AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Host Griffins At Blue Cross Arena

Published on February 26, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans close out their season-long five-game homestand as they host the Grand Rapids Griffins at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the third of six scheduled meetings between the North Division rivals this season and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Channel 98.

Promotions:

The game falls on the next installment of the Amerks Dollar Dogs 'N' Drafts promotion. Friday night, and now during every Friday night home game for the rest of the season, fans can take part in the "Dollar Dogs 'N' Drafts" promotion and purchase Zweigle's Hot Dogs and Draft Beers for just $1 each!

Amerks Join Elite Company: With its 3-2 win last Sunday over the Portland Pirates, Rochester became just the second team in the American Hockey League and eighth in North American hockey history to reach 2,000 franchise wins. In addition to all the founding original six members of the National Hockey League, the only other AHL team to accomplish the feat is the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears.

Gratchev Signed to PTO:

Joining the Amerks tonight will be forward Maxime Gratchev who signed a 25-game professional tryout with the team earlier in the day. A native of Novosibirsk, Russia, the 21-year-old Gratchev comes to Rochester after scoring two goals and three assists for five points in 17 games with the Binghamton Senators this season. The 5-foot-11, 198-pound forward also appeared in 34 games with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL, where he ranks fifth on the team with 39 points. In 18 combined American Hockey League games with Binghamton and Bridgeport, Gratchev has tallied five points (2+3) and 12 penalty minutes.

Johnson Receives Team Honors:

The Amerks announced Thursday that veteran forward Jamie Johnson has been named the Morgan Stanley Player of the Month for the months of December and January. With the honors, the seventh-year pro has been selected as Rochester's Player of the Month three straight months. Johnson receives the honors after registering 30 total points (10+20) throughout the past two months, including a season-long 10-game point streak in January.

Taylor Passes Ehman, Nears Garwasiuk:

Veteran forward Chris Taylor recently surpassed Gerry Ehman for the third on the all-time assist list (283) last week against Manitoba. The only two ahead of him are Bronco Horvath and Jody Gage. Further, the 18-year pro sits just a mere four goals away from moving ahead of Ron Garwasiuk for 13th on the all-time goals list.

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

With just the final quarter of the season right around the corner, home ice advantage has been beneficial for the Amerks. After earning their first regulation loss of the season at home, the Amerks are now 19-11-2-0 on home ice. Conversely, 14 of Rochester's 25 losses in regulation thus far this season have been away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena.

Head-to-Head:

The matchup will be the third of six get-togethers for the two teams this season. Following a 6-3 loss to Grand Rapids in the previous meeting with the Griffins back on January 8th, Rochester is 1-1-0-0 this season and 18-21-3 all-time against the Detroit Red Wings' affiliate.

Amerks Notes:

Rochester (32-25-2-0, 66 points) enters the contest after snapping its four-game losing streak with a win over the Portland Pirates last Sunday at The Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks are currently in a second-place tie with the Abbotsford Heat in the North Division and are locked in a four-way tie with Albany, Norfolk and Abbotsford for 11th overall in the AHL standings.

Johnson, who shows six points (3+3) in his last seven games, continues to pace Rochester's offense in all offensive categories in goals (22), assists (35) and points (57). Averaging just under a point per game, Johnson is seventh in the AHL in overall point production after collecting 22 points (7+15) in his last 20 outings. Further, his 22 goals and 35 assists rank him tied for 12th and ninth in each category among the AHL's top scorers, respectively.

Veteran defenseman Clay Wilson has a team-best 20 assists on the power-play this season, good enough for third in the AHL in that category. Wilson continues to be Rochester's top scoring defenseman with 44 points (11+33) and is second in scoring among league blueliners.Additionally, Wilson is tied for 12th in the AHL with 33 assists. He enters the contest with eight points (3+5) in his last seven games.

Rookie goaltender Alexander Salak, who has started 15 of the last 20 games for Rochester, boasts a 24-12-0 record with a 2.74 goals-against average and a.913 save percentage in 38 games. His 24 wins presently rank him tied for fourth among league netminders.

Taylor shows six points (1+5) in his last seven games and veteran forward Jeff Taffe comes into the game on the heels of a season-high five-game point streak (3+3). Despite currently being on recall with the parent Florida Panthers, second-year forward Michal Repik has three goals and three assists in his last eight appearances.

Grand Rapids Notes:

Grand Rapids (25-31-2-1, 53 points), playing Game 1 of its current four-game road trip, comes into the matchup after suffering a 3-2 loss to the San Antonio Rampage Wednesday night at Van Andel Arena. The loss was the Griffins' fifth in their last six games, with a 5-4 victory over the Texas Stars being the lone win in the stretch.

Fifth-year pro Jeremy Williams has a team-high 40 points (19+21) and 153 shots on goal thus far this season. Veteran forward and 2010 AHL All-Star Patrick Rissmiller, who began the 2009-10 campaign with the Hartford Wolf Pack, leads the Griffins offense with 25 assists and is the only Grand Rapids skater to hit the 60-game plateau this season. The duo is also tied for the team lead with eight power-play goals apiece. Forward Jan Mursak, in his second season with Grand Rapids, is first on the team and tied for 17th in the AHL with 20 goals.

Forwards Kris Newbury (142) and Paul Crosty (135) are first and second on the team in penalty minutes, respectively. In addition, the duo holds the 18th and 22nd rankings in the AHL in the very same category.

Second-year netminder Daniel Larsson has seen the majority of time in net thus far, sporting a 17-19-1 record with a 2.88 goals-against average and a.904 save percentage in 39 games.

Making their Griffins debuts tonight will be forward Brad May and defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen after the pair were reassigned to Grand Rapids earlier in the week from the Detroit Red Wings. May, a veteran of over 1,000 NHL games, has one assist in 40 games with Red Wings, while Tollefsen joins the Griffins after a 10-day stint playing for the Norwegian Men's Team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Next Game:

Rochester heads north of the border on Saturday, February 27th to take on the surging first-place Hamilton Bulldogs for a 7:00 p.m. North Division tilt at Copps Coliseum. Fans can tune into the live broadcasts on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2010


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