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AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Close Out Regular Season This Weekend

April 6, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... After claiming just two out of a possible six points this past weekend to kickoff the final month of play, the Rochester Americans will conclude their 2008-09 American Hockey League season this weekend with three games in four nights, all of which are against North Division opponents.

Rochester enters the home stretch on Wednesday, April 8th as it travels north of the border for a North Division showdown with the Toronto Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum. The 7:30 p.m. contest will be the eighth and final meeting of the season between the two teams and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live. Toronto owns a 6-1-0-0 record in the season series with Rochester, 4-0-0-0 on the road, and have outscored the Amerks 28-15 in the previous seven encounters. The Amerks dropped a 4-2 decision in the most recent meeting with the Marlies back on March 13th at The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester is 11-21-1 all-time against the Toronto Maple Leafs' affiliate.

The Amerks return home to The Blue Cross Arena on Friday, April 10th to host the Syracuse Crunch in their final home game of the season. The 7:35 p.m. matchup will be the 11th of 12 meetings and the first of back-to-back weekend tilts between the longtime I-90 rivals and can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live. The Crunch are 7-3-0-0 against the Amerks season, including a flawless 5-0-0-0 record on home ice. The Crunch have outscored the Amerks 34-16 in the previous 10 games between the two teams, the largest goal differential among Rochester's North Division opponents this season. The Amerks, however, still maintain an 81-74-15 record lifetime against their intra-state foes. Rochester will complete the home-and-home series and its regular season on Saturday, April 11th with a 7:30 p.m. matchup against Syracuse at the War Memorial at Oncenter.

Friday will also be the Amerks' annual Awards Night, as the team will announce the club's 2008-09 award winners during a pregame ceremony. The awards include Team MVP, Rookie of the Year, Most Popular Player and Scoring Champion to name a few. The first 5,000 fans will take home an Amerks team photo, courtesy of Connors & Ferris. After the game, the players will be available in the lower atrium of The Blue Cross Arena for a full-team autograph session.

Further, the Amerks and Dick Ide will wrap up the season by presenting one lucky fan with a two-year lease on a brand new 2009 Honda Fit. All contestants who participated in the Amerks' Star Toss and successfully landed their star in the back of the Honda Ridgeline will be entered into a drawing and one fan will be selected to win the grand prize.

Rochester (27-42-0-8, 62 points) enters the final week of the season after earning just two out of a possible six points this past weekend. The Amerks' lone win of the weekend came Friday night in a 4-2 victory over the Binghamton Senators. Veteran forward Janis Sprukts contributed an assist on each Rochester goal and Stefan Meyer chipped in with a pair of goals. Goaltender David Shantz earned his first win of the season with a 42-save performance en route to second star honors. The Amerks would go onto suffer a 3-2 setback to Syracuse Saturday night before being shutout in a 3-0 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins last night at The Blue Cross Arena.

First-year forward Michal Repik, who shows 28 points (11+17) in his last 32 games, currently paces Rochester's offense with a team-high 47 points through 72 games and remains 14th among AHL rookies in scoring. Further, his 18 goals put him in a three-way tie with Karl Stewart and Meyer for the team lead. His 29 assists are equivalent to that of Sprukts, who is second on the team with 45 points overall and shows five points (1+4) in his last two outings. Rookie defenseman Jason Garrison remains Rochester's top scoring defenseman with 34 points overall, good enough for fourth on the team and 18th among league defensemen.

Rookie forward Michael Duco is first on the team with 147 penalty minutes (PIM). Goaltender Mike Brodeur, who has started five of the last nine games between the pipes for Rochester, boasts an 18-13-4 record in 38 games for the Amerks. His 2.45 goals-against average and .921 save percentage currently rank him 12th and seventh among AHL netminders, respectively.

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