Historic week for Amerks
March 16, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Americans are preparing for a historic week, as the Amerks host Hall of Fame Night on Friday, March 18th and travel to Buffalo to battle the Cleveland Barons on Sunday, March 20th at HSBC Arena.
The schedule also includes a tough road game at Syracuse on Saturday night at the War Memorial at Oncenter at 7:30 p.m. The Amerks (45-11-4-6, 100 points) currently lead the American Hockey League in points and became the first team to clinch a Calder Cup Playoff spot last Sunday.
The week begins with the Amerks hosting Rochester native Brian Gionta and the Albany River Rats at 7:35 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial. That night, the organization will induct defenseman Don McSween into the Amerks Hall of Fame. McSween will become the 40th member of the Amerks Hall of Fame and the ninth blueliner to enter the prestigious club. He will join fellow defensemen Al Arbour, Darryl Sly, Don Cherry, Duane Rupp, Steve Kraftcheck, Jim Hofford, John Van Boxmeer and Dave Fenyves.
The first 1,500 fans will receive an Amerks puck courtesy of Chase-Pitkin. Fans can also enjoy the official postgame party at Nathaniel's Pub at 251 Exchange Blvd.
The defenseman spent the majority of his career with the Rochester Americans, 348 games to be exact. McSween played five seasons in Rochester and collected the most points ever by a defenseman with 215 (45+170). Known for his class and professionalism, he was the anchor of the Rochester defense from 1987-1992 and his name still appears on the Amerks' all-time lists for games played (18th-348) and assists (18th-170). In his postseason career with Rochester, he is tied for sixth in games played (54), is 10th in assists (22) and is tied for 12th in points (32). During the 1989-90 season, he was named an AHL First Team All-Star as he recorded a career-high 16 goals and 59 points in 70 games.
He also won numerous awards while wearing the red, white and blue. In 1990-91, he was named the Amerks Team MVP and in 1989-90 he was the co-winner of the Amerks' McCulloch Trophy for community service. He also won an unprecedented five straight team Defensive Player of the Year awards (1987-92). In addition, during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons he split time as the team's alternate captain and team captain.
On Saturday, Rochester travels to Syracuse to play the Crunch for the 10th time this season. Syracuse has won the last two meetings, which includes a 6-5 shootout victory in Rochester on March 13th. The Amerks lead the season series with a 5-2-0-2 record.
The weekend ends with a 5:05 p.m. contest against the Cleveland Barons at HSBC Arena in Buffalo on Sunday, March 20th. The Amerks lead the season series with a 5-0-0-0 record and has the edge in the all-time series with a 20-8-3 mark.
Rochester will battle the Barons on the blue ice at HSBC Arena. Sunday will be the first opportunity for fans to experience the blue ice and the new color scheme. The experiment will also see the traditional blue lines replaced by orange lines and the red center ice line will be dark blue. The faceoff circles will be orange while the end lines and crease lines will stay red.
Rochester has already played two games in Buffalo this season, winning both contests while setting franchise attendance records in both instances. The first game featured an Amerks' 3-1 win over the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on November 5th in front of a franchise-record crowd of 12,126. In the second game, Rochester defeated the Edmonton Road Runners 2-0 on December 28th in front of a new record crowd of 17,898.
Tickets for the game in Buffalo are priced at $15.00 and $20.00 and are available at the HSBC Arena box office, www.sabres.com, all tickets.com outlets, on the web at www.tickets.com, or charge by phone at 888-223-6000. For transportation information, call the RTS Customer Service Center at 888-288-3777 or visit the web site at www.rgrta.com. No reservations will be accepted.
All three games this week will be broadcast on WHTK 1280-AM and amerks.com. The game on Friday against the River Rats will be televised tape delayed on Time Warner Cable Channel 98 on Saturday at noon.
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