game, “I just keep up conditioning and recharge the  batteries a little bit when ya can and come back stronger,” he said.

No sports team should ever be happy not coming away with a win, but sometimes you have to take anything you can get at this point in the season.  “The result was better that we got a point out of it.  The guys worked for three in three battled very hard and we’re proud of that it’s too bad we didn’t get the win though.  We’re proud of our guys for not panicking when it was 3-2,” Jason Cipolla commented.

The Amerks have off on Monday and return to practice on Tuesday prior to Wednesday nights game at Blue Cross Arena against the Manitoba Moose.

Three Short Hand Goals Not Enough for Win is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.