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Posts tagged 'Grand Rapids Griffins'

Posts Tagged ‘Grand Rapids Griffins’

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 Earn Win with MacIntyre and Defensive Effort

November 13, 2011 - By
Amerks Earn Win with MacIntyre and Defensive Effort

There’s a couple of ways to look at the Rochester Americans 2-1 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday night but the first way to look at it was that they won the game and Drew MacIntyre made 43 saves.  It almost doesn’t sound right to say they played a good defensive game considering they gave up 44 shots but they stayed in the game and didn’t allow the Griffins to wear them down.

For the first time all season one of the Amerks goaltenders started consecutive games breaking the rotation.  Drew MacIntyre earned the opportunity with a great performance on Friday night and with this play tonight he proved he can be that #1 goalie.  He made 78 saves on 80 shots in a 27 hour time frame.

Early in the game there was a mixup in front of the Amerks net and Nick Crawford ended up inside of the net and MacIntyre was down just outside of it.  The Griffins tried to poke away at the puck but with Crawford on the ice and missing a glove he managed to keep the puck from crossing the line.

The Griffins controlled the first half of the first period [...]Read More

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A Few Hours Away From Amerks vs Griffins

November 12, 2011 - By
A Few Hours Away From Amerks vs Griffins

It seems weird to have back to back home games on a Friday and Saturday night but it’s happening this weekend, following the Amerks 3-1 win over the Senators on Friday night they’re back on the ice in a few hours against the Grand Rapids Griffins.  Based on Ticketmaster numbers it looks like a crowd of around 4,000 should be expected.  If you don’t have tickets yet make sure to wear Amerks or Sabres gear to the box office to get discounts.

The Amerks lit up the scoreboard with a 7-2 win the last time these two teams played in the middle of October.  The Griffins scored eight goals last night against the Hamilton Bulldogs so they’ll be ready to shoot some pucks.

Whether or not it’ll be David Leggio or Drew MacIntyre in net for the Amerks is an unknown at this time, we’ll likely find out when the team skates out for warmups.  The rotation has Leggio in net but MacIntyre had a great game last night, maybe it’s the weekend the rotation ends.

Travis Turnbull is an unknown after he left the game after a hit by Tim Conboy (see it here) late in the second period on [...]Read More

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Amerks Power Play Was Key to Win Over Senators

November 12, 2011 - By
Amerks Power Play Was Key to Win Over Senators

In my 5 Reasons to go to the Amerks game on Friday night I said one of the reasons was the power play (or lack of) and that the 0 for 26 drought was bound to end and that it did on Friday night.  After 27 failed power play opportunities the Amerks finally connected not once but twice during the game.  The second goal of the game and first of two power play goals was scored by Zack Kassian which was the game winner.

The first period saw Binghamton have control for much of the period not giving the Amerks much room at all to create chances.  The box score says that the Amerks had eight shots on goal, only a couple of them were quality.

Andre Petersson put the Senators on the scoreboard first scoring late in the first period on the power play.  He received a pass from Mike Hoffman, skated about five feet and snapped a quick wrist shot high glove side past Drew MacIntyre.  That would be the only goal of the game though for Binghamton.

Derek Whitmore scored at 3:44 of the second period to tie the game at one.  Mark Voakes redirected the [...]Read More

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Amerks Injury Updates and the Parker Suspension

October 20, 2011 - By
Amerks Injury Updates and the Parker Suspension

The Amerks finished up their morning skate today after a day off yesterday and Ron Rolston gave us some updates on injuries to the team.  The only “new injury” was Derek Whitmore who sat out today with a muscle strain but is expected back tomorrow.

Jonathan Parker was suspended for one game for the high stick that broke the nose of Grand Rapids Griffins forward Brent Raedeke in the first period.  There was no penalty called on the play, the referee had called the play accidental.  The American Hockey League on the other hand says that players need to be in control of their own sticks and handed down the one game suspension.

The Amerks will be down a forward for tomorrow’s game due to the suspension of Parker and Marcus Foligno.  Rolston said that a defenseman will likely move up to fill in the role of the 12th forward.

Paul Szczechura has no real time frame to return.  Ron Rolston had said early November but it really comes down to when the doctors clear Szczechura to play.  He had been injured last April in game three of the playoff series between the Norfolk Admirals and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and had to [...]Read More

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Marcus Foligno and Jonathan Parker Suspended

October 19, 2011 - By
Marcus Foligno and Jonathan Parker Suspended

Rochester Americans forwards Marcus Foligno and Jonathan Parker have each received suspensions from the American Hockey League based on actions during this past Sundays game against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Foligno was given a two game suspension as a consequence for boarding in the third period that was the cause of this fight.  Foligno will miss games this Friday (Oct 21) vs Hamilton and Saturday (Oct 22) at Toronto.  I missed the hit and did not see a replay so I can’t really comment further.

Jonathan Parker was given a one game suspension and will miss Fridays game vs Hamilton as a consequence for a high sticking incident.  I believe the high sticking occurred off of a face off when one of the Griffins players left a trail of blood on the ice to the bench.  If this is the same incident it was surprising there wasn’t a call on the play itself.  That’s the only high sticking incident I can recall.

It appears as if Corey Tropp has been cleared for this incident that seemed to get the most attention.

It’s probably safe to assume that the Amerks will send video to the AHL for incidents that [...]Read More

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Video of Corey Tropp’s Hit on Landon Ferraro

October 16, 2011 - By
Video of Corey Tropp’s Hit on Landon Ferraro

It’s time for everyone to guess the legality of this hit that the Rochester Americans Corey Tropp delivered to Landon Ferraro of the Grand Rapids Griffins.  Mitch Callahan of the Griffins went down the ice on a breakaway and as the play followed behind him you’ll see Tropp and Ferraro meet in front of the goaltender.  Tropp was given an interference penalty and Ferraro appeared to be knocked out.  Ferraro tried to get up onto his skates a few times before staying down and eventually being helped off of the ice.

Was it simply interference, they both met at the same time?  Did Tropp deliver a blind side hit and lead with his shoulder to the head? Questions that the American Hockey League will likely answer come Monday or Tuesday.

Watch and determine for yourself (far away scoreboard video is the best I can do, I don’t have a dedicated camera man covering the whole game, yet):

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Gameday Thoughts and Lineup: Griffins at Amerks

October 16, 2011 - By
Gameday Thoughts and Lineup: Griffins at Amerks

The Amerks are coming off of their first win on the season on Friday night when they defeated the Lake Erie Monsters by the score of 3-1.  The team played a better game offensively connecting more passes which resulted in less costly turnovers.

The Griffins and Pirates didn’t play each other at all last season so there’s no real head to head matchup comparison available.

The first two losses of the season were split by David Leggio and Drew MacIntyre, both allowed some questionable goals but neither game would be considered bad.  David Leggio did play a better game on Friday night against and the Lake Erie Monsters and because of that will likely get the start tonight.  The Griffins were the first AHL team that Drew MacIntyre played for from 2004-2006.

If Travis Turnbull can continue to go after the puck and not back down from players he’ll continue improving.  If Derek Whitmore continues with his same effort and energy he’ll continue to put points on the board along with helping Zack Kassian grow.  The key is Mark Voakes playing a leading role as the teams number one center, something he may not be ready for but is being [...]Read More

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The Hockey News Ranks Amerks to be 4th in the West

October 6, 2011 - By
The Hockey News Ranks Amerks to be 4th in the West

The Hockey News has published it’s preview of the American Hockey League’s 2011/2012 season and the Rochester Americans are ranked 4th in the West and based on those predictions would win the North Division.  The rankings were put together by the D&C’s Kevin Oklobzija.

Thanks to Admirals Roundtable for the rankings.  Looking back at the 2010/2011 rankings Ryan from Admirals Roundtable wrote this:

- The Calder Cup finalists were ranked 16th and 27th overall.
- The division winners were ranked 19th, 3rd, 14th, and 18th.
- Four of their top 10 didn’t make the playoffs (Chicago, Worcester, San Antonio, Grand Rapids)

It’s that time of year where everyone makes predictions just because it’s the thing to do.  Everyone knows (or should know) that a season can change in a matter of weeks due to injuries, call ups, trades and even a group of players not living up to their expectations.

Here’s the rankings:

East (first to last): Hershey Bears, W-B/Scranton Penguins, Portland Pirates, Springfield Falcons, Manchester Monarchs, Syracuse Crunch, Worcester Sharks, Connecticut Whale, Binghamton Senators, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, St John’s Icecaps, Albany Devils, Norfolk Admirals, Providence Bruins, Adirondack Phantoms

West (first to last): Charlotte Checkers, Peoria Rivermen, Chicago Wolves, [...]Read More

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New Teams for Johnson, Bonneau and MacIntyre

July 3, 2010 - By
New Teams for Johnson, Bonneau and MacIntyre

Three players that made an impression in a Rochester Americans uniform last season have now moved on and found jobs with other teams.

Jimmy Bonneau signed a one year deal with the Hamilton Bulldogs.  Bonneau made headlines in the world of hockey fights last season when he fought Jon Mirasty four times in two games in October 2009.  Tough player who stands up for his team and not afraid to back down from anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDEUjvoi28k

Jamie Johnson signed with the Detroit Red Wings along with Chris Minard and goalie Joey MacDonald.  All three were signed for North Division rival Grand Rapids Griffins and immediately made that team better.

Steve MacIntyre returned to the Edmonton Oilers with a one year deal, the same team that claimed him off of waivers in 2008 and then waived him in 2009.  He’ll have a great chance at cracking the Oilers lineup.

Highlight of the season was seeing MacIntyre knockout Jeremy Yablonski:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jIBsmoBrGQ

Best of luck elsewhere guys and don’t beat up on the Amerks too much when you’re an opponent!

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Griffins Double Up Amerks to Halt Winning Streak

April 8, 2010 - By

The Amerks had the odds stacked against them against Grand Rapids with majority of the teams defense either called up or injured.  The Griffins were able to score six goals against the Amerks in their 6-3 win which also denied the Amerks the chance to clinch home ice advantage.  The magic number is now one point.  The Amerks need either one point in one of their last two games to clinch home ice.  The other possibility is that they need the Abbotsford Heat to lose once in regulation in one their final two games.

Jordan Henry and Michael Caruso were the teams top two defensemen on Wednesday and had assistance from Luke Beaverson, Matt Duffy, Carl Hudson and Corey Syvret.  Those guys work hard at what they do but that’s more of an ECHL calibre defense than that of a 2nd place AHL team.  Rory Fitzpatrick did not make the trip, I assume he’s resting up his groin for the weekend.

Here’s the teams official recap:

For Immediate Release
April 7, 2010

GRIFFINS DOUBLE UP AMERKS TO HALT WINNING STREAK

(Rochester, NY)… The Grand Rapids Griffins scored twice in each period en route to a 6-3 win over the [...]Read More

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