Sports stats



AHL Rochester Americans

AHL Releases Schedule Format

July 15, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... The American Hockey League announced today the schedule format for the 2003-04 season based on the new two-conference, four-division alignment that was unveiled last week at the AHL Board of Governors' annual meeting on Hilton Head Island, S.C. The Rochester Americans' unbalanced 80-game schedule features 66 games against Western Conference opponents and 14 games against teams from the Eastern Conference. This year, Rochester enters its 48th season in the AHL and 25th as the AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres.

The highlight of the 28-team AHL schedule for Rochester is the move to the newly formed North Division. The Rochester Americans welcome old rivals Syracuse, Cleveland and Hamilton, and new rivals Manitoba, St. John's and Toronto. This season will mark the first time that the Manitoba Moose and the expansion Toronto Roadrunners will play at The Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial. St. John's will also visit Rochester for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

The Amerks will play 56 games against divisional opponents this season, including 12 games against the Syracuse Crunch, and 10 games against Toronto and the Eastern Conference Champion Hamilton Bulldogs. Rochester also plays 10 games against the Western Conference's West Division. The West Division slate includes two games against the 2003 Calder Cup champion Houston Aeros.

In the Eastern Conference, the Amerks face East Division teams 14 times. The contests are sprinkled among three teams from the division. The Amerks battle geographical rivals Binghamton eight times, Albany four times, and Hershey twice. The AHL also announced that the 2003-04 season opens on Wednesday, October 8th and ends on Sunday, April 11th. The dates and times of regular season games will be released at a later date.

In addition, the league amended AHL Rule #51, eliminating the automatic delay of game minor penalty for shooting a puck out of the playing surface in the defensive zone. The rule still requires a delay of game penalty on any player that deliberately shoots or bats the puck outside the playing area.

Amerks vs. Opposition (2003-04)

Western Conference

vs. North Division Home Road Total
Cleveland 4 4 8
Hamilton 5 5 10
Manitoba 4 4 8
St. John's 4 4 8
Syracuse 6 6 12
Toronto 5 5 10
Totals 28 28 56

vs. West Division Home Road Total
Chicago 0 0 0
Cincinnati 1 1 2
Grand Rapids 1 1 2
Houston 1 1 2
Milwaukee 1 1 2
San Antonio 1 1 2
Utah 0 0 0
Totals 5 5 10

Eastern Conference

vs. Atlantic Division Home Road Total
Hartford 0 0 0
Lowell 0 0 0
Manchester 0 0 0
Portland 0 0 0
Providence 0 0 0
Springfield 0 0 0
Worcester 0 0 0
Totals 0 0 0

vs. East Division Home Road Total
Albany 2 2 4
Binghamton 4 4 8
Bridgeport 0 0 0
Hershey 1 1 2
Norfolk 0 0 0
Philadelphia 0 0 0
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 0 0 0
Totals 7 7 14

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from July 15, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central