AARON DELL'S TOP THREE MOMENTS OF THE 2021-22 SEASON
Jun 26, 2022By Suzie Cool
Going into the 2021-22 season, the Rochester Americans knew that goaltending was going to be of importance for a young team. While the team has all the faith in the world in top prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, it’s no surprise the Buffalo Sabres wanted to bring in a veteran-minded player like Aaron Dell to help hold down the fort.
From coming to the Sabres organization, to helping some of the top prospects in the league and thrilling overtime affairs Dell saw it all this season. It’s only fitting we take a look back at some of Dell’s top moments from the 2021-22 campaign.
WELCOME TO THE SABRES
After appearing in 114 games in the National Hockey League and combining for a 49-39-12 record, Dell was signed to a one-year contract with the Sabres heading into the 2021-22 campaign.
“It was a good opportunity,” stated Dell when asked what ultimately helped him decide on the Buffalo organization headed into the year. “They had a lot of open spots for goalies and having Rochester close enough to drive back and forth was a big key as well.”
With his combined .283 goals-against average in the NHL and .906 save percentage that he racked up over six years and two teams, Dell spent a majority of his 10-year career with the San Jose Sharks. After years with the Sharks, Dell appeared in 107 games.
Dell then spent the condensed 2020-21 season in the New Jersey Devils pipeline, going 1-5-0 with a .857 save percentage in New Jersey and appearing in just one game with the Binghamton Devils.
So why come to Buffalo?
Dell was offered the opportunity to make an impact, not just with the Sabres, but for the Amerks as well. Something that was really important to the veteran netminder entering into this last season.
“There was talk of playing for both teams, going up and down and stuff like that. So, that was a factor and the teams being close together was definitely really important to me.”
WATCH: AARON DELL YEAR-END INTERVIEW
LEADING THE OFFENSE
While Dell was most certainly brought into the organization to help lead in the crease, it was fun to watch him help the Amerks in other areas of the game. For example, the offense when it came to young players like rookie forwards Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka.
“I can give them a different perspective on things that they see,” explained Dell when asked how he can help out young offensive-minded players. “When say they have a breakaway, or something like that, I can be like, ‘This what I'm thinking on this play. So, if you do this and do that, then that's going to change the way I have to think about it,’ and that kind of gives them that different perspective on how to score goals.”
We saw Dell’s guidance come to life in the Amerks’ shootout win over the Utica Comets on Apr. 29. During the second period, Peterka completed his second hat trick of the month as he converted on a penalty shot after being hauled down from behind while on a breakaway.
Prior to taking the penalty shot, though, Peterka went and asked Dell for some advice on what he should do. Dell gave Peterka his opinion and we all saw what happened after. An 8-1 win for the Amerks over the Comets during their final regular season finale.
AMERKS POSTSEASON IRON MAN
Aaron Dell was incredible during the Calder Cup Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/lIbsTyrHAY
— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) June 25, 2022
Speaking of that last regular season matchup of the 2021-22 campaign, fellow goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen sustained an injury after 11:56 of play. Meaning that Luukkonen was out with a lower-body injury heading into the Amerks 2022 Calder Cup Playoff run.
Who does the team look to to take the brunt of the work in the crease for the postseason? In the playoffs, Dell went on to start all 10 matchups for Rochester, going 5-5 overall.
However, let’s not forget the extra workload that came with these 10 games. Five of the Amerks playoff contests went into overtime, with the final game going into three extra frames of hockey. That’s close to 140 extra minutes of playing time, with minimal days off between games.
When asked if Dell was finally recovered from the triple overtime affair against the Laval Rocket on May 25 he answered with, “Just about.”
In the postseason, Dell went on to combine for a 3.54 goals-against average in 627 minutes in the crease. At the time of the Amerks departure from the playoffs, Dell’s 278 saves and five wins were ranked first among qualified goaltenders in the postseason.