Offseason Edition
Aaron Dell played 44 total games this season. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Goalie Aaron Dell arrived in Buffalo nine months ago as perhaps the favorite to win the Sabres’ backup job before enduring a miserable preseason and getting waived.
When an opportunity materialized to play in the NHL a month later, Dell struggled so badly the Sabres acquired another netminder and demoted him to the AHL again.
Dell, 33, compiled downright awful statistics – a 1-8-1 mark with a 4.03 goals-against average and an ... Read the full article
Rochester’s Brett Murray stands in front of Laval goalie Cayden Primeau on Wednesday. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – The Americans battled adversity and beat long odds for weeks, eking into the Calder Cup Playoffs on the last day of the regular season before beginning their deepest and most memorable postseason run in 18 years.
They rallied to win games, earned four overtime victories and triumphed in a do-or-die Game 5 against a top seed.
So when the Amerks dropped the first two games on the road against the Laval Rocket in ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen hasn’t played since April 29. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Out of his element, up in the stands watching his Americans teammates compete in the Calder Cup Playoffs, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen sometimes feels a little jittery.
“I think I’m 10 times more nervous watching it upstairs than when I’m in the goal,” Luukkonen told the Times Herald on Wednesday after the Amerks prepared for Game 3 of the AHL North Division final at Blue Cross Arena. “So that’s the tough part of it.”... Read the full article
Aaron Dell made 29 saves Monday. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
The Rochester Americans are on the brink of elimination from the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Forwards Brandon Gignac, Louis Belpedio and Lucas Condotta scored Monday as the Laval Rocket defeated the Amerks 3-1 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five AHL North Division final.
Laval never trailed Monday at Place Bell – Gignac opened the scoring 5:17 into the game – and has outscored the Amerks 9-2 in the series.
Buffalo drafted Olivier Nadeau in 2021. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
The Buffalo Sabres have signed forward Olivier Nadeau, a fourth-round pick in 2021, 97th overall, to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Sunday.
Nadeau, 19, set career highs across the board this season, recording 35 goals, 43 assists and a team-high 78 points in 65 games for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Shawinigan Cataractes. His 17 power-play goals were tied for fourth in the league.
The 6-foot-2, 204-pound Nadeau also registered two goals, ... Read the full article
JJ Peterka has been a force for Rochester in the postseason. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochster Americans
The Rochester Americans just won their second Calder Cup Playoff series, and winger Jack Quinn, the AHL’s top rookie, hasn’t scored a goal.
Injuries have sidelined goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, two of the Buffalo Sabres’ other top prospects, the entire postseason.
On Thursday, the Amerks, who eked into the playoffs, defeated the top-seeded Utica Comets 4-2 and clinched the North Division semifinal without their injured captain, Michael Mersch, a 26-goal ... Read the full article
Arttu Ruotsalainen has been on a tear this postseason. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
For the first time since 2004, the Rochester Americans have won two series in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Forwards Arttu Ruotsalainen, Sean Malone and Mark Jankowski scored third-period goals Thursday as the Amerks rallied to defeat the top-seeded Utica Comets 4-2 and win the best-of-five AHL North Division semifinal 3-2.
After Ruotsalainen’s power-play goal tied it at the 3:21 mark, Malone put the Amerks up at 6:45, beating Utica goalie Nico Daws from above the ... Read the full article
Utica’s Nolan Foote scores a first-period goal on Rochester goalie Aaron Dell on Tuesday.
ROCHESTER – In opening up a series lead and putting the Utica Comets on the brink of elimination from the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Americans hadn’t seen the best out of the AHL powerhouse.
The top-seeded Comets only showcased flashes of their slick regular-season form throughout the first three games of best-of-five AHL North Division semifinal. In a do-or-die scenario Tuesday, you figured they would come out roaring.
Well, in Game 4, the Comets gave ... Read the full article
Peyton Krebs was a difference-maker for Rochester on Wednesday. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – When the Sabres assigned Peyton Krebs to the AHL following a successful 48-game stint in Buffalo, they probably hoped the center would be an offensive catalyst for the Americans in his first taste of playoff hockey.
Sure enough, after a slow start, Krebs helped the Amerks complete a furious three-goal, third-period comeback in Wednesday’s dramatic 4-3 win overtime win against the Belleville Senators before a raucous crowd of 6,044 fans at Blue Cross ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen suffered a lower-body injury Friday. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will miss the Rochester Americans’ AHL North Division Calder Cup Playoff play-in series after suffering a lower-body injury in Friday’s season finale.
“It’s not short-term,” Appert told reporters Sunday of Luukkonen’s injury. “It’s going to be minimum of a few weeks or so.”
Luukkonen, 23, left Friday’s 8-1 win over Utica Comets in the first period and was replaced by Aaron Dell. That victory, coupled with the ... Read the full article
