APPERT: "IT'S MICHAEL HOUSER, SO YOU KNOW HE'S GOING TO BE SHARP"

APPERT:

Feb 22, 2023

By Suzie Cool

 

“It's Michael Houser, so you just know he's always going to be (sharp),” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert after the Rochester Americans’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday afternoon.

 

Appert is right. No matter when Houser is thrown into the lineup, the goaltender is sharp and ready to go, and he put that skillset on perfect display this past weekend.

 

Since the turn of the New Year, Houser has appeared in just four games for the Amerks, two of which came this past Friday and Saturday. During the Amerks first three-in-three of the 2022-23 campaign, Houser helped Rochester gain three points in the North Division standings with a win and an overtime loss along with combining for 50 saves over the course of the weekend.

 

“Usually, the first one's a little tougher than the second one,” commented Houser when asked how tough it was to stay sharp when not being in the lineup all the time. “I think both games I felt pretty good, but when you start playing more and more, you start getting into a little bit of a better rhythm and, I think, any goalie would say that just comes with the position.”

 

 

This isn’t something that is new to the 11^th-year pro.

 

Last season, Houser bounced around from the top to the bottom of the Buffalo Sabres organization. While the Amerks netminder split most of the campaign with the Amerks and Cincinnati Cyclones, combining to go 11-13-1 in 29 appearances between the two clubs, Houser also appeared in seven playoff games with Rochester and Cincinnati, showing a 2-2-1 record in the 2022 postseason.

 

Originally, Houser was signed to an AHL contract with Rochester to begin the 2021-22 season but finished the campaign on an NHL contract with Buffalo for the second consecutive year. In two appearances with the Sabres in 2021-22, Houser posted a pair of wins to go with a .948 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average.

 

And that’s the beauty of Houser. He’s going to give you his all no matter where he’s at. That’s exactly how Appert feels when getting to call Houser’s name on the lineup sheet.

“When a coach writes your name in the lineup, what you really want (as a coach) more than great play, you want to feel good about what's going to happen when you call his name. When you call Michael Houser's name, you know he's going to compete his tail off. You know he's going to be an unbelievable teammate. You know he's going to battle whether it's a good game or a bad game.”

 

Again, Houser continues to give strong performances no matter where he’s making the start between the pipes.

 

Rewind all the way back to the condensed 2020-21 campaign and that’s when you probably first remember hearing of Houser and his incredible ascension through the professional ranks. In a combined eight games between the Sabres and Amerks that season, Houser posted an overall 3-5-0 record between the clubs. After going 2-2-0 in four starts with the Sabres, Houser went on to earn the start in each of Rochester’s final four games of the shortened campaign – including three games in three nights – finishing the year with 110 saves to go along with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

 

To add a cherry on top of his storybook season in 2020-21, Houser made history in the Sabres organization.

 

 

After earning his first NHL win with a 34-save effort in his NHL debut in Buffalo’s 4-2 victory over the N.Y. Islanders on May 3, 2021, Houser became the second Sabre during the condensed campaign season to earn a win in his NHL debut, joining Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and just the seventh goaltender in franchise history to win his first career start. Additionally, it marked just the third time in Sabres team history, and first since 1976-77 (Don Edwards and Bob Sauve), that the team had two goaltenders win their NHL debuts in the same season.

 

With Rochester this year, Houser has appeared in 13 games, going 5-5-1 over that span. In 713 minutes between the pipes this year, Houser has combined for a 3.11 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage.

 

“He's (Houser) going to give you his all, all the time,” finished Appert. “So, you feel good with that and you take your chances when to win or lose with that…that’s why he's had so much success here and is why he's had such a long career.”

 

Houser and the Amerks are back in action on Friday, Feb. 24 against the Laval Rocket to kick-off a stretch of six games over a nine-day span. Rochester’s 7:05 p.m. face-off against the Rocket will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV and the CW Rochester.