AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Host Griffins Tonight

February 18, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans kickoff their four-game in five-night stretch as they host the Grand Rapids Griffins at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the fifth of six scheduled meetings between the divisional rivals and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live.

Promotions: Tonight's contest features a variety of promotions, starting with the Moose's Birthday. Come out and celebrate with all his Mascot friends! Perry's will provide ice cream for the occasion and the first 3,000 fans will receive goalie key chains, courtesy of Time Warner!

The game also falls on a clevermethod Business Persons' Special, where fans can turn in their business cards at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office and receive any 100-premium seat for just $10. Offer is valid for all Amerks home games Monday through Thursday. Contact the Amerks Office at (585) 454-5335 for more information. It's also Buy One, Get One Half-off night, where fans can purchase a ticket and get another for half the price in any seating section for any Sunday through Thursday game. Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster.com. Further, it's a RARES Discount Night. The RARES discount is valid for all RARES members by logging onto www.rares.org to review their discounts. It also marks the next Military Discount Night, in which active military and veterans can present a Military ID or an American Legion or VFW membership card and receive premium seating for just $10 or 200 End seats for $5, a savings of $12.25 per ticket. All tickets can be purchased directly at the Box Office window at The Blue Cross Arena.

The game also kicks off the Amerks' first Winning Wednesdays promotion. If the Amerks WIN, you WIN a FREE ticket voucher to the next Wednesday night Amerks home game. If the Amerks win tonight, any scanned ticket for Wednesday, February 18th can be turned in at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office for a free ticket to the Amerks game on Wednesday, March 18th vs. the Manitoba Moose.

Tonight also marks the first night of the Amerks' "Star Toss," with all net proceeds of the promotion going toward the recovery of Rochester police officer Anthony DiPonzio. The promotion begins tonight and will run during the second intermission through the Amerks' remaining 13 home games. Stars can be purchased at any Amerks home game for just $1 each or in groups of six for $5. The 23-year-old Officer DiPonzio was shot in the line of duty on January 31st. He faces a long recovery following brain surgery. Prior to the game, the Amerks will be honoring the group of officers that helped save DiPonzio's life. The group will be dropping the puck in a ceremonial faceoff.

Also participating in the tonight's ceremonial faceoff will be Alex Seaman and Josh Deutsch, this year's Amerks Reading Power Play winners. Seaman, a second-grader from Churchville and Deutsch, a sixth-grader from Irondequoit, were selected among over 1,000 entries and will be honored with their families prior to the contest.

Head-to-Head: The matchup is the fifth of six scheduled meetings between the North Division rivals this season. The Amerks and Griffins split a two-game set over the weekend of January 30th and 31st at Van Andel Arena the last two times the teams battled each other. The Griffins have outscored the Amerks 19-8 in the season series. Rochester is 1-3-0-0 this season and 17-19-2 all-time against Detroit Red Wings' affiliate.

Amerks Notes: Rochester (20-31-0-4, 44 points) enters the contest after posting a 3-2-0-0 record last week in its western road trip which saw the Amerks play five games in a six-night stretch. First-year forward Michal Repik collected at least one point in four out of the five games to go along with a +5 rating and 10 shots to finish the week with eight points (2+6).

Repik, who shows 14 points (6+8) in his last 10 games, currently paces Rochester's offense with a team-high 33 points (13+20) through 50 games. His 33 points ranks him 13th among AHL rookies in scoring. Veteran forward Janis Sprukts, who skated in his 100th game in an Amerk uniform Sunday night at Peoria, remains the Amerks' top goal scorer with a team best 15 goals. Rookie defenseman Jason Garrison has a team best 21 assists and remains Rochester's top scoring defenseman with 25 points overall, good enough for third on the team. Michael Duco is first on the team with 114 penalty minutes (PIM), with Tanner Glass a close second at 100 PIM. Goaltender Mike Brodeur boasts a 14-6-2 record in 24 games for the Amerks. His 2.27 goals-against average and .928 save percentage currently rank him third among AHL netminders in both goaltending categories, respectively. Further, his two shutouts tie him for fifth in the league. Tyler Plante is 3-3-0 since his return to the Amerks and his 3-8-0 on the season with 3.24 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage.

Grand Rapids Notes: Grand Rapids (31-13-6-5, 73 points), playing Game 5 of its current five-game road trip, comes into the matchup currently on the heels of a five-game losing streak, with the most recent coming in 5-4 loss to the Toronto Marlies last Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum. Darren Haydar currently leads the Griffins in all offensive categories in goals (20), assists (30) and points (50). Further, 10 of his 20 goals this season have come on the man advantage, good enough for 10th in the AHL. Aaron Downey leads the team with 84 PIM. Goaltender Jimmy Howard has seen the majority of time between the pipes for the Griffins this season, posting a 14-13-4 record in 32 games. His 2.52 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage rank him 15th among league netminders. Grand Rapids presently holds a second place standing in the AHL's North Division.

Next Game: The oldest rivalry in the American Hockey League will be renewed on Friday, February 20th as the Hershey Bears make their annual trip to The Blue Cross Arena. The battle of the league's two oldest franchises is slated for a 7:35 p.m. start and can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WKTK, whtk.com and AHL Live.

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2009


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