AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Take On Defending Champs Tonight In Chicago

Published on February 11, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Americans continue their five-game western road trip tonight as they travel to Allstate Arena to take on the defending Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves. The 8:05 p.m. EST non-divisional matchup is the second and final meeting between the two teams this season and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live.

The Amerks are 0-0-0-1 this season after falling short in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Wolves and are 5-3-3 all-time against the two-time Calder Cup champions.

Rochester (18-29-0-4, 40 points) enters the contest after picking up its second win in three games, a 4-1 victory over the Iowa Chops last night at Allstate Arena. Shawn Matthias, Randall Gelech, Drew Larman and Karl Stewart each contributed single goals throughout the night, while second-year netminder Tyler Plante, in his fourth consecutive start for the Amerks, posted a 33-save effort to pick up his second win of the season en route to second star honors.

Veteran forward Janis Sprukts, expected to make his return to the Amerks after being loaned to his native Latvian national team to participate in the 2010 Olympic qualifying tournament, takes over the reigns as the Amerks' top point-getter with a team-high 12 goals and 28 points. Rookie forward Jason Garrison has a team best 21 assists, while his 25 points overall is good enough for third on the team. Forward Michal Repik comes into the matchup with seven points (4+3) in his last six outings.

Michael Duco is first on the team with 109 penalty minutes (PIM), with Tanner Glass a close second at 100 PIM. Goaltender Mike Brodeur, who has missed the last four games due to a minor injury, 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 AHL netminders in both goaltending categories, respectively. Further, his two shutouts tie him for fifth in the league. Plante has started four straight games for the Amerks for this time this season, showing a 2-2-0 record with a 3.41 goals-against average a .896 save percentage.

Chicago (26-24-2-1, 55 points), finishing up a three-game homestand, comes into the matchup after dropping two of its last three, with the most recent coming in a 6-3 loss to the Houston Aeros Saturday afternoon. Forward Jeff Hamilton currently leads the Wolves offense with 32 assists and 44 points overall. His 32 assists presently rank 12th in the league, with 19 of those 32 helpers coming on the man advantage, good enough for fifth best in the AHL. With forward Joe Motzko on recall to the parent Atlanta Thrashers, third-year forward Jordan LaVallee presently leads Chicago's active roster with 15 goals.

Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec shows a 9-9-1 record in 19 games between the pipes for the Wolves, the most for any Chicago goaltender this season. Further, his 2.52 goals-against average and .913 save percentage rank him 15th and 19th among league goaltenders, respectively.

The Amerks return home on Wednesday, February 18th to host the Grand Rapids Griffins at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live. It's the Moose's Birthday! 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 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.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2009


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