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Posts tagged 'John de Gray'

Posts Tagged ‘John de Gray’

Amerks from Last Season Not Returning

September 26, 2010 - By
Amerks from Last Season Not Returning

The Rochester Americans have announced the 2010-2011 training camp roster which brings in a whole group of new faces and names that we’ll get to know.  That also means a number of players that were on last years team are not returning.  There’s always a lot of changes over the summer with American Hockey League teams and almost impossible for most to keep up with everything.  So, in case you missed anything over the summer here’s a list of players not returning and where they are now.

Rory Fitzpatrick – Retired
Jamie Johnson – Grand Rapids Griffins
Mike York – Finland
Graham Mink – Peoria Rivermen. He was traded to the St Louis Blues in exchange for T.J. Fast.  With the money the Panthers saved by trading Mink they immediately signed Joe Callahan.
Jeff Taffe – Traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Marty Reasoner
Mathieu Roy – Signed 2way deal with Tampa Bay Lightning
Maxime Gratchev – Hartford Wolf Pack
Jordan Henry – KHL
Jimmy Bonneau – Hamilton Bulldogs
Chris Beckford-Tseu – unknown
Alexander Salak – loaned to Farjestad of the Swedish Elite League. With Vokoun and [...]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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Gameday: Amerks Can Move on With Win; Games 3 and 4 Highlights

April 23, 2010 - By

The Rochester Americans can move on to the second round for the first time since the 2004/2005 season with a win tonight against the Abbotsford Heat.  Considering the way the Amerks have played the last two games I think it’s safe to say that it’s probably, but overconfidence can be dangerous.

To borrow from the comment left by Dubblenikle yesterday, “They need to step on the throat of the Heat Friday.  They need to not let off the gas at all.  With the power play clicking they need to keep pressing with it.”

Couldn’t have said it better.  From the first second the puck hits the ice the Amerks need to go hard and not stop for 60 minutes so they can relax on the long flight home.

Tyler Plante needs to continue making big saves.  Mike York needs to continue setting up goals.  The defense needs to continue giving the offense confidence that they can help out.  Steve MacIntyre needs to continue to show his presence to the Heat.  Shawn Matthias needs to continue his AHL farewell tour (if he keeps this up he’ll be with the Panthers out of training camp).

The Amerks have shown confidence and consistency [...]Read More

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Marlies Capitalize on Amerks Bad Defensive Game to Win

March 29, 2010 - By

The Rochester Americans had a chance to clinch a spot in the playoffs on Sunday afternoon if they defeated the Toronto Marlies and the Lake Erie Monsters lost in regulation to the San Antonio Rampage.  Former Rochester American forward Stefan Meyer and the Rampage did their part defeating the Monsters in the final 90 seconds but unfortunately the Amerks lost in a shootout, their first shootout loss of the season.

“Last night (7-3 win over the Marlies) I thought we played a pretty solid game and today i thought we played one period,” Benoit Groulx said about the game which also summarizes this team.  Inconsistent.

Tyler Plante played another great game for the Amerks making 40 saves and is certainly making the case for himself to be the goalie in the final six games and possibly into the post season.  Two of the Marlies three goals were tipped in and the third he had no help from the defense as Andre Deveraux walked right in front of the net.  Almost 15 minutes after the game ended he was still sitting in his stall with his pads on, a sure sign he was not happy with the outcome of the [...]Read More

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Amerks Defeat Marlies with Seven Goals and Inch Closer to Playoffs

March 28, 2010 - By

The Amerks came closer to clinching a playoff spot with a seven goal performance on Saturday evening on the road against the Toronto Marlies.  The Amerks have only scored seven goals one other time this season, a 7-4 win back on November 29th against the Syracuse Crunch.  This Rochester team seems to have a switch that allows them to show up one game but not another.  After a lousy performance during a 4-3 loss on Friday night the team rebounded with great play on Saturday.

Well, I should be careful how I use the term great play.  It’s not really great that the penalty kill unit allowed three goals against.  It could be time to take Chris Taylor and Jordan Henry off of the penalty killing unit.  I don’t have an answer as to who should replace them, but when something is not working it can’t hurt to make a change.

“Our power play was pretty good and we matched specialty teams,” Benoit Groulx said after Saturdays game.  “At this time of year you can’t lose on specialty teams.”

The specialty teams is something that the coaches and players are aware have been an issue and are an issue [...]Read More

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Weekend Recap: Two Losses, A Goalie Scored and Steiner Sent to Reading

March 22, 2010 - By

The Amerks lost two games on the road this weekend and sent Daniel Steiner back to Reading.  That’s the weekend in one sentence.  I took the weekend off from watching Amerks hockey and apparently I did not miss all that much but felt the need to write a recap of the weekend.

** Daniel Steiner has been sent back (technically loaned) to the Reading Royals of the ECHL.  Steiner had spent the first part of the season with the Royals after he was not able to land a job in the NHL or AHL.  He is signed to a contract with the Amerks which is why he was technically loaned.  Steiner is considered a veteran and with the other veterans healthy he was the odd man out.  It’s better for him to get playing time than sitting out every game here.  (Prev article: Steiner is Living the Dream)

** The Amerks lost 4-2 on Friday against the Binghamton Senators.  If you look at the final stat sheet you’ll see that B-Sens goalie Chris Holt scored an empty net power play goal.  Yes, a goalie scored against the Amerks.  The Senators had a three goal lead until Graham Mink [...]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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Amerks Receive de Gray On Loan; Release Schulz

December 30, 2009 - By

Finishing out the year with some good old fashioned press releases to get caught up.  John de Gray played in Wednesday nights loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs.  I’d be telling a lie if I said I watched a lot of the game and could give a fair assessment on his play.  He seems to be the type of defensemen that the team has been needing with Rory Fitzpatrick still out of the lineup.

(Rochester, NY)… Rochester Americans Vice President of Hockey Operations Ted Nolan announced today that defenseman John de Gray has been loaned to the Amerks by the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. In a related move, Rochester released David Schulz from his PTO.

The 6-4, 209-pound de Gray comes to Rochester from the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL. The second-year pro has five goals, six assists and 28 penalty minutes in 29 games this season with the Condors. The 21-year-old defenseman was a third-round selection (83rd overall) of Anaheim in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

The Markham, Ontario, native has played in 97 career professional games, 68 of those in the American Hockey League with teams in Portland and Iowa. The blueliner has registered seven goals, [...]Read More

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