BUFFALO, N.Y. — Before the Rochester Americans went on their playoff run last season, they had won just three series in 20 years. JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs, and Jack Quinn won two series before losing to the Laval Rocket in the North Division Finals.
This season, Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, Lukas Rousek, and Tyson Kozak won two series before losing to the Hershey Bears in the AHL Eastern Conference Finals.
For young players to be exposed to this kind of playoff pressure as well as seeing how the game is elevated in the postseason is going to be invaluable to them.
Seth Appert had these kids and the rest of his players playing hard and trying to find ways to beat a team that was better than them. Appert’s team never backed down from the tough challenge that the Bears presented. They were playing guys in their late twenties and early thirties, but their thirst to try to win never stopped.
Rochester had chances to score and kept working to beat Hunter Shepard, but in the end on Friday, they lost 1-0.
Kulich only scored one goal in the series and Rosen didn’t have a point, but they never stopped trying. In Game 6, Kulich worked to get prime scoring chances as did Rosen. Hershey hit him hard more than a couple times in this series, but he just kept getting up and never stopped trying to score. Game 6 may have been his best game of the series.
In 12 playoff games Kulich had seven goals and four assists for 11 points. He went six straight games where he scored a goal. In 14 games Rosen had four goals and four assists for eight points.
Rousek has a real chance to make the Sabres next season as he had five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 14 games. In the first two rounds, he played an amazing two-way game.
A player that really had to open some eyes in the Sabres organization was Kozak. The 2021 seventh-round pick chipped in with five points in the playoffs, but it’s the other things we saw that I believe is going to get him onto the Sabres roster within a year or two. It’s amazing how many shots he blocks when his team needs it the most. His penalty killing is top notch and if that can translate into the NHL, it’s just what this team needs. I remember Michael Peca talking about him during Development Camp last year and he raved about how good he was and that he was shocked when he found out he was drafted in the seventh round. Now, I don’t think he’ll be as good of a NHL player as Peca, but the tenacity with which he plays certainly matches him. Kozak will do whatever it takes to win a hockey game.
Lawrence Pilut led the team in minutes during the playoffs and I’ve never seen the 27-year-old play this consistently well. He battles, he’ll now take a hit to make a play and he’ll also dish it out. He never backed down. He also was a great shot blocker during the playoffs and it makes me wonder if he’s pushed himself back onto the Sabres radar as a depth defenseman.
Zach Metsa is another one. The defenseman was the captain of the Quinnipiac team that won the National Championship. He signed a two-year AHL deal with Rochester and never played in the regular season. After watching the first playoff game, Appert inserted him into the lineup and he played so well, I think he may have earned an NHL contract. He’s only 5’9, 180, but size doesn’t stop him from making plays on a consistent basis.
Last year’s ninth overall pick Matt Savoie was put into an unfair position entering the Hershey series for Games 2 and 3. Coming fresh out of junior hockey, he showed how well he can skate, but playing an older, smart team like the Bears in the Conference Final wasn’t fair to him. He of course was lost in the defensive end and in got crossed up with Kulich on one play that led to a goal. Defense is sometimes optional in junior hockey and it usually takes young players half season or even full seasons time to figure it out. With no practice time, he was not in a position to succeed.
Having him along with Olivier Nadeau, Noah Ostlund, and Ryan Johnson around the team seeing what pro hockey is like on the playoff level is great experience.
Appert and these players got off the mat four times and won elimination games before losing on Friday. That is an amazing stat and it just shows what these kids are made of. They never quit and they never backed down. The Sabres have shown us the past couple of years that they’re on the rise, and now we’ve seen that the players that are on their way will likely fit in just fine to make this organization better. They should be proud of their playoff run.