AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Kick Off Five-Game Road Trip This Week

Published on March 3, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... After breaking a three-game losing streak with a big win on Sunday, the Rochester Americans approach a long stretch of road games this month, starting with a two-game trip down south this weekend.

Rochester's five-game road trip starts on Friday, March 7th as the Amerks face the San Antonio Rampage at the AT&T Center. The 8:00 p.m. non-divisional contest is the second and final meeting this season between the two teams and will be broadcast live on Hot Talk 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and B2 networks. The Amerks trampled the Rampage in shoot-out fashion for a 3-2 victory at home in their last meeting on February 9th at The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester is 8-3-0 all-time against the Phoenix Coyotes' affiliate.

The Amerks stay in the Lonestar State of Texas for a dinnertime meeting with the Houston Aeros on Sunday, March 9th. The 5:05 p.m. contest at the Toyota Center is the second of two meetings between the two teams this season and will be broadcast live on Hot Talk 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and B2 networks. The Amerks suffered a 4-0 loss in their first meeting with the Aeros this season on February 24th. Rochester is 3-7-3 all-time against the Minnesota Wild's affiliate.

The Amerks enter the week after splitting the weekend with a 1-1-0-0 record to start off the month of March and improve to 18-36-4-4 on the year.

The Amerks' weekend began with a 3-1 loss to rival Syracuse Crunch at the War Memorial at Oncenter. Martin Lojek collected Rochester's lone goal with help from Dylan Hunter and Marc-Andre Gragnani as Rochester fell to 2-5-1-0 this season against Syracuse. The Amerks have been held winless in four games against the Crunch while away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena.

Last night, the Amerks returned home for a 5-3 decision over the Iowa Stars to snap a three-game losing streak.

The win was fueled by a pair of goals and four-point performances each from Gragnani (2+2) and Hunter (2+2), while Stefan Meyer (1+2) punched home one of his own to round out the scoring. The game was the first since January 12th that three Amerks players registered multi-point games in the same contest.

With the win, Amerks Head Coach Randy Cunneyworth became only the second coach in the 52-year-old franchise to reach 300 career wins. Cunneyworth, in his eighth season behind the Amerks bench, joins John VanBoxmeer as the only other Amerk coach to win 300 games. VanBoxmeer is first on the all-time list with 333 wins.

Amerks General Manager Jody Gage announced today that the Florida Panthers have reassigned center Drew Larman to the Amerks after receiving his first promotion to the National Hockey League this season.

Larman, 22, returns after a six-game stint with the Panthers, recording one assist and two penalty minutes (PIM). In 37 American Hockey League contests with Rochester, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound forward has 13 points (6+7) and 17 PIM. A native of Buffalo, Larman signed with Florida as a free agent on September 28, 2005.

Mark Mancari remains Rochester's top point-getter with 42 points (15+27). Meyer netted his 17th goal last night against Iowa to become Rochester's goal leader. Gragnani's four-point show Sunday night extended his current point streak to a season and career long 10 games. His 40 points (9+31) currently ranks him second on the team and fifth among league rookies. Further, his 31 assists are also a team best. Goaltender Adam Dennis presently ranks 10th among league netminders with three shutouts this season.

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