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Posts tagged 'Janis Sprukts'

Posts Tagged ‘Janis Sprukts’

Players Leaving Panthers System in Rochester Feeling No Respect

May 4, 2010 - By

The Rochester Americans, the Florida Panthers affiliate in the American Hockey League, recorded history this week when they were eliminated in the first round of the AHL playoffs after getting out to a 3-1 series lead.  It was a devastating loss for a team that was built to make a run for the Calder Cup.  After a loss like that players will typically call it disappointing, but the players took it a step further calling the entire season wasted.

(this also appeared on LitterBoxCats.com, a great Panthers site over on Sports Blog Nation)

There was one player more than willing to share his thoughts the day after the playoffs ended last week and his feelings towards the Florida Panthers, the player was Jamie Johnson.  He was the Amerks leading scorer (27 goals + 44 assists), on a two way contract, played through his own injuries, gave a solid effort when half the team was called up and also played in all 80 games but never once got a call from the Panthers.  I asked him if he would come back next season and he said he does not want anything to do with Florida.

“They haven’t [...]Read More

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What happened to some of last years Amerks?

October 2, 2009 - By

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 [...]Read More

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Stefan Meyer Traded

June 20, 2009 - By

Stefan Meyer was traded on Thursday by the Florida Panthers to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Steve Reinprecht.  Meyer had been drafted by the Panthers in the 2nd round (55th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Reinprecht and Meyer were both free agents this summer and neither were expected to sign again with their respective teams.  It appears to be a winning situation for both teams.  Rather than losing players for nothing to free agency both teams received someone in return.  The Panthers get a respectable center and the Coyotes get a potential prospect that still has a chance at the show.

Stefan Meyer only appeared in four games for the Panthers during his tenure with the NHL team, all four games were during the 2007-2008 season.  Meyer has spent the previous four seasons playing for the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League.  With the Amerks he played in 266 games, scored 64 goals, 66 assists, and 363 penalty minutes.

Meyer was named the Amerks Rookie of the Year after the 2005-2006 season when he played in 68 games and tallied 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists).  His best season was the 2007-2008 season when Meyer played [...]Read More

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Amerks vs Crunch; Final Weekend of Season

April 9, 2009 - By

The Syracuse Crunch and Rochester Americans face off on Friday and Saturday night in the final weekend of the regular season in the American Hockey League.  The games have a lot more meaning for the Syracuse Crunch who are in a battle with the Toronto for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Division.  Two wins by the Amerks would be a great way to end a horrible season by knocking out their biggest rival in the league.

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 [...]Read More

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Amerks Defeat Marlies in Overtime

April 8, 2009 - By

The Rochester Americans defeated the Toronto Marlies in overtime on Wednesday night by the final score of 5-4.  Randal Gelech scored the game winning goal at 1:53 in overtime, assisted by Stefan Meyer.  Due to other commitments (sons hockey practice), I didn’t get the chance to watch or listen to the game, so here’s the recap from Amerks.com:

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 [...]Read More

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Strong Effort by Amerks not Enough to defeat Crunch

April 5, 2009 - By

The Syracuse Crunch are undefeated at home this season against the Rochester Americans and continued that streak on Saturday night with a 3-2 win in front of 6,117 fans at the War Memorial.

Unlike previous contests between the two teams in Syracuse the Amerks put in a solid effort on the ice.

The Crunch scored first when Maksim Mayorov found the back of the net for his 16th goal of the season.  Craig MacDonald tallied his 24th assist of the year when he fed the pass up to a streaking Mayorov along the boards.  Mayorov was going one on one with Mike Caruso across the blue line, slid the puck around Caruso to the center of the ice, cut left with the puck and beat David Shantz glove side.

The Crunch forwards have learned how to skate around the Amerks defense untouched.  Hopefully that’s something that can be stopped by next weekend.

David Shantz made a spectacular save towards the end of the first period on a shot from Alexandre Picard.  The puck was in the face off circle when Picard took control of it, pulled a spin-o-rama move around Ellerby and put a quick shot on Shantz.

Randall Gelech [...]Read More

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Sprukts and Shantz Lead Amerks to Win

April 4, 2009 - By

The one thing that Rochester Americans can still play for is the role of spoiler.  They did a good job tonight by winning 4-2 over the Binghamton Senators and can try again on Saturday in Syracuse.  The Senators and Crunch are both in the hunt for the playoffs and each team needs every point they can get.  Janis Sprukts led the Amerks tonight with an assist on each goal and David Shantz stopped 42 out of 44 shots.  That’s a total of 92 saves over the previos two games for Shantz.

The Amerks won the game by skating fast, not making costly mistakes, great passes and by finishing plays and scoring.  This was one of those games this season where they looked like a playoff team, not second to last place in the league.

Riley Emmerson and Jeremy Yablonski both started the game and lined up next each other on the opening face off, I thought they would drop the gloves but nothing happened.  I couldn’t find either play after the game to ask why.  This was the 8th and final game of the season between the two teams, the Senators won the season [...]Read More

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Jason Garrison Leads Amerks to Shootout Win

March 26, 2009 - By

The defensive duo of Jason Garrison and Matt Duffy led the Rochester Americans to a shootout win on Wednesday night against the Albany River Rats at Blue Cross Arena.  Jason Garrison scored two goals, his first two goal game, and Matt Duffy playing in his first American Hockey League game assisted on both of Garrisons goals.  Karl Stewart scored at 16:42 of the third period to tie the game at three.  Brett Parnham, playing in his second AHL game, scored the first goal in the shootout along with Janis Sprukts and Karl Stewart to lead the Amerks to a win.

I’d be making things up if I had anything to say about the first 24 minutes of the hockey game.  Apparently it’s ok if you’re a sports writer to write about things you didn’t see, but I don’t believe in that.  Our son had hockey practice, so we were late to the game.

Anyways, picking things up halfway through the second period.

Jason Garrison finally got the Amerks on the scoreboard at 10:21 of the second period, assisted by Matt Duffy and Michal Repik.  Repik had passed the puck across the ice to Duffy who then passed it down the [...]Read More

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Amerks Injury Update

March 17, 2009 - By

Even with the warm weather outside it was freezing cold as usual inside of the ESL Centre in Henrietta this morning where both the Amerks and Manitoba Moose practiced in preparation for Wednesday nights game.

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 [...]Read More

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Amerks vs Bulldogs Tonight; Sweetland Back to Everblades

March 15, 2009 - By

The Amerks are on a five game losing skid and hoping to end it tonight with a win against the Hamilton Bulldogs at Blue Cross Arena.  What the outcome will be around 8:30pm tonight is anyones guess.  This is the final game this season between the two teams, the Amerks won the last game on February 27th by the final score of 4-1.  The season series is 3-3-0-1 for the Amerks, so tonight should be an even game as the two teams have been competitive all season, unlike the Amerks and Marlies.

Reading about last nights 4-1 loss in Syracuse it appears as if Crunch goaltender Kevin Lalande was the deciding factor in the game, especially with the Amerks unloading 49 shots on goal.  Lindsay Kramer of the Syracuse Post Standard has good writeups about the game here and here.

I’m expecting Tyler Plante to get the start in net tonight.  Brodeur has been on the losing side for four out of the five straight losses and started in the last two games for the Amerks.  They havn’t been entirely his fault, but something has to change.

Still out with injuries: Shawn Matthias (wrist), Jacob Mcflickier (ankle), Franklin [...]Read More

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Amerks Announce Clear Day Roster

March 12, 2009 - By

On Thursday afternoon the Rochester Americans announce their 22 man clear day roster for the remainder of the 08/09 regular season.  It’s yet another sign that the season is quickly coming to a close.  It’s sad that hockey season is winding down, but exciting to REALLY start looking forward to next season.  That’s a whole other topic.

No surprises with the Amerks lineup.  If the team had any plans of making the playoffs this would be a lot more interesting.

Here’s the roster:

Mike Brodeur and Tyler Plante; defensemen Michael Caruso, Jason Garrison, Rory Fitzpatrick, Keaton Ellerby, Jordan Henry, Peter Aston, Franklin MacDonald, and forwards Janis Sprukts, Drew Larman, Stefan Meyer, Michael Duco, Tanner Glass, Dan Collins, Karl Stewart, Shawn Matthias, Kenndal McArdle, Michal Repik, David Brine, Randall Gelech and Riley Emmerson. Forwards Jarret Lukin, Kyle Hagel, Andrew Sweetland, Judd Blackwater and Jacob Micflikier currently remain in residence.

The rest of the AHL also announced their rosters as well.

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Awesome Win for Amerks Over Hershey Bears

February 21, 2009 - By

The Rochester Americans continued on Friday night what they’ve been doing over the past two months, proving they’re capable of competing with the best teams in the league.  They did that earlier tonight with a 3-2 win over the Hershey Bears who are the number one team in the Eastern Conference.

Benoit Groulx with the plan to resist and hang in there as much as they could.  The team did just that and it paid off.

The Hershey Bears are the highest scoring team in the league, compared to the Rochester Americans who prior to the game tonight were the lowest scoring team in the league.  The three goals scored by the Amerks helped them gain ground and get them tied with the Springfield Falcons at 127 goals for this season.

The fact that the team has climbed out of last place in the league as well as no longer being the lowest scoring team are not necessarily things to be happy about, but given the way the season started it’s a great sign that the team is developing nicely.

“They were very focused, they might have took us lightly a month ago but that’s not the case anymore.  I [...]Read More

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