Fun hockey in this part of Western NY didn’t last long. It actually didn’t last much past the last word of my last post.
“The road is breaking my heart, and it’s no wonder why. But I will let it kill me before I let it see me cry.” (Carbon Leaf, The Road Is Breaking My Heart)
The Amerks ventured into unfamiliar territory, making the trek to St John’s NLF to visit the Ice Caps a week ago Friday and Saturday. Or, at least, some guys in Amerks sweaters showed up. I’m not really sure who those guys were, and I’m definitely hoping they weren’t the Amerks, because it didn’t look good. The only part that looked good, and only on paper, was shots on goal. Seriously. That’s it. They were outscored 10 to four, with Andrey Makarov allowing six goals and Linus Ullmark allowing four. There were a plethora of penalties and just all around poorly executed hockey.
Things didn’t get better when the Amerks travelled to Utica to face the Comets on Wednesday. In fact, somehow, they got worse. Ullmark faced 46 shots and, blessedly, only allowed two goals. The Amerks, on the other hand, managed two goals on 14 shots in their 4-2 defeat. Oh, yeah. And Dan Catenacci got a slew-footing (match) penalty and likely faces suspension by the league.
What. The heck. Happened? I don’t have an answer to this question. I wish I did. Are these just teams that are REALLY that much better? I don’t know. With all of the improvements to the Amerks roster and, in theory, coaching staff, I feel like this is a lot of really bad hockey really early in the season. I hope that things even out this weekend, but I’m not so sure.
The Amerks welcome the Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) to the BCA Friday night for the first of several games on the season. Toronto is 3-1-0-0, with wins both in OT and SOs this season so far. On Sunday, the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) come to town. Rochester welcomes Bobby Sanguinetti to the roster, clearing waivers from Buffalo Thursday afternoon. We can only wait and see what happens from here, I suppose. It’s too soon to panic. Let’s just all keep that in mind. Especially me.
I am joining with #HockeyFightsDV again this season, to benefit the Willow Center in Rochester, NY. I have pledged $1/Patrice Bergeron goal, $5/Amerks Goalie SO, $1/Amerks win, $2/”Ryan Miller Shutout,” $25/Amerks or Sabres goalie point, to be updated at the end of each month this season. You can pledge, too, at hockeyfightsdv.tumblr.com