AHL Rochester Americans

Game Night: Amerks Host Hamilton At Blue Cross Arena

Published on December 26, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans return home as the Hamilton Bulldogs make their second trip within in a six-day span back to The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be the fourth of 10 this season between the North Division rivals and will be carried live on Sports Radio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. Fans can tune in live to watch Friday's game on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26. With a win over Hamilton, Rochester can snap its four-game skid and reclaim the top spot in the American Hockey League's North Division.

Promotions: Beginning tonight, and during each Friday night home game in January, fans can take part in the "Dollar Dogs 'N' Drafts" promotion. Fans will be able to purchase Zweigle's Hot Dogs and 14oz. Draft Beers for just $1 each! Along with the Saturday, December 26th game against Hamilton, other Dollar Dogs 'N Drafts games include Friday, January 8th vs. Grand Rapids; Friday, January 22nd vs. Hamilton and Friday, January 29th vs. Albany.

Consumers will have the opportunity to purchase Zweigle's Hot Dogs and 14 oz. Draft beers for just one dollar. Locations for the promotion will be the upper atrium bar, in addition to the concession stands located directly behind sections 102 and 128 in The Blue Cross Arena. All sales specific to "Dollar Dogs 'N Drafts" will be conducted between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. only on the select dates with a limit of two 14oz. draft beers and four hot dogs per sales transaction.

Amerks Will Honor Taylor: The Amerks will honor veteran forward Chris Taylor in a pregame ceremony tonight. Taylor set a personal milestone last Saturday night in Hershey, registering his 1,000th career professional point. In recognition of his achievement, the Amerks will present Taylor with a plaque commemorating his career benchmark.

Taylor Reaches 1,000, MOVES AHEAD OF 'SHARKY' AND ROBERTSON: After capturing his 1,000th career professional point last weekend against Hershey, Taylor continued his ascent up the Amerks' all-time lists last week, surpassing both Norm "Red" Armstrong and Geordie Robertson into the No.6 spot on the all-time points table. He recently moved ahead of Craig Charron into the No. 14 spot to tie Gordie Clark on the all-time goals list. Having already slid by Dick Gamble into the No.4 spot on the all-time assist list, the 18-year pro now sits just eight goals and 10 assists away from moving ahead of Ron Garwasiuk and Gerry Ehman for 13th and third on the all-time lists, respectively. Tonight Taylor will skate in his 400th career game as an Amerk, thus leapfrogging Les Duff's benchmark of 399 games and is just 23 games away from 1,200 professional games. Lastly, Taylor is also three games away from 500 AHL games and three points away from his 400th as an Amerk.

Home is Where the Wins Are... Not So Much the Road: With the first quarter of the season already in the books, home ice advantage has been beneficial for the Amerks. After earning their first regulation loss of the season at home last weekend, the Amerks are now 11-2-2-0 on home ice. Conversely, eight of Rochester's 10 losses in regulation thus far this season have been away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena.

Head-to-Head: The contest is the fourth of 10 between the Amerks and Bulldogs this season. Rochester shows a 2-0-1-0 record against Hamilton and have outscored their rivals 14-8 through the previous three encounters. The Amerks are 65-51-9 all-time against the Montreal Canadiens' affiliate.

Amerks Notes: Rochester (20-10-2-0, 42 points) enters the contest currently second in the North Division and fourth overall in the AHL just three points behind the league-leading Manchester Monarchs. The Amerks have won 19 of their last 28 games, including 11 of the last 14 at home, and have the league's fifth best winning percentage (.656). The Amerks come into tonight presently on a season-high four-game losing streak after dropping a 6-2 decision to the last place Lake Erie Monsters Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Amerks, who are tied for third in the AHL with six shorthanded goals, have outscored their opponents 92-76 in the last 27 games and have allowed the third fewest number of goals in their division with 92. Additionally, their 104 goals for are also the in the division. Rochester is second in the AHL with a 20.5 power-play percentage and is tied for 16th with an 82.2 penalty-killing percentage.

Forward Jamie Johnson, in his seventh season of professional hockey, currently paces Rochester's offense with a team-high 13 goals and 30 points. Averaging just under a point per game, Johnson is tied for fifth in the AHL in overall point production after collecting 26 points (13+13) in his last 21 outings. His 13 goals also rank him tied for third in the league. Taylor, presently on a three-game point streak (2+3), remains at a close second with 28 points (8+20) and continues to be the team's top playmaker with 20 assists. His 28 points and 20 helpers presently rank him tied for sixth and fourth in the league, respectively.

Amerks tough-guy Jimmy Bonneau is first on the team and fifth in the league with a team-high 116 penalty minutes after dropping the gloves 17 times in his last 25 games. Defenseman Clay Wilson (3+17) stands just six points ahead of fellow blueliner Jason Garrison (3+11) in the fight for Rochester's top scoring defenseman. The duo is currently ranked tied for fourth and ninth in scoring among league blueliners, respectively. Wilson is also second in the AHL with 12 power-play assists, while Garrison, despite presently being on recall with the Florida Panthers, still owns the team's best on-ice rating with a plus-11.

First-year goaltender Alexander Salak boasts a league-best 16-4-0 record with 583 saves in 22 games. His 2.33 goals-against average and.927 save percentage are currently 11th and fifth among league netminders, respectively, while his 16 wins are presently a league best. In 22 games, Salak has only allowed 46 goals.

Hamilton Notes: Hamilton (19-7-2-3, 43 points) comes into the matchup on the heels of a three-game winning streak and the winners of five in its last six after earning a 5-4 OT win over the Amerks last Sunday at The Blue Cross Arena. Mathieu Darche netted the hat trick, including the game-winner, to lift the Bulldogs into the top spot in the North Division, just one point ahead of Rochester. Hamilton presently sits third overall in the AHL.

Third-year forward Brock Trotter currently paces Hamilton's offense with a team-high 17 assists and 26 points in 31 games. His 17 helpers and 26 points are sixth and eighth in the AHL, respectively. Darche and forward David Desharnais, in his fourth professional season and third with Hamilton, share the team lead with 11 goals apiece. Five of 11 goals from Desharnais this season have come on the man advantage, a team best. Eric Neilson remains the Bulldogs' top penalty minute leader with 79, averaging roughly 3.16 PIMs per game.

Between the pipes, Hamilton owns the best goaltending tandem in the league. Former NHL veteran Curtis Sanford has seen the majority of the time with 18 appearances. He currently holds a 9-5-2 record, averaging 2.12 goals-against along with a.920 save percentage. His counterpart, Cedrick Desjardins, has played in 16 games and owns the league's second best goals-against average (1.52), in addition to the league's third best save percentage (.941). Sanford's goals-against average currently ranks sixth in the league, while his save percentage is tied for ninth among league netminders.

Next Game: The Amerks remain home on Sunday, December 27th to close out their weekend against the Binghamton Senators at The Blue Cross Arena. The 5:00 p.m. matinee will be the fourth of 10 meetings between the interstate rivals can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26. Rochester is 2-1-0-0 this season and 24-28-5 all-time against the Baby Sens.

As part of the Amerks' Red Hot Sundays, fans can take advantage of the Zweigle's Family Four Pack. Fans can receive four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for just $44.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2009


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