Appert - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres prospect Jack Quinn wows in pro debut with Amerks

ROCHESTER – Seth Appert’s gut told him rookie Jack Quinn deserved an opportunity to follow C.J. Smith in the shootout.

After starting his pro debut slowly, Quinn, 19, grew comfortable as Thursday’s game progressed. Late in the third period, the Sabres prospect created Steven Fogarty’s tying power-play goal for the Americans.

So when Appert needed a second shooter after Smith scored, he wanted to utilize Quinn, an ultra-talented winger Buffalo drafted eighth overall last year.... Read the full article

Sabres’ Will Borgen looks impressive in first game action in nearly year

BUFFALO – In his first shifts in nearly a year, Sabres defenseman Will Borgen said he was breathing heavy.

Nothing, of course, can replicate game action, and Borgen, 24, hadn’t experienced any since March 11 as a member of the Rochester Americans.

“Just not used to the speed, controlling my energy,” Borgen said of the early moments of Monday’s 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center.

But Borgen, who had spent the ... Read the full article

Eric Staal’s experience shows Sabres’ Jack Quinn can develop with Amerks

BUFFALO – Sabres prospect Jack Quinn, the eighth overall pick last year, will be making his pro debut soon, Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert told WGR.

Quinn, 19, had to quarantine following his arrival last week from the Sabres, who began battling COVID-19 problems shortly before they sent him to the AHL. The winger missed two games.

The Amerks play a road contest Friday against the Cleveland Monsters.

Quinn spent the early part of ... Read the full article

North Buffalo native Patrick Polino happy to begin pro career with Amerks

Four days before Rochester’s season opener, the Sabres recalled Jean-Sebastien Dea and C.J. Smith, taking two of the Americans’ top forwards for their taxi squad.

Later in the week, Jack Quinn, a winger Buffalo sent down, had to begin quarantining because he was with the Sabres when their COVID-19 problems began. Meanwhile, another forward the Amerks recently added, Remi Elie, was completing a mandatory quarantine following his arrival in Rochester.

Before the ... Read the full article

Amerks’ Arttu Ruotsalainen scores, looks like special prospect for Sabres

ROCHESTER – Having played 19 times earlier this season, Buffalo Sabres prospect Arttu Ruotsalainen has a strong advantage over most AHL players, many of whom haven’t experienced any game action for nearly a year.

Ruotsalainen, 23, enjoyed regular duty in his native Finland, morphing into perhaps Liiga’s biggest star. He left his team, Ilves, in December having scored a league-high 16 goals.

Not surprisingly, Ruotsalainen stood out in his North American debut Friday, scoring a ... Read the full article

Making of a coach: How Amerks’ Seth Appert went from college goalie to AHL

Seth Appert remembers feeling scared walking up the stairs that day almost 26 years ago inside Ferris State’s hotel.

A night earlier, as Miami was annihilating his school in a CCHA playoff game in Oxford, Ohio, Appert had approached his coach, Bob Daniels, during the second intermission.

Appert, a junior backup goalie, suggested to Daniels that Jeff Blashill, who had been pulled early from the blowout, should replace him. If Blashill re-entered the game, Appert ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Jack Quinn must quarantine, will miss Amerks’ opener

Sabres prospect Jack Quinn will miss the Rochester Americans’ season opener Friday because he must quarantine following his arrival from Buffalo, coach Seth Appert said.

The Sabres assigned Quinn, 19, to the AHL club Monday after he spent two and a half weeks on their taxi squad.

The NHL added two Sabres – winger Taylor Hall and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen – to its COVID-19 protocol-related absences list Tuesday and postponed four of their games. ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Jack Eichel misses first practice

Buffalo Sabres coach Ralph Krueger prefaced his update on the statuses of captain Jack Eichel and goalie Linus Ullmark with four words to alleviate any concern.

“All is under control,” Krueger said on a Zoom call Friday after both players missed the first session of training camp inside KeyBank Center.

Shortly before the Sabres’ first practice in almost 10 months, they announced Eichel, their MVP, would be sidelined Friday. The center suffered an upper-body injury ... Read the full article

Ex-Sabres Adam Mair, Mike Weber ready for new challenge with Amerks

When the Buffalo Sabres named ex-Americans coach Chris Taylor an interim NHL assistant a year ago, Adam Mair moved from his role as a development coach to Rochester’s bench.

Mair, 41, said he had always aspired to become a bench coach, and the seven weeks he spent assisting interim coach Gord Dineen “confirmed the passion that I sought out to achieve right when I stopped playing.”

“Being on the bench was the best way for ... Read the full article

Amerks hire former Sabres Adam Mair, Mike Weber as assistant coaches

The Rochester Americans have hired former Buffalo Sabres forward Adam Mair and defenseman Mike Weber as assistant coaches on Seth Appert’s staff, the AHL affiliate announced today.

“Adam and Mike are perfect fits to help establish a winning culture and develop our players in the American Hockey League,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said in a statement. “They share the same philosophies as Seth in their approach to the game and will be valuable resources ... Read the full article