AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks fight to continue home winning streak

February 3, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Americans carry their season-high 10-game home winning streak into Friday night's game against the Albany River Rats at The Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial. The 7:35 p.m. contest will be broadcast on WHTK 1280-AM and amerks.com. The game will also be televised tape delayed on Time Warner Cable Channel 98 on Saturday at noon.

Head-to-Head: Friday is the fourth and final regular season game between the two teams. Rochester leads the season series with a 3-0-0 record. The last time they met, Tom Askey made 29 saves to register a 4-0 shutout at Albany. The Amerks lead the all-time series with a 40-34-9 record.

Last Game: The Amerks won their 10th straight time at home, beating the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2 Wednesday night. Milan Bartovic scored the game-winning goal with 14 seconds left to give the Amerks their 19th win in their last 22 games. Rochester defenseman Jeff Jillson led the way with three points (1+2).

Amerks Notes: Rochester (32-9-3-4) is tied for the best record in the AHL with the Manchester Monarchs (33-9-3-2) with 71 points. Rookie Thomas Vanek has a five-game point streak (2+4). The native of Graz, Austria, is now third in the AHL in rookie goal-scoring (18) and points (33). He also ranks fourth on the Amerks in points and leads the team with 10 power-play goals in 47 games. It was announced Thursday that Vanek will play for Austria at an Olympic Qualifier in Klagenfurt, Austria, from February 10-13.

River Rat Bites: Albany enters the contest seventh in the East Division with 34 points (12-24-5-5) in 46 games. The River Rats, however, do have five points in their last three games. Zach Parise is fourth in the AHL in rookie points with 31 (10+21) in 42 games. Dean McAmmond leads the club with 36 points (11+25) in 45 games.

Taylor Made: On Wednesday, Amerks center Chris Taylor recorded his 200th assist as an Amerk on Milan Bartovic's game-winning goal.

Amerks serve pucks instead of plates: The 2005 Amerks Celebrity Waiter Dinner & Auction will be Monday, February 28th at 5:30 p.m. at the Clarion Riverside Hotel. Join the entire Amerks Team as they "serve plates instead of pucks" to help fund a cure for CF. For further information, contact the Rochester Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at (585) 697-0777 or Jo Anne Fournier at jfournier@cff.org. Tickets are only $45 each and can be purchased individually or in groups.

Miller Time: Rochester's Ryan Miller made 24 saves on Wednesday to earn his league-leading 26th win. This past week, the Amerks goalie was named the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week and the Koho AHL Goaltender of the Month. On January 28th, he notched his sixth shutout of the season, tying the franchise's single-season mark.

Next Game: Rochester remains at home, as they host the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday, February 5th. The game will be broadcast on WHTK 1280-AM and amerks.com. The Saturday contest will also air live on Time Warner Cable Channel 98.

Postgame Party: After Saturday's game, fans can stop by The Distillery (1142 Mt. Hope Ave.) for the official Amerks Postgame Party.

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 3, 2005


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