ROCHESTER AMERICANS

The 'Rochester Americans' are an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

Contents

History

Beginnings

The expansion era

Year-by-year record

Team records

Single Season

Career

External links

History

Beginnings

The 'Rochester Americans' are one of the most storied franchises in the history of the American Hockey League. They celebrated their 50th consecutive season in the American Hockey League in 2005-06. Their years of unbroken league membership rank second only to the Hershey Bears. Rochester has won six Calder Cups. Known commonly as the "'Amerks'", they are located in Rochester, New York. Since the team's inception in 1956, they have played at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, formerly known as Rochester War Memorial Arena, which was renovated in the mid-1990s.
When the Amerks entered the American Hockey League in the fall of 1956 they were the joint affiliate of both the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. Under Coach Billy Reay the first-year team finished in third place in the AHL standings and played the defending champion Providence Reds in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs. With Amerks' goalie Bobby Perreault leading the way the Americans defeated Providence and goaltender Johnny Bower in five games. Rochester then faced the Cleveland Barons in the Calder Cup finals but lost the series in five games.
The Amerks would reach the playoffs in 1959 only to lose to the Buffalo Bisons in five games. The 1959 Amerks were led by the "WHAM" line composed of center Rudy Migay, left wing Gary Aldcorn and right wing Billy Hicke. Migay and Hicke were named co-MVP for the AHL that season and Hicke was chosen league Rookie of the Year.
In 1959-60 the Americans became the first team in American Hockey League history to win a playoff series after trailing three-games-to-none. The Amerks' comeback against the Cleveland Barons was led by the efforts of the veteran Migay, right wing Pat Hannigan and league-leading goaltender Ed Chadwick. A crowd of 7,762 at the War Memorial witnessed a 4-1 triumph in Game 7. Rochester would then go on to lose the Calder Cup Finals in five games to Eddie Shore's Springfield Indians.
Following the 1960-61 season in which the Amerks failed to qualify for the playoffs the Montreal Canadiens transferred their working agreement to the Quebec Aces of the American Hockey League and sent Rochester players Guy Rousseau and Claude Labrosse to the Quebec capital. Now the exclusive affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs the Americans made the playoffs the next two seasons but due to heavy roster turnovers were never serious contenders for the Calder Cup championship.
Beginning in 1963-64 former Amerks' defenseman Joe Crozier became the team's Coach and General Manager. Under Crozier the Amerks won the Calder Cup in 1965, 1966 and 1968 and were finalists in 1967; to this day they are the only team in AHL history to appear in the Calder Cup finals in four consecutive seasons. The back-to-back championship teams in 1965 and 1966 are regarded as two of the finest Calder Cup champions in American Hockey League history.
In 1965-66 the Amerks were forced out of the War Memorial arena for their final 10 regular season home games plus the playoffs. The reason was that Rochester was hosting the 1966 finals of the American Bowling Congress tournament which took over the War Memorial for two months. The Americans then moved their home games 180 miles to Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. All of Rochester's remaining home games and playoff games were thus moved to Toronto with the exception of one playoff game. Crozier booked Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium for one game in the Calder Cup Finals.
On May 8, 1966 before a crowd of 7,655 at the "Aud" the Amerks tied up the series at two games apiece with a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Barons. The Americans used the momentum from that game to go on and win the next two games and the Calder Cup.
Notable players from this era included Bronco Horvath, Gerry Cheevers, Bobby Perreault, Al Arbour, Darryl Sly, Norm "Red" Armstrong, Duane Rupp, Wally Boyer, Dick Gamble, Stan Smrke, Jim Pappin, Don Cherry, Gerry Ehman, and Mike Walton.

The expansion era

When the National Hockey League expanded from six to twelve teams for the 1967-68 NHL season the Amerks lost several of the above-mentioned players. Arbour (St. Louis), Ehman (Oakland), Boyer (Oakland), Horvath (Minnesota) and Rupp (Pittsburgh) were all drafted by the new NHL teams. Pappin was promoted to the Maple Leafs. Smrke retired.
With the core of the team now gone the Amerks struggled throughout the early part of the '67-'68 AHL season. With the team in last place Crozier decided to try and turn the team's fortunes around. Just before Christmas Crozier made a blockbuster deal with the expansion Minnesota North Stars. In exchange for forwards Jean Paul Parise and Milan Marcetta the Amerks received Ted Taylor, Len Lunde, George "Duke" Harris, Murray Hall, Don Johns and the rights to Horvath. The return of Horvath marked his fourth tour of duty with the Amerks since 1956-57.
With their ranks bolstered by proven AHL veterans the Amerks began climbing up in the standings and by mid-March had the best record in the American Hockey League. The regular-season champion Amerks then defeated the Hershey Bears 4 games to 1 in the playoff semi-finals and the Quebec Aces 4 games to 2 in the Calder Cup finals. The Amerks won the final game 4-2 before a crowd of 11,711 at Le Colisee de Quebec.
In the summer of 1968 the team was sold to Vancouver interests who hoped to establish the Amerks as their farm team for the expansion Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. The Vancouver-Rochester arrangement never worked out. With the majority of the Rochester players transferred to Vancouver of the Western Professional Hockey League the minor league Canucks won the 1968-69 and 1969-70 WPHL Patrick Cup Championships while the Amerks finished in last place each year.
After four straight losing years the Vancouver NHL team was prepared to either sell or fold the Rochester team. In the summer of 1972 a group of Rochester businessmen stepped forward and decided to save the Amerks and bought the franchise from Vancouver. Their first act was to name Amerks defenseman Don Cherry as Coach/General Manager. Playing the next two seasons as an independent club with a make-shift roster the Amerks made the playoffs in 1972-73 and were the regular season AHL champions in 1973-74.
The Boston Bruins were so impressed with the job Cherry had done in resurrecting the Amerks they hired him as their coach in 1974-75 and became the Amerks' parent team the same year. They are currently affiliated with the nearby Buffalo Sabres, and the distantly south Florida Panthers. The team colors are, naturally, red, white and blue. The logo is a patriotic badge with "Americans" written in script. The Americans won the Calder Cup in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1983, 1987, and 1996. They have appeared in the Finals and lost in 1957, 1960, 1967, 1977, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999, and 2000. Their close-knit relationship with the Sabres brought attention to Rochester in November of 2003, when the Sabres and the New Jersey Devils played in first-ever NHL regular-season game in Rochester. In the 2003-04 season, the Americans came close to the Calder Cup, but were beaten 4-1 by the Milwaukee Admirals in the Western Conference final.
The Rochester Americans have retired only two sweater numbers in their history. The first was No. 6 in honor of Norm "Red" Armstrong following his death from a fall in a construction accident in 1974 at age 35. Number 9 was later retired in honor of Dick Gamble and Jody Gage. Gage broke Gamble's team scoring records with the Amerks during his long tenure with the team. Gage currently serves as the Amerks' General Manager.

Year-by-year record

'Year'	'GP'	'W'	'L'	'T'	'OL'	'SOL'	'GF'	'GA'	'PTS'	'Finish'	'Playoffs'
2006-07	80	48	30	--	1	1	269	250	98	2nd, North	Lost in Division Semifinals
2005-06	80	37	39	--	2	2	261	270	78	5th, North	Out of Playoffs
2004-05	80	51	19	--	6	4	243	208	112	1st, North	Lost in Division Finals
2003-04	80	37	28	10	5	--	207	188	89	3rd, North	Lost in Conference Finals
2002-03	80	31	30	14	5	--	219	221	81	2nd, Central	Lost in Qualifying Round
2001-02	80	32	30	15	3	--	206	211	82	2nd, Central	Lost in Qualifying Round
2000-01	80	46	22	9	3	--	224	192	104	1st, Mid-Atlantic	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals
1999-00	80	46	22	9	3	--	247	201	104	1st, Empire	Lost in Calder Cup Finals
1998-99	80	52	21	6	1	--	287	176	111	1st, Empire	Lost in Calder Cup Finals
1997-98	80	30	38	12	0	--	238	260	72	Last, Empire	Lost in round 1
1996-97	80	40	30	9	1	--	298	257	90	1st, Empire State	Lost in round 2
'1995-96'	'80'	'37'	'34'	'5'	'4'	'--'	'294'	'297'	'83'	'3rd, Central'	'Won Calder Cup'
1994-95	80	35	38	7	--	--	333	304	77	4th, Southern	Lost in round 1
1993-94	80	31	34	15	--	--	277	300	77	4th, Southern	Lost in round 1
1992-93	80	40	33	7	--	--	348	332	87	2nd, Southern	Lost in Finals
1991-92	80	37	31	12	--	--	292	248	86	2nd, Southern	Lost in round 3
1990-91	80	45	26	9	--	--	326	253	99	1st, Southern	Lost in Finals
1989-90	80	43	28	9	--	--	337	286	95	1st, Southern	Lost in Finals
1988-89	80	38	37	5	--	--	305	302	81	5th, Southern	Out of Playoffs
1987-88	80	46	26	7	1	--	328	272	100	2nd, Southern	Lost in round 1
'1986-87'	'80'	'47'	'26'	'0'	'7'	'--'	'315'	'263'	'101'	'1st, Southern'	'Won Calder Cup'
1985-86	80	34	39	7	--	--	320	337	75	6th, Southern	Out of Playoffs
1984-85	80	40	27	13	--	--	333	301	93	3rd, Southern	Lost in round 1
1983-84	80	46	32	2	--	--	363	300	94	2nd, Southern	Lost in Finals
'1982-83'	'80'	'46'	'25'	'9'	'--'	'--'	'389'	'325'	'101'	'1st, Southern'	'Won Calder Cup'
1981-82	80	40	31	9	--	--	325	286	89	2nd, Southern	Lost in round 2
1980-81	80	30	42	8	--	--	295	316	68	Last, Southern	Out of Playoffs
1979-80	80	28	42	12	--	--	260	327	66	4th, Southern	Lost in round 1
1978-79	80	26	42	12	--	--	289	349	64	4th, Southern	Out of Playoffs
1977-78	81	43	31	7	--	--	332	296	93	1st, Southern	Lost in round 2
1976-77	80	42	33	5	--	--	320	273	89	3rd	Lost in Finals
1975-76	76	42	25	9	--	--	304	243	93	2nd, Northern	Lost in round 2
1974-75	76	42	25	9	--	--	317	243	93	2nd, Northern	Lost in round 2
1973-74	76	42	21	13	--	--	296	248	97	1st, Northern	Lost in round 1
1972-73	76	33	31	12	--	--	239	276	78	3rd, Eastern	Lost in round 1
1971-72	76	28	38	10	--	--	242	311	66	Last, Eastern	Out of Playoffs
1970-71	72	25	36	11	--	--	222	248	61	Last, Western	Out of Playoffs
1969-70	72	18	38	16	--	--	253	315	52	Last, Western	Out of Playoffs
1968-69	74	25	38	11	--	--	237	295	61	Last, Western	Out of Playoffs
'1967-68'	'72'	'38'	'25'	'9'	'--'	'--'	'273'	'233'	'85'	'1st, Western'	'Won Calder Cup'
1966-67	72	38	25	9	--	--	300	223	85	2nd, Western	Lost in Finals
'1965-66'	'72'	'46'	'21'	'5'	'--'	'--'	'288'	'221'	'97'	'1st, Western'	'Won Calder Cup'
'1964-65'	'72'	'48'	'21'	'3'	'--'	'--'	'310'	'199'	'99'	'1st, Western'	'Won Calder Cup'
1963-64	72	40	30	2	--	--	256	223	82	2nd, Western	Lost in round 1
1962-63	72	24	39	9	--	--	241	270	57	3rd, Western	Lost in round 1
1961-62	70	33	31	6	--	--	234	240	72	3rd, Western	Lost in round 1
1960-61	72	32	36	4	--	--	261	244	68	5th	Out of Playoffs
1959-60	72	40	27	5	--	--	285	211	85	2nd	Lost in Finals
1958-59	70	34	31	5	--	--	242	209	73	3rd	Lost in round 1
1957-58	70	29	35	6	--	--	205	242	64	5th	Out of Playoffs
1956-57	64	34	25	5	--	--	224	199	73	3rd	Lost in Finals

Team records

Single Season

:'Goals:' 61 Paul Gardner (1985-86)
:'Assists:' 73 Geordie Robertson (1982-83)
:'Points:' 119 Geordie Robertson (1982-83)
:'Penalty Minutes:' 446 Rob Ray (1988-89)
:'GAA:' 2.07 Martin Biron (1998-99)
:'SV%:' .930 Martin Biron (1998-99)

Career

:'Career Goals:' 351 Jody Gage
:'Career Assists:' 377 Jody Gage
:'Career Points:' 728 Jody Gage
:'Career Penalty Minutes:' 1424 Scott Metcalfe
:'Career Goaltending Wins:' 108 Bob Perreault
:'Career Shutouts:' 16 Bob Perreault
:'Career Games:' 653 Jody Gage

External links

★ Rochester Americans Official Website

★ The Internet Hockey Database - Rochester Americans