ROCHESTER, N.Y. — I’ve been able to get to Rochester to cover part of the Amerks unexpected playoff run.
Rochester had to participate in a play-in series with fourth place Belleville. The Amerks won the first game at home in overtime and then did the same in Belleville to sweep the best-of-three series.
That allowed the fifth place Amerks to face the North Division’s top team in the Utica Comets. Rochester lost Game 1 and then took three of the next four to win that series in five games.
On Sunday, Rochester went to third place Laval to open a five game series and lost after JJ Peterka scored the first goal.
One thing I’ve noticed with this team is it’s just like the team Don Granato is coaching, they’re close, they play for each other and they enjoy being at the rink with each other.
In the final two months of the season, we saw the culture that Kevyn Adams is trying to build blossom into wins.
The Sabres are a team that fights for each other and in the final 28 games of the season, had a .625 points percentage which would’ve put them in the playoffs. That ranked them tied with the Colorado Avalanche for 12th overall.
I’ve watched the Amerks do the same thing. In Game 1 vs. Belleville, the Amerks trailed 3-0 in the third period, but stormed back and won the game in overtime. You should’ve seen the pure joy of the players when Arttu Ruotsalainen tipped in the game winner.
Peyton Krebs and Casey Fitzgerald are back down in the AHL after their Sabres seasons and have been stellar. They don’t care they’re in the minors, they can’t wait to play each and every shift. Fitzgerald has seven points in eight playoff games and Krebs leads the AHL with nine assists. On many nights, he’s been their best player.
Ruotsalainen, who is a restricted free agent at season’s end, leads the league in points with 11 and goals with eight. Peterka is second in the league with five goals and five assists for 10 points.
Head coach Seth Appert has talked about what it’s like in that room. He said the culture that’s been created is that every player wants to be able to look at the player next to them and know that they’ll be there for each other.
Amerks GM Jason Karmanos has helped create this culture by mixing in veterans that have helped the young players. Michael Mersch was signed to an AHL contract and became the team’s captain. I don’t think they could’ve found a better leader and the fact that he’s missed the last three games with a concussion, is a big reason why the team has lost two of its last three games. When things turn bad within a game, it’s Mersch that the young kids look to.
Karmanos made a trade with the San Jose Barracuda which got him 30-year-old defenseman Mark Alt. He’s a player that Appert said they couldn’t have made the playoffs without.
This playoff run has been extremely tough on Jack Quinn. The kid had an amazing season scoring 26 goals and 35 assists for 61 points in 45 games. Down the stretch, it was like playoff hockey because the Amerks needed every point just to make the playoffs.
Quinn is 20-year-old and still is growing into his body. He of course needs to get stronger and teams have been intimidating him both physically and verbally. In eight playoff games he has two assists and he has just one goal in his last 16 games and has scored in just two of his last 21 games. Honestly, I’m not worried about this kid. He works extremely hard and this has been a great learning experience for him and he will be a better player for it.
Recently Appert has put Quinn with another great veteran in Sean Malone. He can help Quinn get through the frustration of not being able to score in the playoffs and I’ve seen a jump in Quinn’s game.
So there’s no question that Adams has put his stamp on this organization. His vision of getting talented players who are high quality individuals and want to be Buffalo Sabres has worked.
Now the question is can Granato and Appert mold these players into winners that the fan base in both cities have been craving? So far so good, but there’s still a lot of work to go.
