APPERT: 'YOU WANT TO IMPOSE YOUR OWN WILL AGAINST YOUR OPPONENTS'
Amerks need to take advantage of a weakened and depleted Monsters team
Dec 1, 2022By Suzie Cool
Yesterday the Rochester Americans hit the road for a rare road trip that spans over four days in the same city. Tonight, and Saturday, the Amerks take on the Cleveland Monsters with an extra day in between games.
“I don’t know about fun activities, the guys do those things, but it’ll be nice to be on the road and not have a lot of travel in between,” joked Amerks head coach Seth Appert when asked what he has planned outside of hockey when in Cleveland this week.
Recently, the Amerks schedule has been slammed with three-in-four action and really random travel that has had the team getting into their hotels in the late hours of the morning. It’s been a tough stretch, especially after the holiday weekend and a quick trip to Lehigh Valley this past Saturday that landed the guys in their hotels at 3 a.m. and then back home around the same time just 24 hours later.
“Our schedule has been pretty demanding in the last three weeks,” said Appert when explaining Rochester’s vigorous schedule as of late. “We got into Allentown at like 3:30-3:45 in the morning, which that means that's about the same time you're getting back Saturday night. So, those are demanding trips. This is a four-hour trip, but it's one stop and there's a day in between games. There's more time to really focus in on our game. There's more time to spend with each other.”
Appert and his team are happy about that extra day in-between games with how well Cleveland has started off the 2022-23 campaign.
Currently, the Monsters sit in third place in the North Division with a 9-6-0-2 overall record, which is just two points back from the Amerks in the standings. Cleveland comes into tonight’s matchup without two of its top point-getters in forwards Trey Fix-Wolanksy and Carson Meyers, both of whom are on recall to the parent Columbus Blue Jackets.
However, the Monsters forward group is still lethal with wingers Emil Bemstrom and Kirill Marchenko in the mix.
“They have a really good team,” discussed Appert when asked what Cleveland does well collectively. “Cleveland’s got a really good forward group. Their D core is a little beat up right now, but their forward group is outstanding. There’s a lot of high-end skill. They seem to do a really good job at getting teams to play their style. Everybody has their own style, and you want to impose your own will against your opponents.”
Additionally, the Monsters just signed former Amerks defenseman Brandon Davidson to an AHL deal on Tuesday.
Rochester and Cleveland have matched up once this season back on Nov. 11 at The Blue Cross Arena. However, despite four different skaters recording multi-point efforts, including rookie forwards Filip Cederqvist and Aleksandr Kisakov, the Amerks couldn’t hold off a late push by the Monsters as Cleveland took home a 6-5 overtime win in the first meeting between the teams this season.
“We’ve got to manage the puck better against them than we did that night,” explained Appert when discussing what the Amerks need to dial in on against the Monsters this time around. “We turned too many pucks over, that’s going to be a big key against them. When you turn pucks over to a team that wants to go on offense, you’re in big trouble.”
Rochester boasts a 36-16-5-4 record against Cleveland over the last 10 years, while earning at least one point in 24 of the last 35 games overall. Including last season’s 5-5-0-0 mark, the Amerks have posted a .500 winning percentage or better against the monsters in four of the eight seasons dating back to 2007-08.
“They’re a really explosive, offensive team and we know we’re going to have two really, really tough games for us,” finished Appert when discussing the Amerks meetings against Cleveland this week.
Tonight’s matchup is the first between Rochester and the Monsters at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Amerks road trip then wraps up on Saturday against Cleveland. Both puck drops are slated for 7 p.m. and will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.