AMERKS ANNOUNCE 2026-27 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
Rochester opens its 71st season at home against Toronto on Friday, Oct. 2 at Blue Cross Arena
Jul 9, 2026The Rochester Americans announced today their schedule for the 2026-27 American Hockey League regular season, presented exclusively by Seneca Resorts & Casinos. The Amerks will open their 71st AHL season – and 45th as the primary affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres – on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:05 p.m. against the defending Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies at The Blue Cross Arena.
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It marks the second straight year and third time in five seasons the Amerks will open at home against the Marlies.
All 32 AHL teams will again play a 72-game regular-season slate (36 home games and 36 away games) this coming season with the Amerks playing against 14 other teams. Rochester, which is coming off its second straight playoff appearance under head coach Michael Leone, will play 25 of its 36 home games on weekends, with 14 Friday home games, eight Saturday home dates, which is twice as many from the previous year, and three Sunday home outings. The team will play the balance of its schedule with 10 midweek games on Wednesday nights, with all but two being played against divisional opponents, and one Monday night contest leading into the annual Christmas break.
For the 11th straight year, the Amerks will play all 72 of their games solely against Eastern Conference opponents this season, with 54 coming against their North Division rivals and 18 versus teams from the Atlantic Division. The Amerks will remain in the North Division of the Eastern Conference, which will now feature eight teams with the addition of the AHL’s newest franchise, the Hamilton Hammers. The Hammers, who for the last 25 years operated as the Bridgeport Islanders prior to their relocation, will serve as the top affiliate of the New York Islanders and will become the league’s seventh Canadian-based team. The remainder of the North Division will comprise the Belleville Senators, Cleveland Monsters, Laval Rocket, Syracuse Crunch, Toronto Marlies and Utica Comets.
As in years past, Rochester will face Syracuse (six home, six road) and Utica (five home, five road) more than any other opponents during its 71st AHL campaign with a total of 22 meetings against its intrastate rivals. The Amerks will also have eight matchups (four home, four road) against Cleveland and six encounters (three home, three road) each against their friends from north of the border in Belleville, Hamilton, Laval and Toronto.
The Amerks will again play the entire Atlantic Division this coming season with four matchups (two home, two road) each against the Charlotte Checkers and Hershey Bears. The Amerks meet the Checkers on back-to-back nights in Rochester following the new year and will have a pair of meetings during a weekend set in the Queen City to open the month of April. Three of the four games against Hershey will take place in the first half of the season, including the final game of the 2026 calendar year on Dec. 30.
Similar to last season, the Amerks will also face the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins twice (one home, one road), while also seeing the Hartford Wolf Pack, Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Springfield Thunderbirds for a pair of meetings (one home, one road) as well.
All home games will start at 7:05 p.m. this season except for the eight Saturday matchups that are slated for either 3:05 or 5:05 p.m. Rochester’s three Sunday afternoon matinees, two of which are scheduled for after the new year, will begin at 3:05 p.m. The team’s lone Monday outing of the season prior to the Christmas break will also be a 7:05 p.m. start.
The Amerks’ two busiest months of the season are December and January with a dozen games each.
The Amerks’ longest homestand of the season is a five-game stretch over an 11-day span that begins in mid-December and continues through the holiday break. All five games will be against North Division opponents, including a pair against Syracuse that bookend the homestand.
Similarly, Rochester’s longest string of road games is also a five-game trek beginning in January and crossing into February that will keep the Amerks north of the border over back-to-back weekends with a pit stop in Syracuse in between. The road swing also coincides with the team’s busiest stretch of the season overall with 15 games at the onset of the new year through Feb. 6.
Rochester spends the most time on home ice in January with seven games within the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena. Conversely, the Amerks will have six road games in three of the first five months of the season between November and February with the team making two separate visits through the Atlantic Division during the month of December.
For the fifth straight year, the Amerks open the season by playing half of its first 10 games in October on the road. Additionally, Rochester’s first eight games of the season come against North Division opponents, including three against Syracuse and home-and-home with Utica. The Amerks get their first look at the Hammers on Oct. 16, marking the team’s first visit back to Hamilton since a 3-1 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Mar. 6, 2015.
Rochester has only two “three-in-three” situations on the docket this year, the first coming at the end of November and the other just a few weeks later prior to the start of the season-long December homestand. The Amerks will be on the road for all three in both occurrences, the second of which takes the team on a three-game trek through New England.
Information on promotional and annual theme nights will be announced at a later date.
Season Ticket Memberships for the 2026-27 season, which start as low as $22 per game, are on sale now and come with several Members-only perks and benefits. Full and Half Season Membership options are also available. For more information on Amerks Season Tickets or to sign up today, call 585-454-5335 or visit www.amerks.com/memberships.