Rochester Americans Announce Regular Season Schedule
The Rochester Americans will begin their 60th season in the American Hockey League on October 9th as Randy Cunneyworth returns for his second stint behind the bench. That night, the Rochester Americans host the Lake Erie Monsters at 7:05 p.m.
The team, along with the American Hockey League, released its full regular season schedule for the 2015-2016 season on August 27.
This will be the Amerks’ 34th season as an affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. To celebrate the team’s 60th anniversary, the team will hold a special anniversary celebration game, sell special merchandise, have appearances by Rochester Americans alumni, hold contests and more.
The Amerks season begins with a pair of home games, hosting Lake Erie and Utica on October 9th and 10th. The team then travels to St. John’s for a pair of games the following weekend to visit the new farm club of the Montreal Canadiens.
The 2015-2016 season will see the Rochester Americans face 15 different American Hockey League teams: Albany, Binghamton, Bridgeport, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Hershey, Lake Erie, Lehigh Valley, Portland, Providence, Springfield, St. John’s, Syracuse, Toronto, Utica and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
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As per usual, weekend games are a majority for the Rochester Americans, with 24 Friday night games, 26 Saturday games and 13 Sunday games.
Thirty of those are home games, to be played at Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester. This bodes well not only for working fans in Rochester, but also for those in Buffalo who’d like to make the trip to see the Sabres prospects in action.
Another good opportunity is a President’s Day matinee game (3:05 p.m.) on January 16th against the Syracuse Crunch.
Of course, fans in Buffalo will get another chance to see the Rochester Americans in action, as the team hosts the St. John’s IceCaps at First Niagara Center on Wednesday, December 30th.
Throughout the season, the team’s longest road trip is just three games – but that happens five times throughout the season.
In addition, the team will have nine sets of three-in-threes – including a trio of them to close out the season.
The Rochester Americans will close the season with a three-in-three series April 15-17th. That begins with a Friday night home game against Albany, and closes with a pair of road games at the Toronto Marlies.
Last season, the Rochester Americans, like their parent club, faced struggle after struggle. The Amerks finished 14th in the AHL’s Western Conference with a record of 29-41-5-1. Their 64 points were 23 out of a playoff spot.
Of course, things will be quite different this season. With lots of new teams and affiliations, as well as a new league alignment, there have been a lot of changes.
The Rochester Americans remain in the North Division, but they’ve got more company this year: the Albany Devils, Binghamton Senators, St. John’s IceCaps, Syracuse Crunch, Toronto Marlies and Utica Comets. St. John’s is now the affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, having previously served as AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets.
In the Atlantic Division now are the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Hartford Wolf Pack, Hershey Bears, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Portland Pirates, Providence Bruins, Springfield Falcons and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The Central Division houses the Charlotte Checkers, Chicago Wolves, Grand Rapids Griffins, Iowa Wild, Lake Erie Monsters, Manitoba Moose, Milwaukee Admirals and Rockford IceHogs. The Monsters are now affiliated with Columbus, while Manitoba is paired with Winnipeg.
Finally, there’s the newly-formed Pacific Division. That houses the Bakersfield Condors (Edmonton), Ontario Reign (Los Angeles), San Antonio (Colorado), San Diego Gulls (Anaheim), San Jose Barracuda (Sharks), Stockton Heat (Calgary) and Texas Stars (Dallas). All teams will play 76 games each, with the exception of the Pacific Division teams, who will play 68.
A television schedule will be released at a later date. Find the full Rochester Americans schedule here (PDF).
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