Amerks Enjoying Early Success Despite Ever-changing Roster
Feb 15, 2021
By Ryan J. Harr
Three weeks into the season and the Rochester Americans have seen all three opponents that that will matchup against during the shortened 32-game 2020-21 regular-season. The Amerks have met up with North Division rivals in the Syracuse Crunch and Utica Comets as well as an old friend and former divisional foe in the Cleveland Monsters. While the club will see the Crunch and Comets much more than the Monsters, they have also made one of their three trips to Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse through the first three games of the campaign.
Roster carousel continues
Since Friday’s 7-3 victory over the Monsters, the Buffalo Sabres, who recently returned to the ice following a 14-day pause due to COVID precautionary measures, have reassigned forwards Steven Fogarty, C.J. Smith, Andrew Oglevie and Rasmus Asplund along with defenseman Jacob Bryson from Rochester to the team’s taxi squad. The Sabres subsequently reassigned goaltender Dustin Tokarski to Amerks.
If the moves are any kind of indication or foreshadowing of what the rest of the season may look like, the roster carousel will continue to revolve for the Amerks. But the continuous movement also creates opportunities for other players to step in and play immediate roles when needed.
“We are certainly happy for our guys,” Amerks head coach Seth Appert said following Monday’s practice. “We talk a lot about being a family and loving one another. We all have the same dream of making it the NHL. When guys go up to Buffalo, while want them to play in a game, they are one step closer to making that dream become a reality.”
While the Amerks have temporarily lost some of their players to the Sabres, forward Ryan Scarfo and defensemen Griffin Luce and Alec McCrea all joined the team today after finishing their quarantine requirements.
“I don’t look at it as having holes in our lineup, but it creates opportunities for other players on our roster to earn potential spots. We have other players such as Brandon Biro, who made his debut last Friday, Jack Quinn, who was a full participant in practice today, and other players who we signed last week.”
WATCH: SETH APPERT AFTER MONDAY’S PRACTICE
Scarfo, 26, a third-year pro, has appeared in 56 career AHL games between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Belleville Senators, totaling 14 points (4+10) while also adding 29 points (14+15) over 58 contests with the Brampton Beast (ECHL) and Wheeling Nailers.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound forward split the 2019-20 campaign between the Nailers and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, combining for 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in 55 contests. He ranked seventh among all Penguins in both assists (14) and points (26) in 43 games before the season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to turning pro, the Boston, Mass., native completed a four-year collegiate career at Union College (ECAC), where he registered 88 points (48+40) in 151 games with the Dutchmen from 2014-2018. As a senior, Scarfo led the team in goals (20) and points (36) on his way to earning ECAC Third All-Star Team honors.
McCrea, 26, 6-foot-3, 202-pound blueliner comes to Rochester beginning his professional career in 2019-20, notching six points (1+5) in 34 contests between the Toledo Walleye (ECHL) and Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL). McCrea tied for second among all Griffins first-year defensemen in both assists (5) and points (5) in 28 games last season.
Prior to turning pro, the San Diego. Calif., native completed a four-year collegiate career at Cornell University (ECAC), where he registered 49 points (12+37) in 137 games with the Big Red from 2015-2019. As a junior, McCrea was named the ECAC’s Best Defensive Defenseman and was named to the All-Ivy Second Team after finishing second among team defensemen in scoring with 12 points (5+7) in 32 games. He helped Cornell advance to the NCAA Tournament in each of his last three years.
Luce, 22, joins the Amerks after appearing in 12 games this season for the Rapid City Rush (ECHL), recording two assists to begin his professional career. Prior to joining Rapid City, the Williamsville, NY, native completed a four-year collegiate career at the University of Michigan (NCAA), posting 14 points (3+11) in 131 career appearances with the Wolverines.
Before attending Michigan, the 6-foot-3, 217-pound blueliner played two seasons at the United States National Team Development Program 2014-16. He represented Team USA at the 2016 U-18 World Junior Championship, helping the Americans capture the bronze medal.
Luce, who attended the 2018 Buffalo Sabres Development Camp, is the grandson of former Buffalo Sabres forward Don Luce and the son of former Amerks goaltender Scott Luce.
WATCH: JEAN-SEBASTIEN DEA AFTER MONDAY’S PRACTICE
Dynamic Duo
During Training Camp, forward Jean-Sebastien Dea joked that he was one of the ‘old’ guys on the team and had no one to speak French with. Fast forward a few weeks later, he has found the scoresheet four times (2+2) in two games while showing an on-ice rating of plus-five, which is tied for sixth in the AHL.
Dea, a La Prairie, Quebec, native, shares the same plus-/minus mark with fellow teammate, Remi Elie, a Cornwall, Ontario native.
The commute from La Prairie to Cornwall is about one hour.
The duo has been on the same line since Elie completed his quarantine requirement and the chemistry between the two has only gotten stronger after being teammates last season and growing up so close to one another. In their first two games this season, they have been on the ice for five of Rochester’s 11 goals while combining for nine shots, four goals, three assists and a plus-10 rating.
“It’s really great,” said Dea on having Elie back on the team. “Having someone that I can speak French with, it makes everything comfortable while getting a taste of home. Remi and I have a good chemistry. We talk a lot out on the ice, the bench, the bus.”
“It’s like in any job in the real world, everything is better when you’re working alongside a friend rather than a colleague. The working relationship might not be as strong with someone you work with but with a friend everything is a lot more fun.”
Special Teams Success
Three games into the campaign, Rochester’s power-play has gone 5-for-11 (45.5%). The success rate of 45.5 percent tops the American Hockey while the Amerks’ five goals on the man-advantage are tied for second in the league.
Rochester opened the season with by going 1-for-6 against Utica before going 2-for-3 against both Cleveland and Syracuse.
“First off, (assistant coach) Adam Mair runs our power-play,” said Appert. “He has done a fabulous job on the man-advantage and Mike Weber oversees the penalty kill. While we all collaborate, those two guys take such pride in those units.”
“Mair was not a big power-play guy but he was a very detailed-oriented player. He played over 600 games in the National Hockey League, but he had strong detail habits to his game. The power-play is about having strong structure and details. The more structure and details that a team can have, the more it allows skill and creatively to flourish.”
In addition to the success on the power-play, the Amerks penalty kill unit has also began the season strong by allowing only two goals to the opposition in 13 opportunities. The 84.6 penalty kill percentage is tied for third in North Division and tied for eighth-best in the AHL.
The club is also one of 11 teams to record a shorthand-goal.
“The players on each unit have done a great job but a lot of the credit should go to Weber and Mair.”
Looking ahead
The Amerks look to make it three straight victories when they return to The Blue Cross Arena on Thursday, Feb. 18 to take on the Utica Comets for the second of 14 meetings this season between the two teams. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leaders 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV. The matchup will also be tape-delayed and available for viewing beginning at 10 p.m. the CW Rochester.