Lord should have no problems getting invited to a training camp somewhere next season.

The only video I don’t currently have is what happened with about eight seconds left in the second period.  Earlier in the period Carl Hudson hit Maksim Mayorov hard into the boards and Mayorov appeared to go to the bench injured.  As the period was coming to an end Mirasty went after Hudson, didn’t get anything going, he then went after Michael Caruso and then pulled Jordan Henry out of the mixup and tried to fight him.  As Mirasty punched Caruso the Amerks bench jumped up to his defense.  As Mirasty pulled Henry down the boards it was of no surprise that Harvey reached over the boards and appeared to get in a couple shots at Henry.

After the game Mirasty said told Lindsay Kramer of Syracuse.com, “There’s history to the teams,” Mirasty said. “It was just a little bit of a payback. I wanted to take liberties on their skill players. I didn’t expect to get kicked out.”

Taking liberties on skilled players.. real classy.

Here’s the videos…

Jimmy Bonneau vs Jon Mirasty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1AmFcvZKSA

Andrew Lord vs Kevin Harvey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SsUYHWpQYI

Andrew Lord vs Kevin Harvey Round 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4cai9S8t5E

Enjoy and share!

Bonneau and Lord Fight Videos vs Crunch is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

In case you missed the story, it’s all from altercations during the Amerks vs Crunch game on Saturday March 13, 2010 in Syracuse.  You can read the details of the night here.

Here’s the official announcement from the American Hockey League:

AHL announces suspensions
March 16, 2010

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that Rochester Americans left wing Jimmy Bonneau and Syracuse Crunch left wing Kevin Harvey have been suspended for two (2) games each as a result of their altercation at the conclusion of the game between the teams on Mar. 13.

In addition, both the Americans and the Crunch have been fined an undisclosed amount.

Bonneau will miss Rochester’s games Friday (Mar. 19) at Binghamton and Saturday (Mar. 20) at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Harvey will miss Syracuse’s games Wednesday (Mar. 17) vs. Manchester and Friday (Mar. 19) vs. Bridgeport.

The American Hockey League also announced that Rochester Americans left wing Steve MacIntyre has been issued a one-game suspension as a result of a match penalty incurred during the same game.

MacIntyre, who already missed Rochester’s game vs. Grand Rapids on Mar. 14, is eligible to return effective immediately.

Bonneau Suspended Two Games, MacIntyre Time Served is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Bonneau was given an automatic one game suspension for his third game misconduct and he served that game on Sunday.  It was the same reason Jon Mirasty sat out the game for the Crunch against the Amerks on Saturday.

We should learn more early in the week how long Steve MacIntyre will be suspended for.  The league will need to review the play (if there is video of it), read the report from the referee and base the decision on other similar calls from the past.  The only call I’m familiar with was Kevin Harvey getting five games for his hit on Luke Beaverson.

I have to imagine they’ll also take a look at what actually happened to Kevin Harvey which was nothing.

“He was down like he was done for the year and all of a sudden ready to go again,” Benoit Groulx said on Sunday.

Apparently MacIntyre cross checked Henry in the neck after Harvey was chirping his mouth off and using his stick on players.  They met near the bench and that’s what happened.  MacIntyre knows his size, he knows his strength, and I also think he knows all eyes are on him and the last thing he wants to do is intentionally injure another player and risk his reputation and career.

Benoit Groulx said, “It’s a game of emotions sometimes and you end up crossing the line sometimes.”

It would be easy to say who started it, it’d be easy to say how some should or should not have reacted, bottom line is that the Amerks went into a tough Crunch building and came out on top.  If only that would happen on a consistent basis in every game.

Bonneau Suspended One Game, MacIntyre Indefinitely is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

(video below at the bottom of post)

The Amerks dislike for Harvey goes back to earlier in the season when he laid out a dirty hit on Luke Beaverson which resulted in Beaverson being out injured for 26 games.  Steve MacIntyre apparently cross checked Harvey up high which resulted on Harvey laying on the ice for a couple minutes.  They didn’t show it on TV so I can’t really say what happened, but it’s easy to say that with a 5-1 lead at the time MacIntyre decided it was time to take action.

MacIntyre was assessed a penalty for Attempt/Deliberate injury (21.1), which according to the rule books is the following:

21.1 Match Penalty – A match penalty involves the suspension of a player for the balance of the game and the offender shall be ordered to the dressing room immediately.

A player incurring a match penalty shall incur an automatic fine of two hundred dollars ($200) and the case shall be investigated promptly by the President who shall have full power to impose such further penalty by way of suspension or fine on the penalized player or any other player involved in the altercation.

A match penalty shall be imposed on any player who deliberately attempts to injure an opponent in any manner.

The President, upon further preliminary investigation indicating the probable imposition of supplementary disciplinary action, may order the immediate suspension of a player who has incurred a match penalty under this Rule, pending the final determination of such supplementary disciplinary action.

Anyone else think there was $200 up on the board after the game to pay the fine for him?

Once the final buzzer sounded Salak went to hit the puck like he usually does when he ran into / Sestito ran into Salak and that’s when the pushing and shoving started.  It slowly worked it’s way towards the benches as the players were leaving the ice and you can see Kevin Harvey and Jimmy Bonneau talking.  In a quick moment they start throwing punches.

It’ll be interesting to see if either of them receive any further discipline for fighting after the game was over.  They were both given Game misconducts – Fighting other than during periods of game (47.8) 10 minutes, 5 for fighting, and Harvey was given an extra 10 minute misconduct.

Here’s what the rule book says about 47.8

47.8 Fighting Other Than During the Periods of the Game – Any teams whose players or goalkeepers become involved in an altercation, other than during the periods of the game, shall be fined pursuant to 47.19, in addition to any other appropriate penalties that may be imposed upon the participating players or goalkeepers by supplementary discipline or otherwise.

Players involved in fighting other than during the periods of the game shall be assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct. Should one player be deemed the instigator of the fight, the game misconduct shall not be assessed to his opponent.

Any player who would be deemed to be an instigator pursuant to this rule at a time other than during the periods of the game shall be suspended pursuant to 47.19.

In the case of altercations taking place after the period or game the fine under this rule shall be assessed only in the event that an altercation is commenced after the period or game has terminated.

Should players come onto the ice from their players’ benches after the period ends and prior to the start of an altercation, they shall not be penalized if they remain in the vicinity of their players’ bench and provided they do not get involved in any altercations.

If you watch in the video towards the end he also gave linesman Justin Prusak a little shove.  Enough for even further discipline?  We’ll have to wait and see.

You do have to laugh at Harvey kicking a helmet and then falling.  Good job!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD32X2obpng

April 10th is going to be an interesting game.

End of Game Video; Suspensions Possible for MacIntyre and Others is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Rochester has now won all nine games this season against the Crunch.  A big difference from the last few years when the Crunch were dominating the games.  As with most Amerks games this team gets you excited and on the edge of your seat and by the end of the game you’re biting your nails.

They found a way to score early big goals but keeping that up throughout the game was yet again an issue.

Jimmy Bonneau gave the Amerks an early 1-0 lead at 6:23 of the first period when he tipped in a shot/pass from the side boards to the front of the net from Jordan Henry.

It only 65 seconds for the Amerks to take a 2-0 lead thanks to Evgeny Dadonov for tipping in a pass from Daniel Steiner.  Chris Taylor had been chasing down the puck and he over skated it along with the Crunch defender following him.  The puck was just sitting there for Steiner to make the pass to Dadonov.

Clay Wilson closed out the scoring of the first period with a goal at 19:27 to put the Amerks up 3-0 after one period.  Chris Taylor and Max Gratchev fought for the puck and were able to clear it to Clay Wilson who skated in and beat Kevin Lalande.  Graham Mink did not get a point on the play but he did a great job screening Lalande just prior to Wilsons shot.

At 17:07 the Amerks took a 4-0 lead off another goal by Jimmy Bonneau tipping in a John de Gray slap shot from the blue line.  In less than 20 minutes Bonneau has doubled his total goals for the season.

Victor Oreskovich and Mike Duco did an excellent job setting up Scott Hotham who scored at 3:54 of the second to put the Amerks up 5-0.  Oreskovich crossed the blue line, spun around and tapped the puck over to Mike Duco.  Just after Duco got the puck he passed it to Hotham crossing the blue line and then Oreskovich and Duco went separate ways and the defenders followed them creating an opening for Hotham.

Interesting to note that half way through the second period the only players without a +1 or higher were Jamie Johnson, Mike York, and Graham Mink.  A great team effort with production from just about everyone.

Brendan Bell got the Crunch within three goals at 9:29 of the third period with a shot from the side boards looking for a tip in from Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman but instead Rory Fitzpatrick tipped it in past Salak.

The Crunch were on the power play after Steve MacIntyre was called for a Match – Attempt/Deliberate injury penalty for what sounded like a cross check to the throat of Kevin Harvey.  That penalty comes with an automatic $200 fine and will be investigated by the league.  MacIntyre could see a suspension of some sort for that move.

That seemed to turn the momentum a little bit.  Evan McGrath scored two minutes later to make it a 5-3 game with less than nine minutes remaining.

The Crunch continued to lay it on late in the game but the Amerks managed to hold on and win 5-3.

Once the final buzzer sounded Alexander Salak took a moment to try and celebrate as Tom Sestito was skating by and ran into Salak.  Jordan Henry and Michael Caruso were there and stepped in.  That started a big pushing and shoving match.  As both of the benches emptied and the players were headed to the locker rooms Kevin Harvey went after Jimmy Bonneau and the two of them started throwing punches.  As Harvey was being led to the locker he went to kick his helmet and fell to the ice and then he turned around and pushed linesman Justin Prusak.

As expected the game ended with Salak taunting the crowd by pumping his fists and setting the tone for the final game of the season between these two teams on April 10th.  If the game does not mean anything to either team in the standings I imagine it’s going to be an ugly game.

Amerks at home on Sunday afternoon against the Grand Rapids Griffins.  Come early to see former Amerks Rob Ray, Scott Metcalfe and Kevin Kerr.  They’ll be signing autographs from 1:40pm – 2:40pm.

Amerks Win 9th Game of the Season vs Crunch is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Bonneau has played in eight games for the Amerks and has scored one goal and tallied 54 penalty minutes.  He’s a tough fighter and also skates his heart out.  He gets more ice time than most enforcers which shows that the coach trusts him out on the ice.

The Florida Panthers also claimed Steve MacIntyre off of waivers today from the Edmonton Oilers.  MacIntyre had been signed in the summer of 2008 with the expectation he would play in Rochester.  He arrived at Amerks training camp, skated for a few minutes and then learned he was claimed by the Oilers.  Ever since then the Panthers have said that “Big Mac” was on their radar, I guess they weren’t lying.

Update from George Richards: The Panthers immediately waived MacIntyre again with the expectations he’ll be sent to Rochester.  The Edmonton Oilers have the chance to reclaim him and send him straight to Springfield.  Crazy news day!

Bonneau and MacIntyre in the same lineup.. could be some heavyweight bouts!!

Here’s the most recent fight from Bonneau:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1c5hR631EA

In other news Kevin Harvey has been suspended for five games following his actions in games on Friday and Saturday night.  On Friday he went after Luke Beaverson with a viscious elbow that injured Beaverson and took him out of the game.  Harvey was able to score off that same play and it was the turning point in the game.  There was no penalty called on the play but the Amerks immediately send the video to the league for further review.  The elbow triggered a four game suspension.

The most absurd part about the suspension are the comments by Crunch head coach Ross Yates.

Lindsay Kramer wrote the following:

Crunch coach Ross Yates said he was “shocked” by the severity of the suspension. Coincidentally, the suspension ends right after Syracuse’s next game in Rochester, on Nov. 20.

After the game Harvey didn’t seem to think he did anything wrong either.

Kramer posted the following quote, “This team is our rival,” Harvey said. “I’m going to finish my check every time.”

Here’s a replay of the hit if you missed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2SnRRO-28

On Saturday night Harvey used his stick like a baseball bat and slashed a Mitch Fritz of the Norfolk Admirals.  Here’s the video of that, watch #17 around the 7 second mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLf2tTMSMU

Amerks Sign Bonneau, MacIntyre to Rochester, Harvey Suspended is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Chris Taylor saved the game scoring the game winning goal in overtime to extend the Amerks winning streak to nine games.  The win tied the record from the 1999-2000 season, the last time the Amerks won nine games.

Alexander Salak showed tonight that he is human after all allowing three goals on 29 shots.  He played a great game, the Crunch just found a way to finally beat him.

Mike Duco scored his first goal of the season at 9:15 of the first period.  Jason Garrison fired a hard shot from the blue line and Duco was in front of the net to get the rebound and back hand it past Crunch goaltender Kevin LaLande.

The second goal was scored when LaLande had gone behind the net to play the puck when Duco came from one side and York on the other trapping him behind the net.  Duco was able to take the puck and tried to wrap around it into the net, bounced off the post and York was there to put it in.

Graham Minks goal to give the Amerks a 3-0 lead assisted by Evgeny Dadonov was highlight material.  Dadonov was leading the play with the puck going straight at Grant Clitsome.  Dadonov took his stick off the puck to use his own stick to push Clitsomes’ up into the air, took Clitsome out of the play and left the puck for Mink who was somehow able to find an opening on the far side to beat LaLande stick side.

Jimmy Bonneau and Jon Mirasty fought each other for the sixth time this year (5 regular season + 1 preseason).  Bonneau shows a lot more confidence now throwing punches at Mirasty.  Video to be posted on Saturday.

The third period is when the game turned ugly, just as expected.  When I say ugly I mean the Syracuse Crunch starting to play some dirty hockey to turn the game in their favor.  It worked.

The game changing play was this vicsious elbow that Kevin Harvey landed on Luke Beaverson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2SnRRO-28

“We lost focus after the non call on Beaverson,” Benoit Groulx said after the game.  “We seemed to lose our focus for quite a bit.”

The referee claimed to have not seen the play.  If he didn’t see the play, where was he looking?

You can clearly see Harvey’s elbow up in the air as he follows through with the hit.

The Amerks will follow up with the league further.  Groulx said, “It’s a sequence we’re going to send to the league.”

It’s interesting to read Harvey’s take on the hit (from Lyndsey Kramer):

That’s where Harvey came in. He set up the Crunch’s first goal by forcing a turnover along the left boards of the Rochester end by hammering Amerks defenseman Luke Beaverson. Replays seemed to indicate Harvey smashed his left elbow into
Beaverson’s head, and Beaverson crumpled to the ice, but Harvey was unapologetic.

“This team is our rival,” Harvey said. “I’m going to finish my check every time.”

After the hit Harvey was able to recover the puck and score a goal.

Trevor Frischmon scored the second goal of the game for the Crunch at 12:58 of the third by taking the puck into the Amerks zone, skating past and around Clay Wilson and found a way to put the puck in the five hole past Salak.

Just as we thought the Amerks would be able to hold on Jason Garrison made the worst play of the season.  With about 16 seconds left in the game and the Amerks up 3-2 instead of clearing the puck off the boards he tried to keep the puck and it backfired on him.

Tom Sestito was all over him and was able to steal the puck and pass it over to Nick Holden who tied the game with 13.2 seconds left on the clock in regulation.

Garrison easily admitted his mistake after the game saying it was a mental mistake.  A mistake he’ll never make again.

Chris Taylor said after the game the third period was very much a case of them playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

The game will be a lesson learned for the team.  It’s a lesson better learned this early in the season instead of down the stretch.

“To me they (Syracuse Crunch) deserve a lot of credit for that point, they never quit,” Benoit Groulx.

Chris Taylor scored the winning goal at 3:54 in overtime.  Graham Mink did a great job tying up some Crunch players in front of the net which allowed Taylor to move in and have a clear shot on net.

Benoit Groulx summed up the game saying, “It was a big win because it would have been a big loss.”

Luke Beaverson will be out indefinitly with a shoulder injury.  With Taffe, Repik, McArdle, and Oreskovich currently called up this will leave the Amerks short a forward.  It’ll be interesting to see on Saturday if they suit up Aston as a forward, sign someone to PTO, or play short handed.

There’s a lot more that could be talked about with this game, but that’s for after the weekend if needed.  The Amerks are back on the ice Saturday night at 7:05pm to take on the Toronto Marlies in Rochester.

—————
Syracuse Crunch 3 At Rochester Americans 4 (OT) – Status: Final OT
Nov 6, 2009 – Blue Cross Arena

Syracuse 0 0 3 0 – 3
Rochester 1 2 0 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Rochester, Duco 1 (Garrison, Ellerby), 9:15. Penalties-Frischmon Syr (hooking), 2:56; Salak Rch (tripping), 3:34; McBride Syr (hooking), 6:55; Roy Syr (boarding), 7:14; Matthias Rch (holding), 11:53; LaVallee-Smotherman Syr (slashing), 19:57.

2nd Period-2, Rochester, York 4 (Duco), 1:46 (pp). 3, Rochester, Mink 4 (Dadonov, Taylor), 17:02. Penalties-Taylor Rch (tripping), 2:09; Ellerby Rch (closing hand on puck), 6:15; Ferguson Syr (tripping), 10:02; Mirasty Syr (fighting), 13:09; Bonneau Rch (fighting), 13:09; Sigalet Syr (hooking), 13:30; LaVallee-Smotherman Syr (fighting), 17:33; Beaverson Rch (fighting), 17:33.

3rd Period-4, Syracuse, Harvey 1 (Reese), 5:26. 5, Syracuse, Frischmon 1 (Ferguson, Regner), 12:58. 6, Syracuse, Holden 1 (Fritsche, Sestito), 19:46 (sh). Penalties-Pelletier Syr (fighting), 4:20; Duco Rch (fighting), 4:20; Miller Syr (goaltender interference), 11:19; Salak Rch (slashing), 11:19; Roy Syr (hooking), 18:25.

OT Period-7, Rochester, Taylor 3 (Wilson, Mink), 3:54 (pp). Penalties-Holden Syr (holding), 2:09.

Shots on Goal-Syracuse 11-6-9-3-29. Rochester 14-8-9-5-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Syracuse 0 of 4; Rochester 2 of 8.
Goalies-Syracuse, Lalande 1-3-0 (36 shots-32 saves). Rochester, Salak 7-0-0 (29 shots-26 saves).
A-6,035
Referees-Nygel Pelletier (41).
Linesmen-Brian Lemon (25), John Murphy (71).

Chris Taylor Strikes Again, Amerks Win in OT is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

It was the Amerks seventh win in a row and also their fourth win in five nights and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down.

With the win the Amerks are now in sole possesion of first place in the American Hockey League with 17 points.

Graham Mink scored the game winning goal at 2:45 of the first period with assists to Mike Caruso and Chris Taylor.

Caruso retrieved his own shot that went wide of the net and around the boards.  He grabbed the puck at the blue line and dumped it back in right to Mink who was all alone to score.

“I don’t know where the defensemen went,” Mink  said.  “He was there and maybe he was jumping into the rush. Caruso made a great play and I had enough time for the goalie to go down and get it over him.”

Jimmy Bonneau and Jon Mirasty fought for the third time in less than 24 hours at the half way mark of the first period.  Bonneau is proving that he’s capable of being that heavyweight we’ve wanted here in Rochester.  He’s also earning the respect of the coach which is evident by the ice time he’s getting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDEUjvoi28kv

“I think it would have been great until his jersey got off and I had nothing to hold on to,” Bonneau said.  “They were great fights.  We both punched each other hard in the face, it was awesome.”

Jamie Johnson scored the Amerks second goal at 3:55 of the second period on the power play.  Keaton Ellerby passed the puck to Mike York who put a hard shot on LaLande and Jamie Johnson was standing right there on the crease to put the rebound in the net.

Alexander Salak played great though the entire game with his eye on the puck wherever it went.  Going back to Saturday nights game he has held the Crunch scoreless for 110 minutes and 9 seconds.

When we learned Tyler Plante hurt his knee last Wednesday some questions came up about Salak being capable of playing three in three.  Tonight he proved he had no problems.

Benoit Groulx talked about Salak saying, “He’s the only one who’s 60 minutes out there and did not show any signs of fatigue or anything physically or mentally.”

There was never any question in the minds of the coaches about him playing all three nights.  “I told him that he was in and that was it, he had no choices,” Groulx said.

Alexander Salak did not seem to mind either, “That was tough,” he said.  “But it was good.  We won 3 games in a row and i don’t mind much.”

It helps that Salak can count on the defense in front of him.  Keaton Ellerby has been playing his best hockey yet with the Amerks.  He’s skating fast, controlling the puck, not losing the puck, and holding on to his stick.

“If i give up a rebound the guys get it, they make our game really easier and it was fun to play,” Salak said talking about counting on the defense.

The defense is also relying on him.  Clay Wilson said, “He’s a good solid goalie.  He’s everything you need.  Gives you confidence that he’s going to make the save.  If you mess up you can have a little extra confidence because he’s standing on his head right now.”

Watching Salak in net can give someone high blood pressure with the way he plays.  When asked how to describe his style of play he just says, “I just do what i think is right.  This is my game.”

One of the highlights of the game was a span of 94 seconds in the third period when David Brine, Evgeny Dadonov, Michal Repik, Keaton Ellerby and Clay Wilson were able to continuously cycle the puck through the Crunch zone.

During that span both teams were playing five on five hockey.  The Amerks put the puck into the Crunch end pretty quick preventing the Crunch from a line change.  They recorded two official shots on net and a third that was wide.

Shawn Matthias scored his first goal of the season with 37 seconds left in the game on the power play, assisted by Mike York and Clay Wilson.  Matthias did a great job on the power play staying in front of the net during the power play.  Wilson shot the puck from the blue line, Wilson took a stab at the first rebound and Matthias was there to keep the puck away from LaLande and put it in the net.

And shortly after that is when things started to get nasty.

Luke Beaverson and Kevin Harvey got tangled up along the boards.  Harvey was wearing a full cage and not supposed to be fighting but that didn’t stop him from throwing punches at Beaverson.  Beaverson was trying to punch back but had a tough time punching anything but a full cage.  By the time Harveys helmet came off the linesmen stepped in.

The second fight at the end of the game between Jimmy Bonneau and Jon Mirasty occured after Mirasty gave Salak a shove.

Here’s a video I snagged off the TV screen.  Somehow I didn’t hit record on my camera at the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qga887RHXTY

Salak says he said something like, “I just said hey guys thats pretty stupid. 3-0 leading, you losing its not neccesary to do it.  I don’t think he heard what i said.  He pushed me but i dont think he’s stupid, he knows if he fight with me i would probably die there.”

Bonneau, “There would have been no point of a 2nd fight out of nowhere tonight but theres some respect to get too. i’m not going to stand around looking at what people are doing if the tough guys going after my goaltender, doesnt matter who you are.”

Rochester is on a seven game winning streak and is currently in first place in the American Hockey League.  They’re playing great hockey together as a team and get better with each game.  The fans are happy, the players are enjoying themselves, and the atmosphere inside the arena is the most exciting it’s been in two years.

“The group we have right now is focused and I think they get along very well together.  They battle hard,” Benoit Groulx said.  “Its nice to see where we’re at now but at the same time we have a lot of things to work on.”

The Amerks only have one game in the next ten nights.  They’ll have plenty of team to continue working together and building off of what they’ve done so far.

Salak Earns his First Shutout in Amerks 7th Straight Win is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Jimmy Bonneau fought Jon Mirasty twice and looked beat up after the game.  He said the last time his face was like that was after he broke his orbital bone.

“My face is beat up and I’m tired,” Bonneau said.  “But my heads fine, my hands are fine, and my legs are fine so i’m ready to go.”

Bonneau is currently with the Amerks on a PTO but is working hard to show he deserves a contract.

Round 1:

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

Round 2:

Somehow I did not hit record on my camera, so here’s a crappy recording from the TV.. better than nothing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qga887RHXTY

These two teams play again on Friday November 6th, plan now to be there!

Sunday Evening Amerks vs Crunch Fight Videos is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Everyone scored who is supposed to score.  The four goals were scored by Chris Taylor, Graham Mink, Jeff Taffe, and Michal Repik.  Four players that are here for that reason.

The goaltending was exciting to watch.  Alexander Salak was all over the ice… literally.  Sprawling all over the place with his arms, his legs, his stick, his body.  To say he played with an unorthodox style is an understatement.  He’s likely to raise the blood pressure of everyone in attendance.

Crunch goaltender Dan LaCosta stopped 11 of 12 shots faced in the second and a majority of those were great saves.  The Amerks were throwing pucks at him from all over the place and he continued to stop them.

Continuing on with the Amerks….

The Amerks killed off six Crunch power play opportunities, two of those were 5 on 3′s.

They were not pushed around by a “tougher” team.

They scored two power play goals.

Eight out of 18 skaters (excluding the goalies) for the Amerks scored a point in the game.  If we don’t count Brady Calla or Andrew Sweetland it was eight out of 16 skaters.

They even found a way to score an empty net goal at the end to solidify the win.  We’ve been used to the opposing team finding a way to put on pressure late in the game, but not this time.

Warmups started with the thugs meeting at the red line to discuss the game plan.  On the Crunch side was Jon Mirasty, Kevin Harvey, and Tom Sestito.  On the Amerks side was Mike Duco, Kenndal McArdle, and Tyler Plante.  They were chatting things up until Rory Fitzpatrick (good job dad!) skated by and tapped McArdle to wrap things up.

Kenndal McArdle and Tom Sestitio chatting it up during warmups

At 9:18 of the first period Kenndal McArdle and Tom Sestito decided it was time to finish what was planned during warmups.  McArdle did a great job getting a few shots in on a taller and bigger Sestito.  Sestito probably didn’t expect McArdle to actually put up a fight.  Here’s the video, you be the judge:

The rest of the first period saw a lot of back and forth hockey.  Back and forth.  Back and forth.  It wasn’t exciting but it seemed like both teams were trying to figure out a pace for the rest of the game.

Alexander Picard opened the scoring at 18:09 of the first period off of a great redirected shot.  Nick St Pierre fired a shot from near the blue line and Picard was standing all alone to the left of Salak and redirected the puck into the net.  The shot never would have found the net so it was more like a great play that is practiced often, get the puck towards the guy next to the net to redirect it in.  Ellerby never should have been left alone like that but he did, we’ll move on.

Chris Taylor tied the game 1-1 at 4:25 of the second period.  Graham Mink shot the puck wide from the blue line and it went off the back boards.  Mike Caruso was going around the net and pushed the puck next to the net and Chris Taylor was there to put it in the net.  It almost looked as if it hit the post and then LaCosta’s pad and into the net.

Half way trough the third period Graham Mink scored the eventual game winning goal on the power play at 10:10.  He was standing in front of the net and was able to take a rebound and score the goal.  Imagine that, players standing in front of the net and scoring goals.

Jeff Taffe made it a 3-1 game at 15:33 of the third when he scored off a hard shot from the slot on the power play.

Jeff Taffe winding up for his shot that found the back of the net to make it a 3-1 game.

Michal Repik put the game away with an empty net goal with a minute left in the game.

The game got better as it went on.  It was filled with penalties and great goaltending.  The team had two strong games this weekend and one horrible game.  Hopefully a week of practices prepares them to play another great game against the Marlies on Friday.  The solid Amerks win will certainly help those who say that the team does not need an enforcer.  Some people will talk about the lack of ice time that Jon Mirasty saw as the game went on, but at the same time how much ice time did Calla and Sweetland really get?

Enough of that.  The Amerks won.  It’ll be exciting if this becomes a familiar site:

Amerks raise their sticks at center ice after the win

Unfortunately I was not able to get to the locker room for any quotes tonight.  Hoping to work things out by Friday.

Cheesy Title Time.. Amerks Crunch Syracuse! is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.