AHL PLAYOFF GDT - Amerks @ Crunch - Friday, May 10, 2024 - 7:05 PM (EDT) AHL TV, 950/95.7 WROC

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

And it worked well for much of the season. We're not taking about a last place team here. Tied for 1st in division . 7th best record in the AHL. 17-5-2-2 since March 1.

As for Syracuse, they played the Amerks 17 times and won 9. Two teams that were dead even all season that came down to one game.

Oh no that's all fair, but the point that matters to me is that the "full cupboard" can't get it done so I question how good that full cupboard is. That's all. No more no less. 

[Taro T]

A buddy couldn't use his tix, so got gifted a pair Thursday night.  Got a good mean at the Dinosaur then headed over.

Not one to typically blame a loss on the refs, but they definitely affected the play of the game if not the outcome itself.

The ref was the only person in the building (including the Crunch players) that thought the puck was in the net for Syracuse's 1st goal.  Would like to have seen a replay to see what the ref thought he saw, but it was only shown once in the building and very quickly at that.  That it took 10 minutes for them to decide they couldn't prove the puck wasn't in the net would seem to be telling.

Get that with the Crunch skater getting tangled up with the Amerk D man that the 2nd goal wasn't going to come back, but still not sure how getting checked AWAY from Levi caused the Crunch to land on top of Levi.  That one was bad luck/timing.

Still not sure why 46 decided that Richards goal that would've gotten the Amerks on the board was kicked in.  It looked good right in front of us and couldn't see a kicking motion on the 1 replay they showed either.

But flip any one of those 3 plays and the Amerks aren't pressing late in the 3rd to give up the 3 on 1 that turned into the Syracuse insurance goal.

No idea how Davies getting crunched away from the puck wasn't a major much less considered clean by 46 who was looking right at the play as it happened right in front of him.  Inconsistent calls all game long, refs losing sight of the puck on one of the few times the Amerks did generate pressure near the 'Cuse net, again no idea how 46 couldn't see the puck and let his partner know it was loose, because sitting 100' behind him it was clear from our seats the puck was still loose.  

The linesmen didn't have a much better night.

Thought Johnson looked good, but on the 2 on 1 that turned into the winning goal he looked completely lost trying to defend it.

Wahlberg and Novikov were noticeably bigger than their teammates.  Kulich put 2 shots just wide from poor angles but both had the goalie beat could he have been just a smidge more accurate.  Rosen, surprisingly, was actually throwing some hits, including one just inside the blue line that was reshown a period later as the hit of the game.

Amerks really had a hard time getting the puck to the net, as demonstrated by having only 15 shots when they started pulling the goalie with ~4 minutes left.

As for the thunder sticks, a kid working for the Amerks started tossing a bunch into the crowd with about 12 minutes left to play in the 3rd.  But he only distributed ~40 of them.  Don't know if anybody else was handing them out besides just that one employee.

The band they had playing for the pregame was decent.  Played some Dead, Skynyrd, Tom Petty, and the Goos.  

Can somebody please explain how "Proud to be Pesky" is a good motto/rallying cry for a professional sports team?  Also, missing the logic behind handing out 5,000 RED rally towels and some RED placards on "white out the rink" night.  Wouldn't be surprised if it turned out those were the brainchild of the same guy that came up with the Sabres BS hats.

Edited May 12 by Taro T

[Claude Balls]

On 5/11/2024 at 12:02 PM, PromoTheRobot said:

Just for some perspective, the Amerks ended the regular season .611, tied for 7th overall in the AHL. They played at a .731 (17-5-2-2) pace since March 1. Losing a Game 5 isn't a reason to blow it all up.

Haven't been here in a few days. I didn't mean blow it all up. I mean, they need a kick in the pants. I'm hoping Lindy is the man for the job. This is yet to be seen, obviously. But, I mean, Appert can only help improve the Sabres PP, right? It'd be hard to make it worse. 

[Claude Balls]

On 5/12/2024 at 3:51 PM, Taro T said:

A buddy couldn't use his tix, so got gifted a pair Thursday night.  Got a good mean at the Dinosaur then headed over.

Not one to typically blame a loss on the refs, but they definitely affected the play of the game if not the outcome itself.

The ref was the only person in the building (including the Crunch players) that thought the puck was in the net for Syracuse's 1st goal.  Would like to have seen a replay to see what the ref thought he saw, but it was only shown once in the building and very quickly at that.  That it took 10 minutes for them to decide they couldn't prove the puck wasn't in the net would seem to be telling.

Get that with the Crunch skater getting tangled up with the Amerk D man that the 2nd goal wasn't going to come back, but still not sure how getting checked AWAY from Levi caused the Crunch to land on top of Levi.  That one was bad luck/timing.

Still not sure why 46 decided that Richards goal that would've gotten the Amerks on the board was kicked in.  It looked good right in front of us and couldn't see a kicking motion on the 1 replay they showed either.

But flip any one of those 3 plays and the Amerks aren't pressing late in the 3rd to give up the 3 on 1 that turned into the Syracuse insurance goal.

No idea how Davies getting crunched away from the puck wasn't a major much less considered clean by 46 who was looking right at the play as it happened right in front of him.  Inconsistent calls all game long, refs losing sight of the puck on one of the few times the Amerks did generate pressure near the 'Cuse net, again no idea how 46 couldn't see the puck and let his partner know it was loose, because sitting 100' behind him it was clear from our seats the puck was still loose.  

The linesmen didn't have a much better night.

Thought Johnson looked good, but on the 2 on 1 that turned into the winning goal he looked completely lost trying to defend it.

Wahlberg and Novikov were noticeably bigger than their teammates.  Kulich put 2 shots just wide from poor angles but both had the goalie beat could he have been just a smidge more accurate.  Rosen, surprisingly, was actually throwing some hits, including one just inside the blue line that was reshown a period later as the hit of the game.

Amerks really had a hard time getting the puck to the net, as demonstrated by having only 15 shots when they started pulling the goalie with ~4 minutes left.

As for the thunder sticks, a kid working for the Amerks started tossing a bunch into the crowd with about 12 minutes left to play in the 3rd.  But he only distributed ~40 of them.  Don't know if anybody else was handing them out besides just that one employee.

The band they had playing for the pregame was decent.  Played some Dead, Skynyrd, Tom Petty, and the Goos.  

Can somebody please explain how "Proud to be Pesky" is a good motto/rallying cry for a professional sports team?  Also, missing the logic behind handing out 5,000 RED rally towels and some RED placards on "white out the rink" night.  Wouldn't be surprised if it turned out those were the brainchild of the same guy that came up with the Sabres BS hats.

I agree with pretty much everything you posted. I went to talk with my buddy during the 1st intermission to get his take on that first Crunch goal. He said they weren't sure if the puck went in the net. Like you said, one crappy replay on the scoreboard. But....when I got home, they showed it on the news, so I watched it in super slo-mo. You could barely see the puck, but it did go in and it was much clearer seeing it come out. But 10 mins for that review was ridiculous.

The officials were trash. I was told that Syracuse had like 10 more PP's than the Amerks the whole series. I'm too lazy to go look it up. It true, that's insane. Just like the Panthers/Bruins disparity in PPs. 

When I went to grab my red towel I asked the kid handing them out, I said what's with the red? It's a white out, Syracuse is wearing white, Rochester is wearing blue and you're giving out red towels?? He said, we all agreed that it made no sense. He said nothing was coordinated. I was glad I had that towel though, because as per usual, the bathrooms ran out of paper towels before the 1st period ended.