Amerks 24/25 - Young Talented Roster

[PromoTheRobot]

29 minutes ago, Weave said:

You are in the mud.  Makes you a pig too.

I'm not the one weaving a story from whole cloth about why I'm here or what it represents.

[Porous Five Hole]

14 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I'm not the one weaving a story from whole cloth about why I'm here or what it represents.

😀

[matter2003]

On 2/24/2025 at 7:24 PM, ska-T Palmtown said:

That makes me wonder ... has there ever been the NHL goalie equivalent of Trent Dilfer? "We just need our goalie to manage the game and not lose it for us?" that actually won the cup?

Chris Osgood? Won 3 cups for the Wings, finished 2nd in the Vezina once early in his career buy clearly never was even close to being considered one of the best goalies of his era.  Red Wings teams just were so good they didn't need him to be great, just make some key saves when they need it.

Edited Wednesday at 06:47 PM by matter2003

[PromoTheRobot]

13 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Chris Osgood? Won 3 cups for the Wings, finished 2nd in the Vezina once early in his career buy clearly never was even close to being considered one of the best goalies of his era.  Red Wings teams just were so good they didn't need him to be great, just make some key saves when they need it.

Luck also plays a role.

[matter2003]

3 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Luck also plays a role.

Luck always plays a role. many times much bigger than most realize.

[ska-T Palmtown]

@matter2003 after carefully reviewing the virtually non-existent criteria I set forth in this challenge, I have decided to reluctantly accept Osgood.

I still think he (and Cam Ward) were no where near the level of "WTF?" in being starting 'tendies that Dilfer was being a starting QB, but they might be the closest we get?

[matter2003]

5 minutes ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

@matter2003 after carefully reviewing the virtually non-existent criteria I set forth in this challenge, I have decided to reluctantly accept Osgood.

I still think he (and Cam Ward) were no where near the level of "WTF?" in being starting 'tendies that Dilfer was being a starting QB, but they might be the closest we get?

I posed this question to ChatGPT and this is what it gives back...Osgood is #2 on it's list, Ward #3 so we were both in the ballpark 🙂

1. Antti Niemi (2010 - Chicago Blackhawks)

• Niemi was decent but far from elite. He posted a .910 SV% and 2.63 GAA in the playoffs, which are respectable but not stellar.
• The Blackhawks were an absolute powerhouse with stars like Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, and Byfuglien leading the charge.
• Chicago was so dominant that they let Niemi walk after the Cup win and still won two more Cups with different goalies (Crawford).

2. Chris Osgood (1998 & 2008 - Detroit Red Wings)

• Osgood was a solid goalie, but he was never considered among the NHL’s elite.
• In 1998, the Red Wings were loaded with legends like Yzerman, Shanahan, Fedorov, Lidstrom, and Konstantinov.
• In 2008, Detroit was again dominant, featuring Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, and Lidstrom, with Osgood simply doing enough to get the job done.
• His 2008 playoff numbers were great (.930 SV%), but many argue he was just a passenger on a stacked team.

3. Cam Ward (2006 - Carolina Hurricanes)

• Ward won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, but that was largely because there weren’t many standout skaters.
• His regular-season numbers were bad (3.68 GAA, .882 SV%), and he wasn't even the starter until the playoffs.
• The Hurricanes were an underrated juggernaut, featuring Staal, Brind’Amour, Cole, and solid defensemen like Wesley and Hedican.

4. Bill Ranford (1990 - Edmonton Oilers)

• Won the Conn Smythe, but this was still Messier’s team after Gretzky left.
• Edmonton had Messier, Kurri, Tikkanen, and an elite blue line with Kevin Lowe and Steve Smith.
• Ranford was never really a top-tier goalie outside of this one playoff run.

5. J.S. Giguere (2007 - Anaheim Ducks)

• Unlike his heroic 2003 Cup Final run (where he won the Conn Smythe despite losing), Giguere in 2007 was more of a passenger.
• The Ducks had Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger in their prime, plus Teemu Selanne and a young Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
• Giguere had good numbers but wasn’t the reason they won.

Edited Wednesday at 09:08 PM by matter2003

[ska-T Palmtown]

2 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

3. Cam Ward (2006 - Carolina Hurricanes)

• Ward won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, but that was largely because there weren’t many standout skaters.
• His regular-season numbers were bad (3.68 GAA, .882 SV%), and he wasn't even the starter until the playoffs.
• The Hurricanes were an underrated juggernaut, featuring Staal, Brind’Amour, Cole, and solid defensemen like Wesley and Hedican.

 

The second bullet under Ward actually makes me lean towards him. Forgot ALLLLL about Niemi.

I guess a reasonable argument could be made that in his starting years with TB, Dilfer's number were "decent"? 

69 (heh heh) TD and 85 INT seems closer to bad than decent. More like Ward's 3.68 and 0.882 ... woof.

[matter2003]

8 minutes ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

The second bullet under Ward actually makes me lean towards him. Forgot ALLLLL about Niemi.

I guess a reasonable argument could be made that in his starting years with TB, Dilfer's number were "decent"? 

69 (heh heh) TD and 85 INT seems closer to bad than decent. More like Ward's 3.68 and 0.882 ... woof.

Martin Gerber was the starter in the regular season and posted much better numbers than Ward, but he sh** the bed in the playoffs in 2 starts and Ward played much better the rest of the way. Went 15-8 in the playoffs with a .920 save percentage and 2.14 GAA.

Gerber went 1-1 with a .856 save percentage and a 3.52 GAA in his 2 playoff starts although he came in relief of Ward 4 other times, giving up a stunning 13 goals on 90 shots.

Edited Wednesday at 09:25 PM by matter2003

[K-9]

2 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Luck always plays a role. many times much bigger than most realize.

Yep. And thus the old adage, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” 

[Flashsabre]

Amerks win again, 5-2

Ostlind and Rosen keep rolling, 1g 1a each. Helenuis with another poin

Rochester Joker (Ryan Johnson) scores for the 2ns straight game😁

Another win for Levi.

[PromoTheRobot]

 FloHockey is doing AHL power rankings now. 

Amerks #1

https://www.flohockey.tv/articles/13812186-ahl-power-rankings-rochester-americans-take-top-spot

[Porous Five Hole]

The Amerks were down 2-0 after two to Utica, but found a way to tie the game in the third (Helenius at 8:44 & Östlund at 18:35) in front of third string Michael Houser. Couldn’t win the shootout, but still was able to earn a point on the road.  

[Flashsabre]

18 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

The Amerks were down 2-0 after two to Utica, but found a way to tie the game in the third (Helenius at 8:44 & Östlund at 18:35) in front of third string Michael Houser. Couldn’t win the shootout, but still was able to earn a point on the road.  

Love to see Östlund keep rolling and Helenuis picking it back up. The kids are helping to drive the bus for the Amerks

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

Love to see Östlund keep rolling and Helenuis picking it back up. The kids are helping to drive the bus for the Amerks

I wouldn't get too excited.  I heard from a really good source on here that the Amerks are just Rosen and a bunch of 28 year olds carrying the team 

Edited Saturday at 04:00 AM by Crusader1969

[matter2003]

This team is like the anti-Sabres...they are a freaking machine.  Now up to 73 points, 4 points clear of Laval in our division who are the 2nd best team in the league with 69 points, but they could tie us with the 2 games in hand they have.

Levi is looking tremendous down there with a 2.16 GAA and .919 Save Percentage and Isak Rosen is 2nd in the AHL in scoring with 50 points, averaging a point a game and only 1 point behind the leader who has 51 points.

Exactly how do you build a juggernaut in the AHL while your NHL team sucks?

Edited Saturday at 01:13 PM by matter2003

[EM88]

7 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Exactly how do you build a juggernaut in the AHL while your NHL team sucks?

1.) The talent level of the Rochester's young guys is high compared to a lot of the AHL, and they have a better mix of young guys and veterans than the Sabres do.

2.) If a young guy down there isn't playing well like we heard about Kisakov, he sits. They do not have a high profile player like Dylan Cozens who sinks the entire team but keeps on playing.

3.) You mentioned the play of Levi.  In hockey, take a 'good' overall team and give them great goaltending play for a 20-30 game stretch and you will likely see them climb the standings rapidly.

3.) They have not been what I would call a juggernaut.  The have been good but up until recently they were middle-of-the pack in their division. And as far as their recent history, last year they were 4th in the conference, lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs, and had a negative goal differential. We would take that for the Sabres, but not what I would call stellar for last season.

Edited Saturday at 01:23 PM by EM88

[pastajoe]

1 hour ago, matter2003 said:

Exactly how do you build a juggernaut in the AHL while your NHL team sucks?

Bad NHL teams get a lot of high draft picks who can make up a good portion of their AHL roster.

[_Q_]

The tiny bit of silver lining is that in past years the Sabres would have pillaged Roch to fill holes.  This year with the exception of Kulich, who was a worthy graduate, that hasn’t really happened.

So maybe, that happens again next year.  When this wave is ready to come to Buffalo, maybe they will be a little more prepared and battle tested.

[Flashsabre]

I think they have something with Östlund. He was always a long term project pick because of his size-weight but he is really rounding into form. He looks noticeably bigger which is probably helping with the jump in play.

He plays in the Aho mould. A very good player all over the ice that you want out in all situations. A nice playoff run followed by one more year in Rochester and I think you have a very good young 2nd line centre on your hands.

[SwampD]

On 2/26/2025 at 4:02 PM, ska-T Palmtown said:

@matter2003 after carefully reviewing the virtually non-existent criteria I set forth in this challenge, I have decided to reluctantly accept Osgood.

I still think he (and Cam Ward) were no where near the level of "WTF?" in being starting 'tendies that Dilfer was being a starting QB, but they might be the closest we get?

What about Corey Crawford?

[_Q_]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

I think they have something with Östlund. He was always a long term project pick because of his size-weight but he is really rounding into form. He looks noticeably bigger which is probably helping with the jump in play.

He plays in the Aho mould. A very good player all over the ice that you want out in all situations. A nice playoff run followed by one more year in Rochester and I think you have a very good young 2nd line centre on your hands.

This is what has been killing us.

[ska-T Palmtown]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

What about Corey Crawford?

I think this is such a tough exercise because Trent Dilfer was borderline BAD ... to reiterate, he threw more INTs than TDs in his career ...

Corey Crawford - These numbers are very respectable, but his teams were such powerhouses, it is hard to tell:

Those numbers are essential over 10 years.

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

I think this is such a tough exercise because Trent Dilfer was borderline BAD ... to reiterate, he threw more INTs than TDs in his career ...

Dilfer wasn't borderline bad. He was bad. Even by 1990s standards. If he hadn't had the late '90s Buccaneers defenses propping him up, he might not even be in the league long enough to make it to Baltimore for his one Super Bowl season, even as a top-10 draft pick.

He made one career Pro Bowl, basically as an alternate to an alternate. In the NFC he finished behind Young, Brad Johnson, Favre, Chandler, Kramer, Mitchell, and Aikman in yards and completion %.

He did have several short TD passes that season to help him finish with 21 TDs, which was good for 6th in the League, but way off the pace of the leaders -- and 2 or fewer ahead of Brad Johnson, Chandler, Young, Mitchell, and Aikman. And this was far and away his best season.

Total scrub QB with a Super Bowl ring.

[ska-T Palmtown]

17 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Dilfer wasn't borderline bad. He was bad. Even by 1990s standards. If he hadn't had the late '90s Buccaneers defenses propping him up, he might not even be in the league long enough to make it to Baltimore for his one Super Bowl season, even as a top-10 draft pick.

He made one career Pro Bowl, basically as an alternate to an alternate. In the NFC he finished behind Young, Brad Johnson, Favre, Chandler, Kramer, Mitchell, and Aikman in yards and completion %.

He did have several short TD passes that season to help him finish with 21 TDs, which was good for 6th in the League, but way off the pace of the leaders -- and 2 or fewer ahead of Brad Johnson, Chandler, Young, Mitchell, and Aikman. And this was far and away his best season.

Total scrub QB with a Super Bowl ring.

Yeah, all of that was what brought up my original question ... any total scrub goalies with their name on the cup. I don't think any of them approach being Dilfer-esque.