AHL Rochester Americans

Game Night: Amerks, Crunch Ring in the New Year Tonight at Blue Cross Arena

Published on January 1, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Game Notes: Tonight, the Rochester Americans return home to ring in the New Year as former Amerk Nathan Paetsch and the Syracuse Crunch journey west down the I-90 Interstate for the second time in six days with their fourth straight visit to The Blue Cross Arena. Fans can tune into the 7:35 p.m. New Year ‚¬â„¢s Day bash live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester ‚¬â„¢s Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.

Promotions: The game will be a New Year ‚¬â„¢s celebration, featuring the third of six ‚¬Å“Mystery Puck ‚¬Â nights, courtesy of the Stephens Media Group. Fans can purchase the New Year ‚¬â„¢s-themed pucks for $10 through the Rochester Knighthawks/Amerks Charitable Foundation, Inc. A select number of pucks will be labeled ‚¬Å“WINNER ‚¬Â and can be redeemed at the Amerks Guest Services Booth before the end of the Second Intermission in order to claim their prize. The pucks will be autographed by a current Amerk and will be individually wrapped so that the player ‚¬â„¢s identity remains a mystery until the puck has been purchased. All net proceeds will go to the team ‚¬â„¢s foundation, which will then be distributed to local charities. The first 5,000 fans will also take home a 2011 Amerks team calendar. Fans can also purchase the ‚¬Å“Facebook Fanpack ‚¬Â for tonight ‚¬â„¢s game exclusively through the Amerks Facebook page. Fans can get a ticket and T-shirt to the game all for the one low price of just $15! Click on the 'Amerks Nation' tab to purchase the pack.

Head-to-Head: The contest marks just the fourth of 10 get-togethers and the fourth straight in Western New York between the two clubs. The Amerks show an unblemished 3-0-0-0 record against the Crunch this season, with all three wins coming on home ice. Rochester earned a 5-2 win over Syracuse in the previous encounter just six days ago at The Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks also maintain the upper hand with a 94-76-15 all-time record against the Crunch.

By The Numbers: Rochester is just 6-9-2-0 against North Division opponents this season, but shows a 10-7-0-1 mark against non-divisional rivals. December proved to be a very productive month for the Amerks. In 13 games last month, nine of which have were played at home, the Amerks posted a 7-4-1-1 record, despite showing a 6-11-1-1 record overall within the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks are 8-3-0-1 this season against the AHL ‚¬â„¢s four other New York State based teams, outscoring their fellow Empire State opponents 49-42.

Taylor On The Move Again: Veteran forward Chris Taylor tonight will leapfrog Bronco Horvath for seventh on the franchise ‚¬â„¢s all-time games played list, appearing in his 474th game in the red, white and blue. Already on his list of accomplishments this season includes moving ahead of Stan Smrke for fifth on the all-time points list, appearing in more games than Amerk Hall of Famers Dan Frawley and Gerry Ehman and scoring more career goals than Jim Pappin and Barry Merrell. Coming into tonight, he sits just two goals away from eclipsing former fan-favorite Scott Metcalfe for 10th on the all-time goals list.

Amerks Notes: Rochester (16-16-2-1, 35 points) enters the contest after earning a 2-1 road win over the Toronto Marlies Thursday evening at Ricoh Coliseum. Goaltender Tyler Plante stopped 29 of 30 shots to help Rochester to its third straight win over its divisional rival on the road. The Amerks, who have won two of their last three and four of their last six, remain tied for last place in the American Hockey League ‚¬â„¢s North Division, despite being just five points out of second. Rochester has scored the second most goals among any other divisional opponent with 107 and is third in the North with 625 penalty minutes. Rochester currently has the ninth best power-play in the league (20.3 percentage), but its penalty kill ranks 27th out of the 30-team AHL with a 78.1 success rate. As a team, the Amerks have also allowed a league-high nine shorthanded goals against, four coming at home and five on the road.

Team and League Leaders: Third-year forward Michal Repik continues to be Rochester ‚¬â„¢s top point-getter with a team-high 27 assists and 33 points. Playing at more than a point-per-game pace, Repik is also currently fifth in the AHL in assists, while being tied for ninth overall among the league ‚¬â„¢s top scorers. The Vlasim, Czech Republic, native has not gone more than two straight games without a point all season. Since his return from injury, Michael Duco has taken over the team lead in goals with 12. Seven of Duco ‚¬â„¢s goals have come on the man-advantage, ranking him first on the team and fourth in the league. Rookie left wing Eric Selleck has a team-high 102 penalty minutes, while he also ranks 12th in the league and second among AHL rookies in that category. Selleck is also tied for third in the league with 16 major penalties. Rookie forward AJ Jenks has gone a perfect 3-for-3 in shootout attempts with two of them proving to be game-winners. He is the second best shooter in the AHL when it comes to shootouts.

Defensemen Mike Kostka (5+18) and Clay Wilson (6+16) are presently tied for fifth and 10th in overall scoring among league blueliners, respectively, good enough for second and third overall on the team. The power-play extraordinaires also share the team lead with 11 man-up assists each between the two of them this season. First-year goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who has started three of the last four games for the Amerks, boasts an 11-14-0 record with one shutout, a 3.25 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage in 25 appearances. His 11 wins tie him for 16th among AHL netminders, while he has the third most saves with 707. Plante shows a 5-4-1 record with a 3.25 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in 10 games of service.

Who ‚¬â„¢s Hot: Duco has six goals in his last 10 games since returning to the lineup from injury. Taylor has 13 points (1+12) in his last 13 games and is presently in the midst of a three-game assist streak. Wilson shows seven points (1+6) in nine outings as Kostka saw his five-game point streak halted Thursday in Toronto. After going over a month without a goal, Repik has potted two in his last three games. Scott Timmins has four points (3+1) in his last five games since his return to the lineup despite being held scoreless his last two appearances.

Syracuse Notes: Syracuse (12-18-1-3, 28 points) comes into the matchup after ending 2010 on a high note following its 4-2 win over the defending back-to-back Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears no more than 24 hours ago at the Giant Center. Timo Pielmeier made a season-high 45 saves on 47 shots, Dan Sexton scored the game-winner and three players recorded a multiple-point game to help the Crunch snap their three-game skid heading into the New Year. Despite that, however, the Crunch have gone just 6-14 in their last 20 games, a stretch that includes a season-long seven-game losing streak, a 10-3 loss to Charlotte and four separate occasions where they have failed to put any points on the board. Syracuse, currently holding the seventh place spot in the East Division standings, is in its first season as the primary affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.

Syracuse is without the services of tough-guy forward Jon Mirasty after his reassignment to the ECHL ‚¬â„¢s Elmira Jackals earlier this week. Coming off a personal-best 269 penalty minutes in 2009-10, Mirasty is currently in his fifth season with the Crunch. Before his demotion, he led the team and ranked among the league leaders in the AHL with 74 penalty minutes, averaging 4.62 minutes per game.

Team and League Leaders: With rookie forward Kyle Palmieri currently away at the 2010 World Junior Championships with Team USA, veteran forward Trevor Smith paces the Syracuse offense in every offensive category in goals (eight), assists (13) and points (21) in 33 games this season. Patrick Maroon has scored a team-best four goals on the power-play and is presently second overall with 17 points (8+9). Crunch captain Joe Dipenta leads the team with a plus-five on-ice rating. Crunch goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur, the American Hockey League ‚¬â„¢s Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 19, 2010, shows somewhat better numbers than Pielmeier though owning fewer wins. A 23-year-old native of Victoriaville, Quebec, Levasseur is 5-9-2 with a 2.96 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage with two shutouts in 20 games for Syracuse this season. He comes into tonight on a three-game skid. Pielmeier, however, is 7-10-1 with a 3.51 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage in 19 games.

Next Game: Rochester remains at home on Sunday, January 2nd as the Adirondack Phantoms make their way west for their second and final trip to Western New York this season. The 5:05 p.m. non-divisional matchup will be the third of four contests between the intrastate rivals this season and will be carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester ‚¬â„¢s Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 1, 2011


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