Amerks8796

Leone said he thinks the Amerks lost 16 faceoffs in a row at one point last night. Utica dominated OT and won the game because they won every single faceoff.

Figured it was common knowledge. But I played a floor hockey game about 15-20 years ago at the facility in Rochester in East Ridge Rd. I was young then, and so were my teammates. We all played competitive travel hockey, but weren't good enough to play over division 3 hockey. Anyway, out comes a team with guys like Scott Metcalfe, Jody Gage, Randy Cunneyworth, Scott Nichol etc. Nichol may have still been playing but everyone else was retired. The way they dismantled us was comical. We were younger and faster but the precision they had with the puck really drove home just how good pros are, even guys who don't make it past the AHL.

Ratzlaff is clearly more polished and is the more appropriate goalie to have in the AHL right now. Playing Leinonen once a week is doing him or the Amerks no favors. This is simply poor management by a GM who should've been fired a while ago.

A quick look at his numbers in Europe show a pretty definitive view of a goalie who is never good at any level. His save percentages are usually below .900 even in European leagues where those numbers are often inflated. Sometimes sports isn't overly complicated. He's done a poor job stopping the puck pretty much anywhere he goes. Meanwhile Ratzlaff has been great in Jacksonville, and he deserves a chance.

I've seen enough of Leinonen. This is not a good goalie. Certainly not a goalie ready for the AHL. He was abysmal tonight and single handedly cost the Amerks 2 points. Ratzlaff needs to come up. He's a big body with seemingly no actual goaltending skills. He reminds me of a less talented UPL.

I suppose they could mutually terminate his contract, but both parties would need to agree. And he's getting NHL money regardless. Would he get that in Europe, or in any other NHL organization? He should just come down, play well and parlay that into another NHL opportunity here or elsewhere.

Putting a player in the appropriate league based on their ability is not rushing them. Whether he's 18 or 22 is irrelevant if he can play in the AHL.

He's shown an ability to play with pros. I don't understand why playing 30 minutes in a lesser league is better for his development instead of 20 minutes in a better league with better coaching

This is not true. He was on loan from Europe when drafted and, thus, not bound by the NHL - CHL agreement.

Geertsen Savage Kuntar Joshua Looks to me like they agreed that the team was a soft and too easy to play against last year. They've re-built the bottom 6 into a much more physical group. Meyer and Leschyshyn are also more complete players and not as one dimensional as the guys they've had previously.

7400 for game 1 last season. Tonight appears to be tracking for around 6500-6800. A little behind last year but not terrible. People forget that for decades, the first round of the AHL was very poorly attended in general. Even back in the 90s when I'd argued the Amerks were more popular, they'd get 3000 or 4000 for early round games routinely.

Amerks very well may have more talent on their 4th line than Syracuse does on their 1st line. But Syracuse is big, plays great defense, and is well coached to that Tampa system. They're good no matter who they throw out. It's going to be a very hard series.

Amerks have been very inconsistent and poor for about 2 months now. Every time a player goes up to Buffalo and comes back, they're measurably worse. Rosen and Murray being two example.

It's all preference. The quality isn't any better in Buffalo. I grew up in Rochester and went to college in Buffalo and found the pizza sauce too sweet and the pizza too doughy in many cases. People generally like what they grow up with.

Carbones is good but it's not even close to the best in Rochester or even in Greece.