“What’d you think of the game last night?”  The first thing Benoit says to the team when he gets on the ice.  “Now it’s over, behind us…tomorrow, it’s different.  Forget about last night, work hard.  Do not think about last night, it’s over.  Now we practice hard and work for tomorrow.”

Karl Stewart, Janis Sprukts and Andrew Sweetland came out before practice in red “no contact” jerseys.  But, now they are on the ice with the rest of the team, full contact.  Stewart expects to be in next Wednesday’s game against in Toronto.  Sprukts may be back tomorrow night against the Manchester Monarchs.

I have been awaiting the return of Karl Stewart ever since he was injured.  He is a great forward to have on this team (or any team for that matter).

My good friend Jack Birch just walked in.  I’m sure he is very excited to see Keith and I after last night.

I hope they replace Jordan Henry with Peter Aston for tomorrow’s game.  Henry has become pretty embarrassing to watch in the past few games.  He is constantly in the box, and when he isn’t, he is scoring goals for the opposing team.

If he can go back to being the Jordan of old, I would want him on the ice in a heartbeat.  His hard checks and smart play used to be something to look forward to.  But, he needs a timeout.  Give Aston a chance now.

Another player I want to see in tomorrow is David Shantz.  Beckford-Tseu needs a rest after last night.  Shantz played extreemly well on Sunday afternoon, and he really should have been in last night.  So, he better be in tomorrow.

Jack Birch is available after practice for the media.  I’m sure he will be more than happy to see us in there questioning him.  I doubt anyone else but the RNews guy that is here will be there with us.  So, he has no choice but to listen to what we have to say.

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Practice 11-20-2008: The Red Army Leaves

So, the Rochester Americans lost to the Toronto Marlies tonight at Blue Cross Arena by the final score of 5-2 in front of one of the smallest crowds that anyone could remember.

After the teams were done warming up I was able to count just over 200 people in seats around the arena.  On my way to spend money on concessions I asked a few ushers as well as some old timers if they had ever seen the arena like this, everyone either shook their head in disbelief and a couple said, “at least not in the new building.”

I feel sorry for all of the players, and while a few of them have made bad mistakes, I’m not going to blame them for this season.  During the post game show, Stefan Meyer made a comment about the coaching staff being terrific and if they all continue to work hard like they have been eventually something has to happen.

The players had been giving a solid effort, trying really hard, doing their best, until last night.  Against the Marlies they just could not seem to get it all together.  The Marlies are a team that isn’t doing too well last night, the game should have been different.

Talking to players many of them say they’ve never been through anything like this in their lives.

During the post game show Stefan Meyer also said, “This is affecting everybody. Away from the rink it’s starting to affect our everyday lives.”  He’s not the only player to make comments like that.

Meyer also commented about hearing a fan yell about hating all of them.

As I stated recently, the players only have themselves.

You have fans sitting in the balcony heckling our own players.

You could hear boo’s after the Marlies scored, but I’m not quite sure if that was aimed at them, or our own team for screwing up.

Only one out of the three local news stations had video highlights of the game on broadcasts at 11 last night.

Lewis Staats has said that it’s up to the fans to support this team.  What he should have said was that they’re working hard to improve the team so fans will want to watch.

The Amerks are tied for dead last with the San Antonio Rampage in the AHL, each team has five points, each team has only won two games.

Is it a coincidence that the Panthers used to be a sole affiliate of the Rampage?

And all of this is only 17 games into the season.

All of this led to me introducing myself to the director of player personnel for the Florida Panthers, Jack Birch.  He is the guy who brought us our team from Florida.

Here is his short bio on the Panthers site:

Since joining the organization in 2004, Birch has served the club in several capacities that included both pro scout (2007-08) and director of hockey operations (2004-07). Prior to joining the Panthers organization, he served as president of J.B. Scouting Service. His worldwide scouting service specialized in the evaluation and rankings of players at the professional and amateur levels throughout North America and Europe.

The Peterborough, Ontario native began his career in the National Hockey League when he served as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers from 1985-87. Birch joined the NHL Central Scouting Bureau in 1989 as a scouting consultant to the director of CSB and several NHL teams, and developed a computerized scouting program for the selection of professional hockey players. He spent three years with the CSB before joining the Canucks organization.

I walked up during the 2nd intermission tonight to introduce myself and ask what’s being done to improve the team.  I approached expecting to hear the company line about “trying,” but instead spoke to someone who appeared annoyed, defensive, and almost argumentative.  Which I could understand, sort of.

There’s a number of possibilities going on here, all of which I’m speculating.

Jack Birch is simply the guy taking the heat.  It could be that his hands are tied by Jacques Martin (Panthers GM) and Alan Cohen (Panthers owner).

He is clueless.

I’ll admit, I’m not the smartest person, especially memorizing tons of hockey players names.  I asked him why no one has been brought in to try and improve this team, he asked me to name some players, I wasn’t able to, to which he replied I have no right running a web site writing about a hockey team because of “bad comments that can’t be backed up.”

I’m not a professional journalist, maybe someday I will be.  I read the news as players get released, or are available, and then signed within 24 hours by another team.  I’m passionate about the Amerks.  I guess I should have had names ready and able to rattle off the top of my head, and I apologized for not being ready.  I’m not a scout, he is.

Jack Birch said that he does the same thing, looking for players, and no one has been available, which leads me to believe that players and agents have no desire to work with the Florida Panthers organization.

I took a moment to explain to him how dedicated we are as fans to not only the Amerks, but also taken to supporting the Panthers.  I told him to come read our web site and we’re not just some “bloggers” trashing the team making up hogwash.

I approached again with another Amerks fan who was able to name a number of players, Alyssa also brought him a list of players names.

The response back was, “we spend $2 Million a year on scouting.”

How do you reply to a comment like that when your team has only won two games and is on the verge of losing its 14th game in regulation?

We then proceeded to throw names back and forth who are on the Amerks that probably aren’t at the AHL level, none of which I’ll name because it’s not fair to them.  Jack Birch was able to defend them saying either they’ve only played in X amount of games, or it’s their first season.

The point is, we have a team of young players and rookies that have talent, but not enough to compete and win games.

Over the summer we were told by a previous owner, current owners, and Jack Birch that they’d be active in free agency in building a competitive team.  We were also told that if that didn’t turn out to be the case changes would be made.

One change that has been made was signing Riley Emmerson (which was a good one) to help keep our team from getting pushed around like they did last year.  We havn’t been pushed around one game.

Another change was swapping David Shantz for Tyler Plante.

Maybe it’s not fair to single out Jack Birch, maybe he’s in a horrible position just as the players are to fans taking the heat.  I’m not sure.

I expected to have a nice discussion where someone would say thanks for being here, thanks for supporting, we’re doing everything we can, but just can’t agree to terms with anyone that can possibly fill any voids.  Instead I got the complete opposite, almost made me want to leave.  Less than 1,000 people in the building, people are asking the person responsible for providing a competitive team, and he more or less says to get lost.

People think attendance is bad now, I can’t wait until a Wednesday night game over the winter when a snow storm is predicted and it’s 10 degrees out.

It’s going to get worst before it gets any better.

All it would take is for anyone in Amerks’, or Panthers’, management to acknowledge what is going on and tell people they are working together to try and figure something out.

That hasn’t happened.

I’m an Amerks fan, always will be.  This team is being driven into the ground and no one seems to be doing anything about it.

Jody Gage, you’ve been an Amerk for basically your whole life.  You know the pride and tradition that goes along with this team and it’s dissapearing.  Doesn’t that break your heart?

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This is What $2 Million in Scouting Gets You

The biggest difference at this point between the two teams seems to be goals against. The Marlies have only allowed 42 goals, the Amerks a whopping 72.  Looking at goals for, the Amerks have 33 goals this season, the Marlies have 32.

The only thing to really report from practice this morning is that they appeared to replace the lights in the arena over the ice surface, it seems much brighter!  From talking with some fans of the team, they would probably wish they just shut them off for the season.

No word on whether David Shantz or Chris Beckford-Tseu will be starting in net.  It’s a coaches decision, as of this morning that decision hadn’t been made yet.

Luke Beaverson appears to be moving up to forward full time, that’s where he was practicing again.

Karl Stewart participated in the entire practice this morning with the team, but still without any contact.  He said that his knee is starting to feel better, now he is just working on getting his legs and lungs back into shape.

Janis Sprukts, Michal Repik, and Andrew Sweetland were the only players not on the ice this morning.  We’re assuming (forgot to ask) that Repik had the morning off as he was fine on Tuesday.  Sweetland is out with an injured hand.  It doesn’t sound like Sprukts is expected back anytime soon.

Game Day 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 $10.00. 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 a RARES Discount night. All RARES members can also bring their RARES ID card or business card to the box office to get a $22.25 ticket for $10.00. Lastly, fans have a chance to take home a Thanksgiving turkey by participating in Turkey Bowling during the first intermission. Contestants will bowl a turkey from center ice in an attempt to knock over inflatable pins. Each contestant will win a turkey for their participation.

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Game Day 11-19-2008: Brighter Ice Surface!

Calla was drafted by the Panthers in the third round (73rd overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

When Calla was first signed, Jacques Martin had this to say, “Brady is a young prospect who works hard, has defensive responsibility and plays with a physical presence.  We are very pleased to have signed a high-character individual like Brady and we look forward to his continued development and growth into a complete player within our organization.”

He just did not fit into this current lineup, so best of luck to Brady back in the Western Hockey League.  Get some more playing time and experience, see you next season.

Post from: Lets Go Amerks - Rochester Americans

Brady Calla Rejoins the WHL Kamloops Blazers

Why in the world isn’t Jason Cipolla on the ice for the Amerks?  I watch him practice at least twice a week with the boys and I always wonder why he doesn’t still play.

He is barely older then Rory Fitzpatrick and it’s time to suit up.  When he is doing skating drills with players, he is always faster than almost all of them.  I want to see him signed to a PTO and get in a game or two.  Would it hurt anything?  No.

It hasn’t been that long since he was laced up and on the ice.  He was with the Hannover Scorpions until the 2005-06 season.

Jason could be a player that the fans here in Rochester can really get on board with.  He has always been a favorite of mine.  I wanted him to play last year when the going was tough (the whole year), and now I only want to see him back in the Red, White and Blue even more.

OK, enough about my obsession with Jason coming back to play.  I’m sure it’s never going to happen no matter how many times I ask him to suit up.

edit: There goes Cipolla out doing skating drills with Peter Aston and Karl Stewart and he is killing them.  Come on Cippy…what’s the hold up?

They are buffing the glass at the arena again today.  They should really just get new glass…that would be better seeing as ours is un-buffable.  But, at least they are doing it more than once.  It does make it a bit hard to see the practice going on in front of me though.

Beaverson is still practicing as a forward.  I like him in this position.  He has been playing pretty well there during games.  He can block shots that are coming from the point and that is great to have out there.  Even if it is just on the 4th line.

Benoit just had a nice little talk with all of the defensemen.  I am pretty sure he was explaining to them how to skate backwards and be able to stay between their man and the net.  Things people should know before playing professional hockey but, alright.

Shawn Matthias is still playing with the 4th line with Beaverson and Emmerson.  I don’t find him to be lazy like some fans do, but he needs to start producing.  Of course, right now, he isn’t going to be able to produce very well being on a line with a defenseman and a kid who doesn’t get around very fast or far.

Why do I always think Michal Repik is like 25-years-old?  He doesn’t even turn 20 until December 31st.  He is a shining star on a team without many.  And the fact that he is so young only makes it better.  He improves every game too.  He is a kid who can develop no matter what kind of horrible team he is on.  Can’t say that for most kids.

They are buffing out the glass in front of me so I can finally see most of the ice.

The rest of the lines look like this today:

Duco - Larman - Repik
McArdle - Brine - Glass
Micflikier - Meyer - Collins (clearly filling in for Sprukts)
Emmerson - Matthias - Beaverson

Now the 1st and 2nd powerplay lines are practicing on one end of the ice.

Duco - Meyer - Repik
Garrison - Fitzpatrick

Micflikier - Matthias - McArdle
Henry - MacDonald

On the other end the rest of the team was taking shots from all over the ice on Shantz.  I want to see Shantz start tomorrow night.  He played great against Hamilton on Sunday night.  The Hamilton fans around me were giving him complements and were mad we didn’t put Beckford-Tseu back in goal again.

Get him in there.  He is here to give us a shot at winning right?  So, let’s do it.  He got all new equipment today!  He is very excited about it.

Injury Update:

Janis Sprukts is not practicing.  He pulled his groin during Saturday night’s game against the Hamilton Bulldogs.  Hopefully, it isn’t too bad.  He had a pretty good limp going on Sunday night after the game though.

Karl Stewart is getting on the ice now in full gear.  The team is done practicing, but he is coming out.  He is obviously getting better seeing as this is the first time I have seen him in full gear since his injury.  We could sure use him back.  He’s got on the red no contact jersey still though.  Come back Stew, we miss you (I never thought I would hear that out of my mouth…or head).

Post from: Lets Go Amerks - Rochester Americans

Practice 11-18-2008: We Have A Veteran That Needs To Get On The Ice

So, anyone have anything positive to look back on?

While the Amerks have only won two games and are in the basement, some other teams are in similar positions.  The Albany River Rats, Manchester Monarchs have each won three games, and the San Antonio Rampage have only won two as well.

Unless you haven’t been following the team, they’re basically last in every stats category.  If you want more stats, check out theahl.com and amerks.com, talking about them in detail is pointless.

The one thing that has been positive is that the players on the team are working hard.  Even though the team is in the basement statistically, they haven’t quit the season (yet).

They have lost confidence at times during some games, but they’ve continued to put forth an effort.

They’re a young team put into a bad situation.  During the 07/08 season the Amerks team was one that seemed to stop caring completely and rarely put in a solid effort.

Typically in sports when a team is doing poorly the coach is the first person to get fired (Barry Melrose in Tampa), that is not the case here with the Amerks.  Benoit Groulx has done what he can with the team.

As expected with a poor record, attendance has been bad.  The team is averaging 3,810 people through nine home games.  Halloween night was the worst with around 800 people.  Some other games have had around 1,000.  This coming Wednesday against the Toronto Marlies will be interesting.

The only roster changes that have been made since the season began was swapping Tyler Plante for David Shantz, sending Doug O’Brien to the Florida Everblades, and bringing Jacob Micflickier back from the Everblades.  Certainly not changes that would turn the season around.

Which leads us to this recent comment in an R News story:

“In terms of the Rochester Americans being here for another 50 years, it’s really up to the fans of Rochester. It’s plain and simple,” Staats said.

Well Lewis Staats, you are right in that it is up to the fans to support the team, but it’s also up to ownership to provide a quality product that people will want to see.  Kevin O wrote a great blog entry about the topic.

Last season was the worst in team history, this year the team could be on the pace to be one of the worst in AHL history.  This early in a new season with new ownership and the questions about the team surviving in Rochester have already started.  None of this seems real.

With 31 home games left on the schedule, it’s now up to ownership and management to improve the product on the ice or the remaining 800 regulars will continue to drop.

During the initial press conference back in June of the Panthers and Amerks being official, Jack Birch had said that the goal was winning and they (Panthers) were going to be active in free agency.  Neither of which has happened.

Let’s hope Curt Styres, Lewis Staats, and Jody Gage are able to get something accomplished to salvage this season, it’s our only hope.

Jacques Martin and Jack Birch are useless.

If this is only 1/5 of the way into the season, I can’t even imagine half way through.

Post from: Lets Go Amerks - Rochester Americans

Looking back at the first 20% of the Season

Amerks pulled ahead 2-1 after the first period with goals from Sprutks and Duco.  Stefan Meyer scored in the 2nd period where the Amerks ended the period tied 3-3.

Jordan Henry took his usual penalty late in the third.  Mike Caruso shortly followed giving the Bulldogs a 5-on-3 power play which gave them the lead right before the end of the game.

Spurkts left the game early…he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong with him because he is a punk.  He won’t be playing tomorrow though.

The end.

Post from: Lets Go Amerks - Rochester Americans

Close But No Cigar…4-3 Loss To Bulldogs.

Although in real life the Amerks won this game 4-2…the score the officials gave them was a 3-2 shootout loss.  The officiating tonight made me want to vomit.  I almost threw my soda bottle at the guy but, then I thought about not wanting to be asked to leave.

The first goal taken away came in the first period.  The Amerks scored first…to take the lead.  The wonderful referee…Chris Brown…said it was in…it was clearly in on all accounts.  But, after the Wolves told him it wasn’t in, he asked a linesman (who was no where even near the play) and he changed his mind and took it off.  I wonder if Mr Brown had money riding on this game.

In the third period, Janis Sprukts had a nice breakaway.  He took it in, had a nice shot, it dinged off the post…but over the goal line.  The red light went on, the goal horn was sounded…it was in.  Then it was taken off the board again.

Can the Amerks catch a break?  They played amazing tonight on all accounts.  Everyone was into the game.  They didn’t allow the two false goals get them down.  And Beckford-Tseu came up with some big saves to keep the team alive.

Scoring for the Amerks tonight was Michal Repik (who also scored the first taken away goal) and Stefan Meyer…who was boarded right before getting up to score (no call…of course).

Beckford-Tseu was the 3rd star of tonight’s game and Stefan Meyer was the 1st.  Well deserved.  They played their hearts out.

The Wolves won the shootout when none of the Amerks shooters could produce.  But, I am not complaining.  This game was probably the best game I have seen all year.  And I certainly hope they carry this over when they travel to Hamilton for tomorrow and Sunday.

I am making the trip, so expect updates on how the guys are doing.

I want to see fire this weekend.  Fire.

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Amerks Weren’t Thrown to the Wolves…Pick Up One Point

Tonight, the Amerks finish their six game home stand against the defending Calder Cup champions, the Chicago Wolves.  The Wolves have only let in 20 goals in their first 13 games…so, this is not going to be an easy task tonight.

Rory Fitzpatrick, Kenndal McArdle and Janis Sprukts are not on the ice right now.  The guys practiced extreemly hard all week and Kenndal wasn’t feeling well yesterday.  According to Stefan Meyer, Sprukts will be in the lineup tonight.  I am assuming Rory will be too, but he probably needed some recovery time from yesterday’s practice too.  I don’t know about Kenndal.  It depends if he had a cold yesterday or the broncitis that has been going around Rochester.  Today’s skate was optional, so any missing people are probably just getting ready for tonight by not killing themselves in the morning.

Tanner Glass is diligently working on tipping the puck in.  He’s been working with Ellerby, Garrison, Beaverson and MacDonald for the past ten minutes.  Hopefully, he can get it right during the game.  I’m certainly glad that Tanner’s injury from Monday night didn’t keep him out of this weekend’s lineup.

As Jason Cipolla was just talking about…tonight is a defending champions’ night for the Florida Panthers organization.  Not only are the Amerks taking on the Chicago Wolves, but the Panthers are taking on the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detriot Red Wings.

We all think that David Shantz won’t be starting tonight.  Benoit made that pretty clear.  But, neither goalie knows who is starting tonight and Benoit wasn’t at practice today to tell us (or them).

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Gameday 11-14-2008: Amerks Host Chicago Wolves

At practice on Thursday morning, Benoit Groulx seemed to indicate that the Plante / Shantz swap in Rochester was one made by himself and management, not the Panthers.

The Panthers have some solid goal tending with Craig Anderson and Tomas Vokoun, but we’re still thinking Plante is being looked upon for the future.

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Panthers Call up Tyler Plante