Tag:CalderCup
Opening Night is here with Depth, Attitude and Coaching
It’s finally arrived. After yet another LONG summer we’re now on the cusp of opening night and while several previous seasons have yielded some good free agent signings – this summer was outstanding. There’s three reasons to be more excited about this season than previous ones: depth, attitude and coaching! Depth A quick look at …
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Happy days are here again
Is that excitement for Amerks hockey we’re hearing!?! Thanks to Randy Sexton and Jason Botterill the answer to that question is a resounding YES. In what was the most active and exciting summer of signings since 2009-2010 – building what looks to be the deepest roster since 2004-2005 – we are now right on the …
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Playoffs are a real possibility
Happy New Year! I’d like to start 2017 off with some optimism. Because I didn’t pay attention this summer… I just learned a couple of weeks ago there was no crossover rule for playoff seeding this season (where if the 5th place team in the other division in our conference has more points than the …
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Season 61 – Preview
(10/13 PM Update) For the third summer in the last 4 years, the Amerks roster looks good…ON PAPER. “Blah Blah Blah”, “Yeah, whatever”, and “So what”. I hear you, guys. But it’s October – so I’m going to put on my hopeful and optimistic mask for the time being. I was excited about Cunneyworth returning …
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No excuses this season
It’s over. Â One of the more disappointing seasons of at least the past 35 years has mercifully finished. This isn’t last year’s team who could say Buffalo’s tanking devastated their roster. Â It’s not a season like 2008-2009, 2010-2011, 2011-2012 or 2013-2014 where significant injuries both here and above (Florida+Buffalo) led to too many ECHL’ers playing …
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Frustration
Playoff wins by era this century: Last 5 years of first Buffalo era:  (2000-2001 – 2004-2005) = 15 3 years of dual:  (2005-2006 – 2007-2008) = 2 3 years of Florida:  (2008-2009 – 2010-2011) = 3 First 5 years of second Buffalo era/Buffalo owned (2011-2012 – 2015-2016) = 2 And compared to: Last 5 years …
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Open Letter to the AHL President – 60th Anniversary night
Written by LGA contributor Ted Cichanowicz Mr Andrews….if you weren’t doing anything special on this night, perhaps you should have made a visit to Rochester, NY to take in the festivities at the Blue Cross Arena. And if you had come, it may make you painfully aware of how you have so devalued, besmirched, and …
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Amerks 60th begins
Typically, I don’t consider a hockey season to be a success unless the team gets out of the first round.  Sometimes that’s a reasonable goal and sometimes it’s not. This season with the Amerks, it’s not only completely reasonable, but it may be a low expectation. In fact, anything other than getting out of the …
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Steve Donner Interview – Part IV
“In today’s AHL, it’s getting harder and harder to achieve the string of successful seasons that we orchestrated here, and I’d like to think that that strengthens the legacy of what we accomplished.” Â LGA:Â It seems unfair that your legacy is what happened at the end vs. bringing a Cup here and having several successful …
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Steve Donner Interview – Part III
“We weren’t asking for handouts – we just wanted to keep some of our own revenue that we were generating.†LGA: On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being extremely difficult and 10 being extremely easy) how was the city of Rochester to work with regards to the War Memorial lease? Donner: “A rating …
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Steve Donner Interview – Part II
“I wanted to make Rochester proud†LGA: What do you miss the most about owning the Amerks? Donner: “The People! I miss the fans the most – their happiness after a win. The joy of watching the clock count down on a game day. I was a fan first, so being able to do that …
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Steve Donner Interview – Part I (Intro)
“They were the love of my life.” In 1994, the Buffalo Sabres needed to divest money losing entities like the Rochester Americans – to be scuttled or sold – in order to finance and build the Marine Midland Arena, now known as the First Niagara Center. Steve Donner had already made it known to close …
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