Thankfully that road trip is over and after two weeks the Amerks finally have another home game. The Abbotsford Heat travel to Rochester tonight to play the Amerks at 7:05pm at Blue Cross Arena. That ends the longest drought of the season between home games.
The Amerks wrapped up a road trip this past Sunday night with a 2-1 win in Abbotsford to end their six game road trip where they went 3-3. There were some ups and downs with the road trip and you can read about them here, but what’s done is done. It’s a new day and a new game.
The team will be a little bit different than what we last saw. Players that will not be in the lineup that were at the last home game were Mike York (personal leave), Shawn Matthias (called up), Jeff Taffe (called up), and Mike Duco (called up). David Brine has been out with a rib injury, not sure on his status.
In their place we’ll see a new face and and some familiar faces. The new face will be Jordan Fox who was signed to a PTO from the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. In 16 games this season Fox has 8 goals and 13 assists. Ernie Hartlieb has also been called back up from the Florida Everblades. Hartlieb played on Nov 7th for the Amerks and had scored the first goal of the game. Dylan Hunter is another familiar face that is back, he had played for two seasons with the Amerks. At practice on Thursday he looked like he was in much better shape than the last time we saw him.
Alexander Salak will be getting the start in net and should be ready to go and get back into action. The last time he played was last Thursday when he was called up to the Panthers and was more or less tossed to the wolves in that game.
It could be an exciting night if the Amerks are able to light up the scoreboard with the help of Chris Taylor. Taylor is three points shy of the 1,000 point plateau. That’s just in the regular season, it does not include 98 career playoff points.
It’s also worth noting that the Amerks are undefeated in regulation at home. The game tonight against the Heat will be a hard fought battle, I’m not expecting an easy game at all so it should be an exciting one.
The past couple of weeks are behind us, it’s a home game and I’m excited.
Promotions for tonight’s game:
The game falls on the first installment of the Amerks’ Family Four Pack Special Edition. With this game bundle, fans will receive four tickets for 200-End seating, four T-shirts, four hot dogs and four sodas for the low price of $52. Packages can be ordered by calling the Amerks office directly at (585) 454-5335 and speaking with a ticket sales representative.
That night, the Amerks are also kicking off their “Toys for Tots†toy drive campaign. The team will once again collect toys for the United States Marine Corps “Toys for Tots†drive in an effort to provide Christmas gifts to the needy children of the Greater Rochester Area and the surrounding communities. This year marks the eighth consecutive season the Amerks have been affiliated with the program. Fans can donate new, unwrapped toys during two Amerks games in December, beginning on Friday, December 11th. The team will also collect toys on Friday, December 18th. Fans who bring in a new, unwrapped toy on those nights will receive $5.00 off 100 and 200 Premium seats or $4.00 off seats in the 100 and 200 Ends at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office.
