A SPECIAL SEASON SHARED BY MANY
Jun 6, 2023By Warren Kosel
Michael Mersch walked into a packed media room following his team’s season-ending loss on Friday uneasy at the thought of having to address the 25 or so reporters at a time when he most certainly would rather be consoling his teammates.
Or perhaps even left alone.
And who could possibly blame him, either? After all, he’s human just like the rest of us.
But ultimately, he did, and not because he wanted to, but because he had to. And as the team captain, he had a responsibility to do so.
After a few minutes to decompress and get in the right frame of mind, Mersch, the consummate professional that he is, mustered up the strength that not many would be able to do in a similar situation. Mersch approached the podium, removed the hood to his sweatshirt covering his eyes and raised his head in preparation of the first question.
The unsettling part, however, was that while the veteran forward stood seemingly at a loss of words, the commotion of the Hershey Bears, who just defeated the Amerks to move onto the Calder Cup Finals, receiving the Richard F. Canning Trophy as the American Hockey League’s Eastern Conference champions, bellowed through the back hallway that is shared by both teams.
“Yeah, it’s tough, when you look at the big picture especially,” said Mersch, who was visibly trying to hold back the emotions brought on by the unceremonious end of what was the team’s most impressive and deepest playoff run in 23 years. “But you take a step back, which is kind of hard to do right now, and you look at everything from September, training camp to where we are now. For us to be where we are today is pretty special…we just came up a little short.”
“Special” has been the word that many in the organization have used when looking back on the season since the team’s Game 6 loss to Hershey on Friday. Special in the way the season itself unfolded, special in how the team came together in the second half of the season and the immense brotherhood forged along the way, and special in the culture and the buy-in from the players, the latter of which has been a key cog in the rebuild of the organization from top to bottom.
But more importantly, the Amerks gave the city of Rochester and its loyal, championship-starved fan base something special to be a part of. Something bigger than the game and bigger than themselves. Something the players and fans alike were able to share together.
“From a fan standpoint, it was unbelievable to play in front of them throughout the year and in the playoffs and the support they gave us. In the AHL, you sometimes don’t get that type of environment and the level of support we did, so I’m so grateful for that," said Mersch.
And it didn’t come easy, either. Four months ago, Rochester was on the outside looking in when it came to fighting for a playoff spot. Amerks head coach Seth Appert has said repeatedly that the team has had its back against the wall since February, and since then, has risen to the occasion numerous times.
After losing three straight to close out the month of January, the resilient Amerks closed out the regular season going 14-8-4-2, earning points in 20 of their final 28 games to finish tied for second in the AHL’s North Division standings.
Rochester needed a win over Cleveland in the regular season finale to avoid the best-of-three play-in round and did so.
Then, after dropping their first two games of the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Amerks rattled off seven straight wins to complete the series comeback over the Syracuse Crunch before sweeping the top-seeded Toronto Marlies, who finished nine points ahead of Rochester during the regular season.
That, of course, set up the Eastern Conference Finals showdown with the Hershey Bears in a battle of the league’s two cornerstone franchises. The Amerks came within two wins of advancing to the Calder Cup Finals for the first time since 2000 and were still playing hockey in June for the first time in 23 years. They were 4-1 during the playoffs when facing elimination.
Looking back, the Amerks covered a lot of ground to get to where they were and accomplished all this with an ever-changing roster that featured eight rookies playing in the postseason.
Defenseman Lawrence Pilut, who returned for his second stint with the Amerks, was visibly emotional on the ice afterwards. He expressed how proud he was of this year’s team and his gratitude for having the opportunity to be a part of it.
“You’re just thankful for all the guys in the room,” said the two-time AHL All-Star selection, who was also fighting back tears. “I’m so proud to be a part of this team and proud of everyone in that room. It was a long time ago I was part of such an unbelievable team and the fans were great. It was just really cool to see throughout the playoffs how this (the playoff run) really bonded the city of Rochester and I’m just really grateful to have been a part of it.”
But the loss against Hershey also brings about the firm realization that another season has come to an end and that this would be the last time this particular group would be together again, something Appert admits hurts more than the loss itself.
“You want to win the Calder Cup, obviously, but it’s probably less that and more that I won’t get to coach this team again,” said Appert. “That’s the reality. This group, this particular group of men, it’ll change next year. A lot of them are back, the prospects and some of our core veterans we have signed, but it changes.”
“When I look back at this group, it’ll bring a smile to my face how much they loved playing for each other, how much fun they were to coach, the attitude and the work ethic they came to the rink with every day, and then just the immense growth of the team,” continued Appert. “They had to fight really hard to become a team that really played the right way, loved playing for each other, and loved being Amerks. But we grew to that, and I’m incredibly proud of them.”
The Amerks truly did something special this season, unifying a city and its fans that have been waiting nearly two decades for the return of its storied hockey team to prominence. An organization, whose rich history spans seven decades, and for years revered and respected for its success in the American Hockey League, is once again at the top.
“I’m proud of what this group fought to become,” finished Appert.
So, too, is all of Rochester.