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Posts tagged 'Jason Cipolla'

Posts Tagged ‘Jason Cipolla’

Craig Charron Memorial Celebrity Bartending Fundraiser at Murphy’s Law

July 20, 2011 - By
Craig Charron Memorial Celebrity Bartending Fundraiser at Murphy’s Law

Don’t let the $50 price tag scare you away, the Craig Charron Celebrity Bartending Fundraiser was a great time according to those who went last year.. and the money raised is for a great reason, obviously.

(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans Alumni Association will continue to honor Amerks Hall of Famer Craig Charron with a series of fundraisers this summer. Craig was a player, coach and family man who lost his battle with cancer on October 19, 2010.

The kickoff event is the Craig Charron Memorial Celebrity Bartending Fundraiser at Murphy’s Law (370 East Ave.) on Monday, July 25th. The event will take place at 7:00 p.m. and will feature Ryan Callahan, Rory Fitzpatrick, Brian Gionta, Scott Metcalfe, Scott Nichol, Jason Cipolla and other past and present NHL stars. To purchase a $50 ticket, which includes food and drinks, stop by The Sports Centre at MCC, Murphy’s Law or the Amerks office.

Two weeks later, the Alumni will hold a celebrity hockey game at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 7th, with a golf event on Monday, August 8th. The location and player roster for the game will be announced in the coming weeks. The money raised from the events will [...]Read More

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Grading the 2009-2010 Amerks Player by Player

May 4, 2010 - By

One week ago today we were mentally preparing for game 7 against the Abbotsford Heat and hoping for a legendary game.  It certainly turned out to be a legendary game, unfortunately not in favor of the Amerks.  As sports fans, it’s the type of loss that will live with us forever until another Calder Cup is won.  Until that happens next season, there’s still a number of things to discuss about the one that just ended and I’ll start by grading each of the players.

Thanks to Eric Bourgeois (frequent reader, supporter and die hard Amerks fan) who contributed to this.  There’s a couple things I disagreed with him on and noted.  You may agree or disagree yourself on a lot of things said and I’d love to hear your thoughts.  These grades are based on a lot more than just a stat sheet.

Starting with highest grade to lowest:

Jason Garrison: A-
– He’ll have a full time job in the NHL soon enough.  Eric had him listed as a B+ but I gave him an upgrade.  The Amerks defense had issues all season and without Garrison in the lineup for the post season (2g+7a) things may have [...]Read More

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Example of Horrible Officiating by Koharski

April 16, 2010 - By

Jamie Koharski is one the worst ref’s in hockey and proved it again on Thursday night during the Amerks and Heat playoff game.  There was a total of 19 power plays.  That’s right, 19.  Has anyone ever seen so many penalties in a playoff game?  Now, a lot of them were valid penalties like the high stick video below but you’ll also notice in the video that Mike Duco takes a high stick to the face but somehow it’s not seen.

The Amerks lost the game for a lot of different reasons, penalties was one of the reasons but that’s something they can control going forward.  I doubt that the Amerks players chirping Koharski early helped to get him on their side, how come Benoit Groulx or Jason Cipolla never had a word with the guy?  Jim Playfair gave Koharski a mouthful recently, I imagine they just think there’s no point.

How did he miss the high stick on Mike Duco in this video?  It’s not as if it happened on the other side of the ice, they were practically next to each other.  We’ll never know.  The officiating in this league seems to get worst, not better (or maybe [...]Read More

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Receiving John de Gray on Loan is Paying Off

March 19, 2010 - By

John de Gray knocks over Jonathan Cheechoo with a little help from Salak - Picture by David Sturm

John de Gray was loaned to the Rochester Americans at the end of December when they were in need of a defensive defenseman with Rory Fitzpatrick out of the lineup injured.  They got just that in de Gray, a solid blue liner that can be relied upon.  If you’re looking at the stat sheet you won’t see any impressive numbers but if you’ve watched him play in games you’ll see a defenseman doing his job.

The Anaheim Ducks drafted John de Gray in the third round (83rd overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.  In comparison, the Florida Panthers drafted Michael Caruso in the 4th round that same year, 104th overall.

He spent four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Brampton Battalion playing in 253 games and tallying 10 goals and 44 assists.  At the end of his junior seasons the Ducks called on him to play in six games with the Portland Pirates during the 07/08 season, their affiliate at the time.  The Ducks affiliated with the Iowa Chops for the 08/09 which is where de Gray [...]Read More

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Bonneau vs Spencer Fight Video; Team Stands Tall Together

January 11, 2010 - By

The Amerks did something on Sunday night that I don’t think they have done a lot of throughout the season, sticking up for each other when the Binghamton Senators started hitting hard.

Jamie Johnson scored the first goal of the game at 7:53 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead.  On the ensuing face off the puck dropped and Jimmy Bonneau and Tim Spencer dropped the gloves (video below).  The obvious point of the fight was for the Binghamton Senators to try and gain some momentum.  It didn’t work.

About five minutes later Denis Hamel hit Jeff Taffe hard in the corner and put a little elbow in there as well for good measure.  Jamie Johnson was quick to skate in go after Hamel in the corner.  Jeff Taffe also got into the mix along with Tomas Kudelka of the Binghamton Senators.  It was in the corner and tough to see but it looked like a few jabs were probably thrown with a lot of pushing and shoving.

That’s something that is supposed to happen in a hockey game.  You’re teammate gets hit hard and you go in and defend him.  Unfortunately I think [...]Read More

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Amerks Tuesday Morning Practice in Pictures

November 24, 2009 - By

Jason Cipolla Gameday 11-24-2009The Amerks had a light game day skate this morning at Blue Cross Arena prior to the road game tonight in Hamilton.  The only items worthy of noting from practice was that it was all of the “non vets” and minus tonights starting goalie Alexander Salak.

Healthy scratches for tonight will be Brady Calla, Peter Aston, and James DeLory.

Steve MacIntyre is a beast in front of the net.  It was amusing watching him stand there as Clay Wilson and Keaton Ellerby tried to defend against him.  Mac pushes those guys around like they’re rag dolls.

Game is at 7:05pm and you can watch it live on AHLLive.com for $6.99, listen at WHTK 1280 AM/107.3 FM, whtk.com or watch it elsewhere online if you know where to look.

Clicking the pictures will take you to flickr:

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Amerks Going for 12, Winning Starts With the Owner

November 12, 2009 - By

Photo courtesy of David Sturm

“One game at a time, it’s an old cliche but it’s true,” is what Ted Nolan said on the John DiTullio show Wednesday afternoon.

The key to making that old cliche true is to believe in it.  Every player in the locker room believes in taking every game one at a time and playing every game for what it is worth, two points.  It’s not about winning streaks.  It’s about the goal of making the playoffs.

It all starts at the top with owner Curt Styres.

The Rochester Americans Booster Club recently hosted their annual meet the players dinner which is a great opportunity to meet the players and staff, hear stories,and appreciate what we have here in Rochester.

Curt Styres stood at the head table and talked about the experience of him buying the team and people telling him he was crazy.  Curt talked about last season when they had meetings talking about what needed to happen for this season to be successful and what they needed to do to make it happen.  He also made it known he was willing to open his wallet.

“Any time you see [...]Read More

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Amerks Sign Defenseman Matt Duffy

August 24, 2009 - By

The Rochester Americans announced today that they signed defenseman Matt Duffy to a two-way American Hockey League contract, a day before I was about to post an article asking why he hadn’t been signed yet.

“Matt came in at the end of last season and was an immediate contributor to our team,” said Gage. “We look forward to seeing him at camp and hope he can further his development at the AHL level.”

Matt Duffy was called up in March 2009 to the Rochester Americans when his season with the University of Maine was finished.  He scored a point in his first game with the Amerks and went on to play in nine total games putting up two goals and four assists.  Once the Amerks season was over he was sent to the Florida Everblades where he skated in two regular season games and three playoff games.

After a 4-2 win for the Amerks against the Binghamton Senators in April 2009 assistant coach Jason Cipolla said this about Duffy, “Duffy has good hockey sense which helps him.  His ability to adjust to the pro game has helped by his hockey sense so he’s able to make the jump probably quicker than [...]Read More

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Amerks Summer News Stories, Getting Caught Up

August 12, 2009 - By

It has been a busy summer for the Rochester Americans with a lot of great news and a couple of stories that have generated some bad press.  Looking at the bigger picture it has been a positive summer.  Here’s the start of “round up” type posts I’ll be doing once the season gets started.  There’s always a lot of news but not always enough to make an individual post for.  They’re also a great way for people to get caught up that may not read this site or the news all that often.

Here’s what has happened so far this summer:

** Training camp for the Amerks has not even been announced yet but the doesn’t mean some Amerks aren’t back on the ice already.  The Rochester Americans Summer Hockey Camps are underway at ESL being led by Amerks assistant coach Jason Cipolla.  It’s great to see so many kids sporting the Amerks logo playing hockey, a sign that the season is close.

** Matt Duffy is still an unsigned draft pick of the Florida Panthers.  He was drafted in the fourth round and #104 overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.  When his season ended with the University of [...]Read More

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Three Short Hand Goals Not Enough for Win

March 15, 2009 - By

The Amerks managed to score three short handed goals tonight against the Hamilton Bulldogs and all it got them was a point in an eventual shootout loss.  The short handed goals were scored by Kenndal McArdle, Drew Larman, and David Brine.  The Bulldogs goaltender Cedric Desjardins deserves an assist on McArdles first goal.

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.

[...]Read More

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Booster Club Meet the Players Dinner

December 5, 2008 - By

The Rochester Americans Booster Club held their annual Meet the Players Dinner at the Carriage House in Chili on Wednesday night, it was a great way to get to know the team and meet other fans.

I wasn’t sure if I’d have a good time or not, but it was a lot of fun.  I had never been to one of these dinners, if you’re in the same boat as I was make sure to go the next time.  Also, don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to others, everyone is an Amerks fan.  The more we get involved the more I notice how close the community is in friendships and dedication.

The night started with a cocktail hour followed by a sit down buffet dinner.  The players were spread out around the room ensuring that no matter where you sat you would be nearby someone.

We sat next to Keaton Ellerby and Michal Repik, both are funny guys.  They kept us more than entertained throughout dinner.  Not much was actually discussed regarding the team on the ice.

At events like this many people seem to think that the players are either keeping to themselves, or not very friendly.. [...]Read More

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Practice 11-18-2008: We Have A Veteran That Needs To Get On The Ice

November 18, 2008 - By

Why in the world isn’t Jason Cipolla on the ice for the Amerks?  I watch him practice at least twice a week with the boys and I always wonder why he doesn’t still play.

He is barely older then Rory Fitzpatrick and it’s time to suit up.  When he is doing skating drills with players, he is always faster than almost all of them.  I want to see him signed to a PTO and get in a game or two.  Would it hurt anything?  No.

It hasn’t been that long since he was laced up and on the ice.  He was with the Hannover Scorpions until the 2005-06 season.

Jason could be a player that the fans here in Rochester can really get on board with.  He has always been a favorite of mine.  I wanted him to play last year when the going was tough (the whole year), and now I only want to see him back in the Red, White and Blue even more.

OK, enough about my obsession with Jason coming back to play.  I’m sure it’s never going to happen no matter how many times I ask him to suit up.

edit: There [...]Read More

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