By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
It may have been the craziest 36 hours in Rochester Americans franchise history in terms of player transactions.
- Five players recalled by the parent Buffalo Sabres.
- Four Amerks regulars sidelined by COVID-19 protocol.
- Four players signed to pro tryout contracts – except one couldn’t play because his COVID-19 rapid test taken before departure from Toledo wasn’t so rapid.
- Four other players promoted from ECHL Cincinnati — only two were sent into quarantine because they didn’t pass their COVID tests.
- And a men’s league goalie from Hilton, Bryan Haude, brought in to serve as the emergency backup just in case the only remaining regular goalie, Michael Hauser, was injured.
- Oh, and they also lost their video coach, Kris Young. He, too, was summoned to Buffalo.
All of that left the Amerks with just 16 skaters, two below the norm, with 11 forwards and five defensemen, for Wednesday’s home game against the Providence Bruins.
And it mattered not.
Michael Mersch scored two more goals – bumping his AHL-leading total to 16 — and set up two others as the Amerks out-gutted the Bruins 5-3.
“This embodies what we’ve been trying to be about since we got hired,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “It was all hands on deck.”
Oskari Laaksonen, Brandon Biro and newcomer Ara Nazarian also scored goals as the Amerks – playing for the first time since Dec. 19 – improved to 16-8.
Amazing, really, considering how many regulars were missing from the lineup: four of their top five and seven of their top 10 scorers, plus four of the top six D-men.
“The league is sensitive to these situations,” Appert said. “They don’t want to put any team in a massive competitive disadvantage or in harms way. I think we could have pushed or asked for a cancellation, but our guys wanted to play. And not just the new guys. Our guys were dying to play hockey. They’ve had enough games canceled and we didn’t care what our lineup looked like.”
Their eagerness was evident. Mersch redirected a David Drake point shot 6:20 into the game, and the Amerks carried the 1-0 lead into the second period.
Samuel Asselin tied it 2:51 into the second but Laaksonen restored the lead with a power-play goal 2:07 later.
The lead swelled to 4-1 when Biro and Nazarian scored 49 seconds apart and then the Amerks held on in the third before Mersch’s clinching empty-net goal.
“You go out there and it’s almost like a complete new team,” Mersch said. “You meet guys and then you get to go and play and create memories. That’s what’s fun.”
The first shot of roster absurdity came when the Sabres called up forwards Peyton Krebs, JJ Peterka and Arttu Ruotsalainen, and defensemen Casey Fitzgerald and Ethan Prow. The first four in the list were promoted due to COVID-19 issues for the Sabres while Prow was summoned to join Buffalo’s taxi squad.
Except Prow bypassed standby duty and advanced straight to his first NHL game because Colin Miller is hurt and Jacob Bryson entered COVID-19 protocol.
Meanwhile, back in Rochester, forward Matej Pekar and defensemen Jimmy Schuldt, Mattias Samuelsson and Mitch Eliot tested positive for COVID-19, so they were ruled out. Up from ECHL Cincinnati came forward Lukas Craggs, defensemen Matthew Cairns and Nick Boka and goalie Mat Robson.
Except Boka and Robson tested positive for COVID-19, so they couldn’t play — and more reinforcements were needed. Enter defenseman David Drake (from ECHL Reading) and Butrus Ghafari (ECHL Toledo) along with forwards Jacob Pritchard (Reading) and winger Ara Nazarian (ECHL Jacksonville).
However, even then there were issues. Ghafari had been tested before departure from Toledo but results of his test didn’t come back in time. So while he was included in the Amerks lineup, he was unable to play.
And there was still the issue of a backup goalie. Robson had been called back up to the Amerks because Aaron Dell’s wife, Nicolette, had gone into labor. News of his positive test came around 5 p.m., or barely two hours before game time, Appert said.
The coaching staff turned to the emergency goalie list and signed Bryan Haude of Hilton to an amateur tryout contract. Haude played at SUNY-Geneseo from 2011-12 through 2014-15 and then spent a year in the Federal Prospects Hockey League.
“He’s a bit of a men’s league legend around here,” Appert said.
Normally Young, the video coach, would have filled the emergency role. But his promotion to Buffalo made him unavailable.
It was that kind of 36 hours.
And of course top prospect Jack Quinn is still sidelined by mononucleosis. He hasn’t played since Nov. 27, missing seven games, but he was in the rink watching Wednesday’s game.
Appropriately, three more players joined the Sabres after the game: Laaksonen, Biro and Ryan MacInnis.
“There’s a lot of opportunity out there and I’m just happy to be here,” Nazarian said after playing his first AHL game.
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