By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
They talked about how this would be the season they’d take the next step, and maybe a giant one at that.
They talked about the balance of experienced veterans and talented youth on defense. They talked about the depth of quality forwards. They talked about focus and pride and opportunity and potential.
This Rochester Americans team talked about how excited they were to start the new season.
It’s too bad talk can’t play.
After a build-up of excitement and promise through training camp and their abbreviated American Hockey League preseason, the Amerks played a dreadful season-opener on Friday night, losing 6-2 to the Charlotte Checkers.
“That’s a good team over there,” Amerks captain Kevin Porter said, “but we made them look like NHL All-Stars.”
And they made Janne Kuokkanen look like Conner McDavid. The second-year center from Finland scored two goals and assisted on two others, setting up the tie-breaking goal in the final minute of the second period before scoring the back-breaking fourth goal 72 seconds into the third.
But it was more than just the turnover that led to the Nicolas Roy goal with 47 seconds left in the second period that gave Charlotte a 3-2 lead. And it was more than the defensive lapse that allowed Kuokkanen to slip behind defensemen Brendan Guhle and Will Borgen for the early third-period goal that created a 4-2 deficit and left Amerks coach Chris Taylor bewildered.
It was the all-around level of uninspired, not-so-smart play.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Taylor said. “The turnovers … we didn’t want to hit anybody … our ‘D’ jumping up out of nowhere … our forwards wouldn’t back up our ‘D.’ ”
Like father, like son. The parent Buffalo Sabres were booed off the ice at KeyBank Center on Thursday night in a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins. The 5,203 fans at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial weren’t as ornery, but they were equally disgusted.
The players were too.
“I don’t think our fans deserve that kind of showing on opening night,” center Kyle Criscuolo said. “Top to bottom we need to be better.”
The transformation must happen overnight, too, since the Amerks and Checkers play again at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in downtown Rochester.
Just what needs to change? Funny you should ask.
“Everything; everything,” Taylor said. “Our compete, our will, our structure, finishing bodies. Everything.”
Taylor talked on Thursday about how his team needed to be better from the opening faceoff in Friday night home games. That was a major problem a year ago.
Nothing has changed. The Amerks fell behind 2-0 in the first period, allowing goals to Kuokkanen and Roland McKeown 35 seconds apart in the 13th minute.
The Amerks did tie the score in the second period. C.J. Smith played sniper just 32 seconds in, then defenseman Larry Pilut scored a power-play goal at 14:59 on a perfectly spotted wrister from the center point.
The rookie defenseman from Sweden showed some true jubilation after his first goal in North America.
“It was nice to score but it would have been even nicer to get a win,” Pilut said. “Now that goal means nothing.”
Leave a Reply