AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Host Bulldogs Tonight At Blue Cross Arena

December 20, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans return home to close out their weekend against the Hamilton Bulldogs at The Blue Cross Arena. The 5:00 p.m. matinee will be the third of 10 scheduled meetings between the North Division rivals this season and will be carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The contest will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.

Promotions: Fans can take advantage of the Zweigle's Family Four Pack. Fans can receive four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for just $44. The game also falls on the next installment of the Amerks' Red Hot Sundays, courtesy of Zweigle's. This season marks the second season that the Amerks have partnered with Zweigle's to offer the "Red Hot Sundays" promotion. The promotion allows fans to purchase a Family Four Pack, which includes four hotdogs, four soft drinks and four tickets, for the low price of $44. In conjunction with Savor Catering at The Blue Cross Arena, the Amerks will offer this great promotion to the fans 10 times this season. Packages can be ordered by calling the Amerks office directly and speaking with a ticket sales representative. After the game, fans can head down to The Distillery (1142 Mt. Hope Ave) to meet Tyler Plante, Evgeny Dadonov and more of your favorite Amerks players at the official postgame party.

Taylor Reaches 1,000: Veteran forward Chris Taylor captured his 1,000th career point last night in Rochester's 5-4 loss to the Hershey Bears. Taylor recorded a pair of assists, with the latter of the two being his 1,000th career point, assisting on Daniel Steiner's power-play goal at the 11:21 mark of the second period. He also continued his ascent up the Amerks' all-time lists this week, surpassing Norm "Red" Armstrong into the No.7 spot on the all-time points table. Having already slid by Dick Gamble into the No.4 spot on the all-time assist list and currently tied with Craig Charron for 15th on the all-time goal list, the 18-year pro sits just three goals and now two points away from moving ahead of Gordie Clark and Geordie Robertson for 14th and sixth on the all-time lists, respectively. Just three games short of 400 career games as an Amerk, Taylor is a mere three games shy of surpassing Les Duff's benchmark of 399 games and just 25 games away from 1,200 professional games.

Panthers and Amerks Exchange Players, Bring One More In: In an effort to revitalize a depleted Amerks offense, the Florida Panthers have reassigned forwards Jeff Taffe and Michal Repik back to Rochester. In exchange, however, Florida has recalled hard-nosed forward Michael Duco and tough-guy winger Steve MacInytre. The pair will join the Panthers in preparation for their clash with the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, December 21st at Wachovia Arena. Faceoff is slated for 7:00 p.m.

The Amerks also signed defenseman David Schulz to a 25-game professional tryout contract earlier today. Schulz, 23, joins Rochester after scoring one goal and two assists for three points in 26 games this season with the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL. In his third of pro hockey, the Winkler, Manitoba, native made his American Hockey League debut in 2007-08 with the Manitoba Moose and has since skated in nine total AHL games, including eight with the Lake Erie Monsters last season. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound blueliner was the Vancouver Canucks' eight-round selection (254th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Home is Where the Wins Are... Not So Much the Road:

With the first quarter of the season already in the books, home ice advantage has been beneficial for the Amerks. After earning their first regulation loss of the season at home last weekend, the Amerks are now 11-2-1-0 on home ice. Conversely, seven of Rochester's nine losses thus far this season have been away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena.

Head-to-Head:

The contest is the third of 10 between the Amerks and Bulldogs this season. Rochester shows a flawless 2-0-0-0 record against Hamilton and have outscored their rivals 9-3 through the previous two encounters. The Amerks are 65-50-9 all-time against the Montreal Canadiens' affiliate.

Amerks Notes:

Rochester (20-9-1-0, 41 points) enters the contest currently tied for fourth in the AHL with Hamilton and trail the league-leading Manchester Monarchs by four points and sit just three behind the West Division Texas Stars. The Amerks have won 19 of their last 27 games, including 11 of the last 13 at home, and are tied for second with Hamilton with a.683 winning percentage. The Amerks come into tonight presently on a two-game skid after dropping back-to-back tilts to the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears as part of a home-and-home series the past two nights.

The Amerks, who are tied for third in the AHL with six shorthanded goals, have outscored their opponents 90-70 in the last 26 games and have allowed the second fewest number of goals in their division with 81. Additionally, their 98 goals for are also the second most in the division. Rochester is second in the AHL with a 21.2 power-play percentage and is 14th with an 84.0 penalty-killing percentage.

Johnson, in his seventh season of professional hockey, currently paces Rochester's offense with a team-high 12 goals and 27 points after netting two more in last night's loss to Hershey. Averaging.90 points per game, Johnson is tied for sixth in the AHL in overall point production after collecting 23 points (12+11) in his last 19 outings. His 12 goals also rank him tied for fourth in the league. Taylor remains at a close second with 25 points (6+19) and continues to be the team's top playmaker with 19 assists. His 25 points and 19 helpers presently rank him tied for eighth and sixth in the league, respectively.

Amerks tough-guy Jimmy Bonneau is first on the team and fifth in the league with a team-high 116 penalty minutes after dropping the gloves 17 times in his last 23 games. Defenseman Clay Wilson (3+15) stands just four points ahead of fellow blueliner Jason Garrison (3+11) in the fight for Rochester's top scoring defenseman. The duo is currently ranked fifth and ninth in scoring among league blueliners, respectively. Wilson is also tied for second in the AHL with 11 power-play assists, while Garrison, despite presently being on recall with the Florida Panthers, still owns the team's best on-ice rating with a plus-11.

First-year goaltender Alexander Salak boasts a league-best 16-4-0 record with 575 saves in just 21 games. His 2.30 goals-against average and.927 save percentage are currently 10th and fifth among league netminders, respectively, while his 16 wins are presently a league best. In 21 games, Salak has only allowed 45 goals.

Hamilton Notes:

Hamilton (18-7-2-3, 41 points) comes into the matchup the winners of four in its last five, with its most recent victory coming in a 4-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack last night at the XL Center. The Bulldogs currently share the top spot in the North Division with the Amerks, each with 41 points apiece thus far.

Third-year forward Brock Trotter currently paces Hamilton's offense with a team-high 16 assists and 25 points in 30 games. His 16 helpers and 25 points are ninth and eighth in the AHL, respectively. Forward David Desharnais, in his fourth professional season and third with Hamilton, leads the team with 11 goals, five of which have come on the man advantage. Eric Neilson remains the Bulldogs' top penalty minute leader with 79, averaging roughly 3.16 PIMs per game.

Between the pipes, Hamilton owns the best goaltending tandem in the league. Former NHL veteran Curtis Sanford has seen the majority of the time with 18 appearances. He currently holds a 9-5-2 record, averaging 2.12 goals-against along with a.920 save percentage. His counterpart, Cedrick Desjardins, has played in 15 games and owns the league's best goals-against average (1.34), in addition to the league's second best save percentage (.948). Sanford's goals-against average currently ranks sixth in the league, while his save percentage is 12th.

Next Game:

The Amerks remain home on Saturday, December 26th as Hamilton returns to The Blue Cross Arena for the second time in a six-day span. The 7:05 p.m. North Division contest will be broadcast live on Sports Radio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2009


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