Amerks8796

You’re ignoring facts and stats. I don’t care if you agree with me.

Dell has been the better goalie the entire year in Rochester. How is this even a debate? If UPL was not a prospect, and he was some journeyman with the exact same play, literally nobody would want anything to do with him. The only reason anyone wants him to play is his status in the organization. That’s a fact. Dell has got them here. And he should not be pulled unless his play tanks, or he gets hurt. Dell was 12-7-1. 5-2 in the playoffs UPL was 15-14-6-1

UPL has had numbers similar to Dell’s playoffs numbers for most of the year. People always made excuses for it. He improved them a bit towards the end of the year. But unless Dell plays even worse then he has, you can’t change goalies. Putting in a goalie who is coming off an injury, and hasn’t played in weeks should be a last resort. I don’t think Dell has been great in the playoffs, but what he does is stay calm in big moments. He’s made big saves in big moments all playoffs. Game 1 in OT against Belleville for example. After he gave up both goals last night, he made several big stops. He’s won 4 OT games. That wouldn’t have happened with UPL. UPL is the opposite, where he always tends to give up a bad goal at the worst time. It wouldn’t be fair to the team, fans, or really anyone to play a goalie based strictly on development. I trust Appert agrees, considering Laaksonen hasn’t seen a game in the playoffs.

No, they open up if they sell enough of the lower tickets.

I think they’d need a couple top 6 vets in addition to what you mentioned. I’d love Greer or Poturalski. Defense is probably the biggest concern. Laaksonen is really the only player under contract, and he’s bad enough that they won’t play him in the playoffs. Maybe Fitzgerald doesn’t crack Buffalo. I’d re-sign Alt, Prow, and Tischke. And sign 2 more steady vets. Subban/Houser could be the goalie tandem.

Full arena is probably unlikely on a regular basis, but I’m hoping they pick up some new casual fans and season ticket holders out of this. My concern is that with Quinn, Peterka, Krebs in Buffalo next season, the team could be poor, and you lose an opportunity to build your fan base. There’s really nothing coming from the pipeline next year. I certainly hope they plan on being very active in AHL free agency to bridge the gap with a good, veteran team next year.

It’s just the feed from the scoreboard. They aren’t producing TV quality broadcasts every game in the AHL.

I’m not writing him off. But the larger sample is in Rochester. He’s barely played in the NHL. His game has a lot of weaknesses. I’m a Sabres fan, too, and I’m not counting on him to be anything more than a replacement level backup.

Over a very short sample? Dell has played a lot of NHL games with quite respectable numbers. My observations of UPL is he gives up way too many weak goals. That’s the biggest thing I’ve noticed. Like goals you can’t believe a professional would give up, let alone a supposed too prospect.

Right, but why were Dell’s numbers much better for the whole season? Surely UPL should be able to outplay Dell, even behind a bad defense. Truth is, UPL is largely responsible for a lot of the bad goals he’s given up.

I think this will be a difficult game to win without Samuelsson and Davidson. Utica is loaded with talent, and they are very well coached with Dineen. Amerks struggled at times with a low skill Belleville team. If they can get one of both of them back by Saturday, it could be a close series.

Your mistake, which is common, is to think development get prioritized 100% of the time. It doesn’t. Appert had said as much himself. Development is far less a priority, in the moment, in the playoffs compared to, say, a regular season game in December. Laaksonen is very weak, defensively and physically. I don’t think his defensive game improved much at all. There’s no doubt he’s good offensively, but they were playing a big and physical team in Belleville. I actually think you might see him tonight if Davidson is still out. They could use him as the 7th D and shelter his defensive minutes and mostly use him on the PP.

He’s been beyond bad defensively all year. There’s a reason 3 AHL/ECHL tweeners played over him. With Davidson close to a return, I can’t imagine it’ll be any easier for him to crack the lineup.

I didn’t complain about the seats. I really don’t have a huge issue with them. The Pegulas paid for the new scoreboard. To my knowledge, state funding paid for the concession expansion and bathroom renovations. But realistically, if one wants new seats, it’ll come much sooner if the Pegulas do it. Otherwise who knows when more state money will fund it.

I believe so, yes. But the city doesn’t exactly have money lying around for improvements. The Pegulas operate the arena. I believe the setup is similar with KBC, but it’s Erie county. People generally look to the Pegulas for improvements, not the county.

The seats need replacing. But the Pegulas can’t be bothered. Sometimes I wonder if they even remember they own the Amerks.

I’ve been to that arena. It’s “nice” but sterile. I agree with you about the seats on the end. In general, I like the older arenas because I think they have more character.

The War Memorial always seems to get hate, but I think it’s still a great arena. Delaware North does a terrible job, but that’s another story. My biggest issue is that the arena is just too big. The seats at the end just go on forever and no one ever sits there. It’s probably not structurally feasible, but if they could rip out the top have of those sections, and put some sort of bar/standing room area, that would really be great.

It has better sight lines, but I still prefer the War Memorial overall for pretty much everything else.

Yes, UPL has the NHL style butterfly down pretty well. But he just misses pucks and struggles with weak goals. Sure, if he gets hot, his potential is far greater than Dell. But so far in the AHL that’s rarely happened for more than the odd game here or there.

Let’s be honest, he probably did the team a favor. I understand people want to see UPL play for development purposes, but Dell is better at this level. I’m not sure the Amerks win both of those games with UPL.

And Davidson. Everyone wrote him off and thought he was done for the year, but he’s often been the teams best defenseman when he plays. If they can get both back, they’ll probably run something like this out there: Schuldt - Fitzgerald Samuelsson - Prow Davidson - Alt

It’s my favorite arena to watch hockey in. Small place, where the seats are steep and right on top of the ice. You won’t find better sight lines anywhere.

It’s a bummer, because Binghamton lost their team, and they are a classic, great AHL town. I went to a game in Belleville a few year ago. Felt like a high school game. They were selling snacks from card tables. The people were nice, though.

Yes, healthy scratch. I think the reality with Laaksonen is that he’s essentially a PP specialist who can’t play any defense. He’s very soft in his own end. Belleville was a big and physical team. Utica isn’t much different, so I don’t think we’ll see him, especially if Samuelsson and/or Davidson return against Utica.