By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
For Linus Weissbach, this American Hockey League season will be about showing what he’s capable of doing in a prominent role, that he’s not that far from making the jump to the National Hockey League.
For Isak Rosen, the season will be about adjusting to a new league on a different continent and proving the Buffalo Sabres were correct in drafting him in the first round (14th overall) in 2021.
Both young forwards started the way they hoped as the Rochester Americans opened the season with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Marlies on Friday night.
Weissbach and Rosen each scored one goal and assisted on another while Brett Murray and Chase Priskie also found the net as the Amerks overcame an early 1-0 deficit to post the victory in front of 6,053 fans at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
“It was really fun and a nice atmosphere with all the fans,” said Rosen, a 19-year-old native of Solna, Sweden.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO HERE.
His smile after his goal said it was really fun.
“I was just pumped up to play my first game in the AHL and get on the scoreboard as well,” Rosen said.
With six rookie forwards on the roster (five were in the lineup on Friday), Amerks coach Seth Appert cautioned that there will be growing pains early in the season. And maybe a little beyond that as well.
Newcomers will need time to adjust to the AHL, as well as their new teammates. They’ll need time to process, then implement, what they learn in practice and through trial and error in games.
But there also will be growth spurts, especially considering the talent some of those young players possess.
“All the young forwards have come to the rink every day with a real good attitude,” Appert said. “They’re young and there’s immaturity to their game but they’re coming to learn every day, they’re coming to work every day.
“They’re getting here early, they’re putting in time in the shooting room, they’re watching video with the coaches. I was excited to see some of those young guys, Isak especially, get rewarded.”
Weissbach showed flashes of brilliance last season as a rookie. He produced 16 goals, 21 assists and 37 points in 67 games. But his season ended prematurely when he suffered a concussion in the opening game of the Calder Cup playoffs.
He’s out to build on the foundation of a pro game he built last year. He was reassigned by the Sabres out of training camp last weekend.
“It was fun to be back on the ice,” Weissbach said. “It’s more my own mindset I come down with. I want to make the most of it. I want to be the next guy up.”
His goal 8:27 into the first period erased a 1-0 deficit. Sean Malone’s centering pass for Michael Mersch hit traffic but Malone retrieved it behind the net and moved it in front. Weissbach was at the left edge of the crease to sweep it in.
“Probably the first backhander I’ve scored on in a year,” Weissbach said.
The second-year winger has usually had a pass-first approach. In four years at the University of Wisconsin, he had 34 goals and 80 assists. Now, however, he’s going to take more shots.
“Being more of a shooter first with those areas, not pass up opportunities when you have a good chance to score,” Weissbach said.
Murray put the Amerks ahead at 16:21 of the first period, roofing a shot from the right edge after rookie Jiri Kulich mostly fanned on a pass from Lukas Rousek.
Both first-period goals came on the power-play, as did Rosen’s goal at 17:26 of the second period. The Amerks third goal, by Priskie, was scored while they were killing a penalty.
“The special teams came up huge tonight,” Appert said. “Credit to the players but also credit to my assistant coaches.
“I have two fabulous assistant coaches, Michael Peca and Mike Weber, and they run the special teams. Certainly I have input but those guys are in charge, they take great pride in it and they had the guys dialed in on that tonight.”
“We want to be more aggressive on the penalty kill and it was nice to see us be more aggressive and force the play a little bit more.”
UPL sharp in goal
Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 22 of 24 shots and was especially sharp in the first eight minutes, when the Amerks weren’t good, and the final 10 minutes, when the game, in Appert’s words, “got a little squirrely.”
“He’s stronger, he’s in better condition, so he is less sloppy in his movements in the crease, he can hold position longer because of that, so it was nice to see him get off to a great start,” Appert said.
The rare 18-year-old
Kulich, chosen 28th overall in this year’s NHL draft, is just the fourth 18-year-old assigned to play for the Amerks in franchise history.
The others were defenseman Shawn Anderson in 1986-87, winger Jozef Cierny in 1992-93 and forward Zemgus Girgensons in 2012-13.
There also are three 19-year-olds: Rosen (he turns 20 on March 15), Tyler Kozak (Dec. 29) and Kisakov (Nov. 1).
The Rochester Internationals?
The Amerks roster has a very strong European flavor with four Swedes (Weissbach, Rosen, Lawrence Pilut and Filip Cederqvist); two Finns (Oskari Laaksonen and Luukkonen); two Czechs (Rousek and Kulich) and a Russian (Alesandr Kisakov).
It was a very entertaining first game. It was good to be back. Nice noisy crowd. (same old stuff with the over loud, played too often music…and then unintelligible announcements of goals, penalties and other necessary items) You would think, right, that in this tech age SOMEBODY could figure out how to make the sound work in that building. There have been other events in that building in years past that had zero problems balancing the sound.
Ok, end of that rant. It was mostly a solid effort from everyone. Liked the 3 power play goals. LOVED the short handed goal, which changed a potential 2-2 tie into a 3-1 lead in the pivotal 3rd period. The penalties in the final 3 minutes gave us all some scary moments of blown leads in the past. Fortunately, Toronto took a stupid penalty right after their 2nd opportunity and that was that.
UPL looked sharp and thats how he will have to look this season if he has any sights set on an NHL career. I thought he played a very strong game overall.
I was glad to see the tribute to The Crow.
It was a nice return to the BCA. Hope they complete the sweep this afternoon
postscript: undisciplined play (again) in the 3rd period sink Amerks Saturday 3-1. Can’t expect to win when you take 3 penalties in a row while trying to protect a 1 goal lead. Late 3rd period penalties could have cost Amerks the opener as well. They have to nip this one quickly.