GDT: Rd.2 AHL best-of-5 playoffs: Amerks (2&0) @ Crunch, Gm3 5/1 7pm

[DarthEbriate]

18 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Great to see the Amerks progressing, especially the play of a Levi.  
 

Syracuse Crunch.  Tampa Uni’s and colors, but a team name that has no relevance to anything.  

I've found that it was a fan vote and selected from amongst 5 names (the other 4 I cannot find).

The name wasn't related to Nestle Crunch bars, but the Fulton Nestle plant produced most of the Crunch bars at the time, or so said the Crunch President/CEO the  https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/in-their-own-words-an-oral-history-of-the-syracuse-crunch-early-days/  

I think the Crunch is a solid, no-nonsense candy bar. 2nd liner, responsible in all 3 zones.

[Porous Five Hole]

31 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Great to see the Amerks progressing, especially the play of a Levi.  
 

Syracuse Crunch.  Tampa Uni’s and colors, but a team name that has no relevance to anything.  

What, you’re not a big fan of the superhero Crunch Man? 😂

[Pimlach]

11 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I've found that it was a fan vote and selected from amongst 5 names (the other 4 I cannot find).

The name wasn't related to Nestle Crunch bars, but the Fulton Nestle plant produced most of the Crunch bars at the time, or so said the Crunch President/CEO the  https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/in-their-own-words-an-oral-history-of-the-syracuse-crunch-early-days/  

I think the Crunch is a solid, no-nonsense candy bar. 2nd liner, responsible in all 3 zones.

Well, if they named after the classic Nestle Crunch bar, and that candy is actually made in the Syracuse area, then that is legit.  

Edited 19 hours ago by Pimlach

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Love the way the Amerks are playing. This is a team that can destroy any team when they are firing on most cylinders. When they are firing on all??? Forget it. Even if 1/2 of these prospects do not make it to the NHL, they are going to be AHL studs.I can easily see 5 or 6 of them doing very well in the NHL and that includes players like Johnson who has always been a fave of mine. Do not hear his name called often but he plays defensively sound every shift. Definitely could be a great fit for the Sabres soon.

[Ctaeth]

If Laval wins vs Cleveland, Amerks are going to have a tough matchup.  One of the few teams that Amerks have struggled against. They were 2-6 vs Laval during the regular season (wins vs losses only, idk what their record is with OT/shootouts etc... but that doesn't really matter in the playoffs anyway)

Edited 19 hours ago by Ctaeth

[dudacek]

I want to add that a very similar Syracuse team completely neutralized Kulich in last year's series by pounding the crap out him.

It didn't work this year. You gotta like the progress.

[DarthEbriate]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I want to add that a very similar Syracuse team completely neutralized Kulich in last year's series by pounding the crap out him.

It didn't work this year. You gotta like the progress.

Along the same thought, Rousek and Komarov missed game 3 with injury. I didn't see any details on it, so I'm not sure if Rousek is out for an extended period. He's an important board-worker and glue guy for any top-6 AHL line.

[dudacek]

Just now, DarthEbriate said:

Along the same thought, Rousek and Komarov missed game 3 with injury. I didn't see any details on it, so I'm not sure if Rousek is out for an extended period. He's an important board-worker and glue guy for any top-6 AHL line.

Leone said he probably would have played if it was a must-win game.

Speaking of injury, I don't think Rochester missed a beat without Komarov. Brannstrom is probably better, and Brannstrom was probably the 6th-best blueliner last night. Metsa, Rathbone and Clague look very good to me at this level.

Prow is longer-term, but from what I've seen he shouldn't be a starter even if he was healthy.

From what I understand, Neuchev is not going to be available.

[DarthEbriate]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

From what I understand, Neuchev is not going to be available.

That's good on the Rousek front. Having Brannstrom in the lineup should be an improvement overall for the club (if not for Komarov's development).

Neuchev is definitely out. He had season-ending shoulder surgery in early March. Maybe, maybe if there's a very long Calder Cup run, but I think they said he's out next preseason.

[Taro T]

13 hours ago, Big Guava said:

Except in the NHL where he allows 4+ goals a game and has gotten progressively worse each year 

The Crunch got Crunched.

Except in March and April in the NHL where he's had 8 of 10 games giving up 3 or less and 7 of 10 games giving up 2 or less.

[K-9]

Regarding Helenius, Leone was talking to the boys on Sabres Live yesterday afternoon and he said that Konsta can play any role you ask him to play and that against the Crunch he wanted him to be a Marchand-like pest with Kozak. And he seems to be pretty good at it for such a young player in a gritty league like the A.

[inkman]

5 hours ago, shrader said:

When did he get into the hall of fame?

He’s in some HOF just maybe not the one I cited.  

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, Big Guava said:

No, a true comment 

No, bad goaltending.

Puck in net...bad.

[PromoTheRobot]

7 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

How's Helenius looking? I like that kid. 

 

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

He’s playing wing on a 3rd line with Kozak.

Playing well, but not standing out skill-wise?

He’s producing and he’s engaged, seems to be buying into the system and playing smart hockey.

You can tell he’s got a competitive streak in him and I like how he reacts to the rough stuff.

I’ve liked what I’ve seen.

 

5 hours ago, JP51 said:

I remember debating this with you day after draft last year... I did not like the pick.... to this point however, you seem like you were correct.... (I hope he translates, but to this point he would be one of the folks in Roch I am most excited about)  so I needed to call that out... that is all....LOL 

I believe is on a point-per-game playoff streak.

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, Ctaeth said:

If Laval wins vs Cleveland, Amerks are going to have a tough matchup.  One of the few teams that Amerks have struggled against. They were 2-6 vs Laval during the regular season (wins vs losses only, idk what their record is with OT/shootouts etc... but that doesn't really matter in the playoffs anyway)

Amerks vs Rocket will be the Calder Cup matchup. If we can beat them, we can win it all.

If you have FLO Hockey you can watch Gm.2 of CLE/LAV tonight.

Edited 14 hours ago by PromoTheRobot

[pastajoe]

6 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Well, if they named after the classic Nestle Crunch bar, and that candy is actually made in the Syracuse area, then that is legit.  

When the team moved to Syracuse from Hamilton in 1992 as the Vancouver affiliate, the Nestle plant in Fulton, north of Syracuse, was a major sponsor of the team. A fan vote picked the name Crunch. Over time its affiliation changed to Columbus, Anaheim, and currently Tampa. But the name remained even though the Nestle plant is long gone.

[Jorcus]

5 hours ago, dudacek said:

Leone said he probably would have played if it was a must-win game.

Speaking of injury, I don't think Rochester missed a beat without Komarov. Brannstrom is probably better, and Brannstrom was probably the 6th-best blueliner last night. Metsa, Rathbone and Clague look very good to me at this level.

Prow is longer-term, but from what I've seen he shouldn't be a starter even if he was healthy.

From what I understand, Neuchev is not going to be available.

Komarov and Brannstrom are very different players. Komorov looks like a Vulture on skates. He likes to hit and he will clear the space around the net. Brannstrom is smaller but is faster and better with his stick He is also more experienced being 4 years older. 

Speaking of injuries I wonder what happened to Conor Sheary. The Crunch leading scorer was missing and the help from Tampa, Geekie and Crozier were not enough against the Amerks. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, pastajoe said:

When the team moved to Syracuse from Hamilton in 1992 as the Vancouver affiliate, the Nestle plant in Fulton, north of Syracuse, was a major sponsor of the team. A fan vote picked the name Crunch. Over time its affiliation changed to Columbus, Anaheim, and currently Tampa. But the name remained even though the Nestle plant is long gone.

Cool.  In a similar vain but back in the mid 50’s, the Buffalo Hockey Bison were bought by the Pastor Brothers, who ran the Pepsi Bottling Plant in Buffalo, hence the iconic Pepsi cap logo.  

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

Cool.  In a similar vain but back in the mid 50’s, the Buffalo Hockey Bison were bought by the Pastor Brothers, who ran the Pepsi Bottling Plant in Buffalo, hence the iconic Pepsi cap logo.  

I always wanted the Sabres to honor the Calder Cup Bisons but I heard that since KBC is a Coca Cola only venue they couldn't display the old Pepsi logo.

[pi2000]

So the Amerks have finished their semifinal series before Laval/Cleveland have played their 2nd game? Charlotte/Providence haven't even played their first semifinal game.

They could have 10-12 days off before they play again.

Strange scheduling.

Edited 11 hours ago by pi2000

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, pi2000 said:

So the Amerks have finished their semifinal series before Laval/Cleveland have played their 2nd game? Charlotte/Providence haven't even played their first semifinal game.

Strange scheduling.

Welcome to the world of gate revenue driven sports leagues.  We only want to play on weekends and we don't want anyone sitting around TOO long, so we start some series while the other earlier series are still ongoing if we're already at a weekend that otherwise would pass with no games played.

(Know that you already knew that, btw.)

[spndnchz]

Stealth this Vancouver 

[Big Guava]

11 hours ago, inkman said:

I guess you can form a permanent opinion based on a handful of NHL games.  Also, here is NHL Hall of famer’s second stint in the NHL.

0-3 record 

5.08 GAA

.795 Save percentage 

Ryan Miller struggled quite a bit at first as well.  Goaltending is part witchcraft anyway and Levi has an ethereal presence so I’m going to hold out hope until he proves me wrong. 

Not a permanent opinion, but he is going to have to earn more playing time if he wants to stay up with the Sabres.

I have very high hopes for him, but at the end of the day he has to take advantage of the opportunity.

All the seasoning in the AHL should definitely prepare him for that so when he gets his chance again hopefully he takes it and runs with it and never looks back.

[K-9]

6 hours ago, inkman said:

He’s in some HOF just maybe not the one I cited.  

He was inducted into the Amerks Hall of Fame just a few weeks ago. 

[PromoTheRobot]

Looks like the Amerks won't have to wait long. Laval winning 4-0 late. They can close the series Sunday.