By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
Jason Pominville and Val James, players that made a lasting mark in Rochester Americans history, will be honored by the franchise on Friday night with enshrinement into the Amerks Hall of Fame.
James, now 65, was one of the most feared players in the game in the 1980s, playing the role of enforcer in an era when fighting was almost as commonplace as goals.
But his impact on the game went far beyond what he did on the ice. James, a native of Ocala, Fla., also helped break hockey’s color barrier, becoming the first American-born Black player not only to wear an Amerks sweater but also to play in National Hockey League.
“This is an incredible honor as I spent some amazing years with the Amerks,” James told the Amerks upon learning the news last fall. “The Amerks organization is top notch, and the fans were always there for me. I have nothing but great memories of my teammates and coaches, and am forever grateful for my time in Rochester.”
Pominville, meanwhile, became a prolific scorer with the Amerks in the early/mid 2000s, twice reaching the 30-goal plateau in his three-plus seasons. He’s the only Amerks player in the past 30 years to post back-to-back 30-goal seasons, scoring 34 in 2003-04 and 30 the following year when the AHL was the best league on the planet due to the NHL lockout.
Still, he needed to produce at better than a goal-a-game pace the following season (19 goals in 18 games) before the parent Buffalo Sabres were convinced he could help them.
He was promoted in November and more than proved he could be a very valuable NHLer. In 1,060 regular season games for the Sabres and Minnesota Wild, the Repentigny, Quebec, native produced 293 goals, 434 assists and 727 points, along with 21-30-51 in 81 Stanley Cup playoff games.
Which immediately brings us to the What Could Have Been.
In that 2005-06 season, the Sabres decided to share their AHL affiliation in Rochester with the Florida Panthers. As the season was about to begin and NHL teams made their final cuts after training camp, Pominville was sent to Rochester by the Sabres.
As a fourth-year veteran, however, he was required to clear waivers before he could play in Rochester. Jack Birch, who oversaw the Panthers operations in Rochester, had seen enough of the hard-shooting right winger the past three seasons to know Pominville could play in the NHL. He suggested to then-Florida general manager Mike Keenan that the Panthers put in a claim.
Though tempted, Keenan declined, noting that the Sabres were nice enough to allow Florida to put players in Rochester. As invited guests, he didn’t want to anger Buffalo management a month into the arrangement. But, he said if Pominville ever went on waivers again, the Panthers would take him.
“When you think about what might have happened, it’s crazy,” the 40-year-old Pominville said. “But I’m happy they didn’t. Things turned out pretty well.”
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JOE TERRITO HERE.
Indeed, he played 14 NHL seasons and helped the Sabres reach the Eastern Conference finals in back-to-back seasons (2005-06 and ’06-07), scoring one of the most memorable playoff goals of the era.
His overtime goal in Game 5 of the second-round series eliminated the Ottawa Senators, pushed the Sabres into the conference finals and prompted legendary broadcaster Rick Jeanneret to bellow one of his most famous calls: “Now do you believe, now do you believe; these guys are good, scary good.”
“You always remember your first goal, your first hat trick, things like that,” Pominville said. “But that goal is definitely No. 1 on the list.
“How can you beat scoring a playoff goal, in overtime, and against Ottawa, who we had a pretty good rivalry with. It was kind of my, ‘I’m here, I’m in, I’m here to stay’ moment.”
He knows that moment was possible because of the time he spent in Rochester.
“When you go to camp in Buffalo you always want to play in the NHL,” Pominville said. “But coming to Rochester wasn’t a disappointment. I looked at it as, ‘What do I need to do to get better?’ I wanted to force them to give me a chance.”
He thought that chance would come after producing 34-30-64 in 66 games during the 2003-04 season. But the lockout wiped out the 2004-05 NHL season.
“It was probably the best thing for me,” Pominville said. “Darcy (Regier, the general manager) and Lindy (Ruff, the Sabres coach) were at games all the time. It was good for all of us to get seen in that environment.”
Which, Pominville believes, is why Ruff trusted him in key situations the following year in Buffalo, like in Game 5 at Ottawa.
“I think Lindy had confidence to put me in those situations because he saw us play so much the year before and have success. Here it was, a D-zone faceoff, and he puts two rookies, me and Roysie (Derek Roy) out to kill a penalty in overtime.”
Pominville lives in suburban Montreal and is coaching hockey as part of a Sport and Study program. Kids attend school through the morning, then come to the rink for workouts, yoga and hockey.
He also coaches his son’s Bantam team this year, and his father, Jean (a former minor league goalie) is his assistant. Last year, as PeeWees, Pominville’s team won the prestigious Quebec International PeeWee Tournament and son Jayden was one of the players.
“As a kid representing the Montreal Canadiens, I went to the tournament but we lost our two games so we were done right away,” Pominville said. “Now my little guy is chirping me. Every time I tell him, ‘Go do your homework’ or ‘It’s time to go to bed,’ he says, ‘How many games did you win in Quebec?’ ”
Two very deserving players to join the Amerks HOF. They are becoming few and farther between as most players don’t hang around the ‘A’ more than a season or two at most, if they are any good, it seems. Score a hat trick and boom…you’re in the NHL!
Sometimes too soon. Jury is out on JJ and Quinn this season. Both have only 7 goals and only 1 between them over the last 17 or 18 games. Wonder if Sabres might consider sending them back here for a brief refresher during the allstar break?
I remember watching Val James incredibly score the Cup winning goal in 1983. My wife and I were packing for an insurance convention in Arizona and I recall saying, ‘I really hope they win it tonite so I won’t miss anything’. Fans loved Val James.
Since Pominville, Amerks can’t ice a 30 goal scorer. He was a pleasure to watch. I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t fill the BCA to honor those two. Perhaps if the Amerks were playing decent hockey, it might have factored in…but 6,500 was a touch light I thought. I know they play again tomorrow but that Saturday crowd will be smaller.
As for the game…all I can say is you rarely win when you only play 20 minutes.