Amerks Couldn’t Hack-It

The Amerks fell to the Grand Rapid Griffins on Friday night to a score of 8-1 in regulation at the Blue Cross Arena. Grand Rapids scored the first goal and Luke Adam scored the only goal for Rochester.

Grand Rapids got on the board first with a goal 6 minutes into the opening period. Nyquist converted a pass for Thomas Jurco that found the lower corner of the net to beat Hackett on the power play.

Nearly 4 Minutes after the Griffins add to the lead with a goal from Marchenko who was set up by MacIntyre after he found his own rebound on the breakaway. A couple of bad penalties by the Amerks gave momentum to the Griffins early and they didn’t look back.

The Amerks wanted to come out and bounce back in the second period and get the home crowd back into it, well they didn’t. The Griffins scored two goals by Triston grant and one by Ryan Sproul on the power play. The Amerks answered with one of their own. Jerome Gauthier-Leduc controlled his own rebound and had a beautiful pass across the ice to a wide open Adam who found himself starring at a wide open net.

Griffins added three more goals in the second period from Hoggan, Sproul, and Callahan. to make it 7-1 going into the 3rd. All period the Amerks looked like they were out of sync, and confused. Every time the Amerks went on a power play they committed a penalty as well to go 4-4. They never really established a rhythm in the whole game.

Lieuwen took over for Hackett and seemed to have the same results. he gave up the one in the second and then gave up a goal to Sheahan to make it 8-1.
Six goals against for Hackett looks bad but we cant blame every goal on him. Amerks were not clearing the pucks for him, and every Rebound seemed to be on a Griffins stick. The Amerks came into this game with a Veteran group of D men and they played like rookies except their youngest defenseman Jermome Gauthier-Leduc who finished with a +/-0 while players like Sulzer – 3 and Bagnall – 4 played like they were relaying on the goalie to bail them out.

Disappointing game for the home faithful but they are the Amerks and like the Intro said “if you knock us down we will get back up”.

Amerks Season Preview: Trio Has Unfinished Business

In three separate transactions over the past 7 months, the Sabres acquired three pieces that will be key to the Rochester Americans 2013-14 season. Each stands on his own individual merit. Together, they put the Amerks in a unique position to succeed this season.

When the Sabres traded Jason Pominville to Minnesota last season, one of the players they acquired in return was goaltender Matt Hackett. His experience and potential give the Sabres options if teams come calling about Ryan Miller.

Then NHL free agency started, and the Sabres immediately targeted Drew Bagnall. The veteran defenseman brings grit and experience that every AHL team covets.

Finally, the Sabres invited former first round pick Colton Gillies to training camp. Although he didn’t earn an NHL contract, he was invited to Amerks training camp and ultimately offered an AHL deal. His tenacity, when playing his best, could make him a fan favorite.

All 3 are players that contribute to the makeup of a successful AHL team. The proof? The three of them played together on the 2010-11 Houston Aeros. That Aeros team went 6 games deep into the Calder Cup finals before ultimately losing to Binghamton.

Unfinished business indeed for these three.

Sabres Face Tough Roster Decisions, Huge Impact to Amerks

The Sabres preseason schedule has come to an end, and with nothing other than practices on the schedule between now and the start of the season, its time for Darcy, Rolston and company to focus on the team’s 23-man roster It is due on Monday.

Based on preseason play, they have some tough decisions to make.. decisions which will then round out the Amerks roster. Will the Sabres go with a full-on youth movement, which will require them to push more players thru NHL waivers, and potentially lose them with no compensation? Or the will the Sabres keep experience with the big club, and give the youngsters a chance to grow in Rochester?

We’ll know for sure on Monday. Until then, here are the battles.

Getting to Know: Colton Gillies

Colton Gillies is the latest free agent signing for the Rochester Americans.

The former first round draft pick is a bit of an enigma. He was rushed to the NHL by the Minnesota Wild, but never produced much offense. After 3 1/2 seasons of bouncing back-and-forth between the NHL and AHL, Columbus picked him up off of waivers during the 2011-12 season. After another 1/2 seasons with the Blue Jackets, he was allowed to walk away as a free agent.

He was invited to Sabres camp on a professional tryout, but subsequently released. A few days later, he showed up at Amerks camp after signing an AHL-only contract.

I reached out to the good folks over at UnionAndBlue.com and asked for their input on Colton Gillies. Here is what we learned.

Amerks Take Preseason Opener

The Rochester Amerks didn’t make it easy on themselves, but they got the job done.

The Amerks defeated the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in overtime in the preseason opener at the Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex. Eric Locke scored the game winning goal in overtime to win the game 3-2.

Colton Gillies Signs AHL Contract With Amerks

Colton Gillies was released from his Professional Tryout Contract with the Sabres on Sunday, but that didn’t mean his days with the organization were numbered.

Today, the 6’4″, 208 lb former first round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild signed an AHL deal with the Amerks.

Permalinks Added For Amerks, Sabres Projected Rosters

Rather that constantly update rosters and publish new stories based on contract signings, permalinks have been set up to projected rosters for both the Sabres and Amerks. Each page will be updated based on confirmed transactions as appropriate.

Buffalo Sabres Projected Roster

Rochester Americans Projected Roster

These links direct to the same pages as the menu options at the top of this page.

A Pre-Free Agency Look at the Sabres / Amerks Rosters

* Updated at 12:32pm to reflect Gerbe buyout, and added McCormick to Amerks roster *

NHL (and AHL) free agency opens up in less than 48 hours. This is the second-most anticipated part of the season for Amerks fans, following only opening night, as its the time of year when we see how the team is going to be shaped for next season.

There’s nothing that Amerks fans enjoy more than seeing a roster that gets filled out with veterans. Sure, the fans will complain when we don’t have 6 vets signed by July 7th, but Darcy generally does a decent job bringing in the veteran experience that the team needs. We never get high-end talent, but team needs are addressed.

One wildcard with this season’s foray into free agency: The Sabres normally see themselves as a playoff team, and only look to fill the Amerks with players who can contribute at the NHL level if needed. In other words, they rarely go after career AHLers. But this season, the Sabres are going heavy on youth, are looking to move some vets, and will struggle. When the inevitable injuries happen at the NHL level, they may be interested in giving more kids a look rather than bringing up a depth player. Maybe Darcy brings in higher-end AHL talent to help bring along the youth in Rochester this season? Maybe its all a pipe dream.

Lets take a look at who is under contract, and who may be playing where. I am focusing ONLY on guys who actually have contracts for next season. There are lots of rumors about guys on the trading block, FAs who may or may not be re-signed, etc. I will make an exception for Restricted Free Agents, and assume that they will be re-signed unless the team has said otherwise.

Here are all the players currently under contract, and where I see them falling.

Playoff Reinforcements Are Coming! But What Will They Have?

The Sabres have officially missed the NHL playoffs. The Amerks will play the Toronto Marlies in the first round of the AHL playoffs, and the schedule is set.

Even better, the Sabres regular season is over before the Amerks postseason starts. This means that any eligible players on Buffalo’s roster can be re-assigned to Rochester in time for start of the AHL playoffs. An ideal scenario for Amerks fans, right?

Maybe. Maybe not.

No Way Grigorenko Plays Again In Buffalo. But What About Rochester?

Mikhail Grigorenko’s season in the QMJHL ended this past weekend with a 4-1 series loss to Rouyn-Noranda. He only had 2 goals (with no assists) and was a big minus for the 5 game series. A disappointing finish for sure.

But with the conclusion of his QMJHL season, he has returned to the Buffalo Sabres and was on the ice with them for practice this morning. 

Darcy has already said that Grigorenko will not likely play on Wednesday. Amerks fans are upset at the thought that Grigorenko will be sitting in the press box with Buffalo. In reality, this is likely a good sign, and makes it more likely that he’ll be playing in Rochester this weekend.

Here’s why.

 

Per @DaveDavisHockey (on Twitter), because of Grigorenko’s age, he needs to accrue 7 years of NHL service before he hits unrestricted free agency. In this strike shortened season, being dressed for 23 games will constitute 1 accrued season. Coincidentally enough, Darcy sent Grigorenko back to juniors after 22 games.  Meaning, if he plays just 1 more game in the NHL this season, he will hit unrestricted free agency an entire season sooner. Darcy will do everything he can to have control over his prized first round draft pick as long as possible. 

If Buffalo had a legitimate shot at a playoff spot, and Grigorenko’s offense had the potential to put them over the top, of course he’d dress. But Mikhail had his chance to show his skill earlier this season, and did not excel. Coach Rolston saw what he needed, and didn’t feel that Grigorenko would contribute enough over the remainder of the season. I can’t imagine anything changed over the past several weeks. 

So, Griggy won’t be playing again in Buffalo this season.

Conversely, it doesn’t make much sense to bring him to Buffalo only to practice with Buffalo for the last 10 days of the season.  He’s not going to learn anything in a few days of practice.

The Amerks weren’t on the ice today. Grigorenko may travel to Boston with the team today, and sit in the press box for tomorrow night’s game… but I would fully expect him to be on the ice in Rochester by Thursday morning so that he can get in some ice time with the Amerks before their 3-games-in-3-days, playoff-defining weekend coming up.

Darcy gets a lot of criticism for his decisions (some deserved, some not so much), but he absolutely has to realize that Grigorenko could make HUGE strides by coming to Rochester and attempting to lead the Amerks offense in a playoff run. Between injuries in Rochester and recalls to Buffalo, Darcy knows the Amerks offense is struggling. He has been in town for a couple of poor performances lately. There is NO WAY that he doesn’t see an opportunity for Grigorenko to learn and grow with the Amerks to close out the season.

The bigger question is… how far can Grigorenko carry the Amerks offense?