AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Host Rockford Tonight

Published on February 4, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans begin an eight-game in 12-night stretch with the first of three straight home games as the Rockford IceHogs make their annual trek east to The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the first of two scheduled meetings between the two teams this season and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live.

Promotions: The game 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. Lastly, 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.

Head-to-Head: The matchup is the first of two meetings between Rochester and Rockford this season. The Amerks are 1-1-0 all-time after splitting the season series a year ago with the Chicago Blackhawks' affiliate.

Amerks Notes: Rochester (16-27-0-4, 36 points) enters the contest after taking two out of a possible four points in a two-game set with the Grand Rapids Griffins this past weekend. Friday night, the Amerks rallied from a 2-0 deficit and newcomer Ross Carlson, in just his first game with Rochester since joining the team earlier that day, netted the only goal in the shootout to lift the Amerks to a 3-2 victory and their first win against the Griffins this season. Grand Rapids responded the following night, sending Rochester home with an 8-4 loss.

First-year defenseman Jason Garrison (3+19) and forward Michal Repik (8+14) currently lead Rochester with 22 points after the Florida Panthers loaned veteran forward Janis Sprukts to his native Latvian national team to participate in the 2010 Olympic qualifying tournament. Garrison also remains Rochester's top scoring defenseman, while his 22 assists are also a team best. Rookie forward Michael Duco is first on the team with 107 penalty minutes (PIM), with Tanner Glass a close second at 98 PIM. Goaltender Mike Brodeur, who has started 21 of the last 24 games for Rochester, boasts a 13-5-2 record in 21 games for the Amerks. His 2.16 goals-against average and .931 save percentage currently rank him third among American Hockey League netminders in both goaltending categories, respectively. Further, his two shutouts tie him for fourth in the league.

Rockford Notes: Rockford (26-19-0-4, 56 points), playing Game 4 of a season-long seven-game road trip, comes into the matchup the winners of three straight and four of its last five, with the most recent coming in a 6-3 win over the Toronto Marlies last Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum. Second-year forward Petri Kontiola, Rockford's sole representative at the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic, currently leads the 'Hogs' offense with a team-high 32 assists and 42 points. His 32 helpers are ninth best in the league. Pascal Pelletier is first on the team and seventh in the league with 22 goals, eight of which coming on the man advantage, good enough for 19th in the AHL. Goaltender Anitti Niemi has seen the most time between the pipes for Rockford, posting a 12-11-2 record in 27 games. His 2.50 goals-against average ranks 15th in the league, while counterpart Corey Crawford's .915 save percentage is 14th in the AHL.

Next Game: The Amerks remain at home on Saturday, February 7th to host the Binghamton Senators for an early afternoon matchup. The 2:05 p.m. matinee is the fourth of eight meetings between the non-divisional rivals this season and can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live. Rochester looks for its first win of the season against the B-Sens after coming up winless and being outscored 11-4 in the three previous encounters. Rochester is 19-26-4 lifetime against the Sens.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2009


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