DEFENSIVE ADDITIONS PROVIDING STABLILTY ON BLUELINE
Nov 2, 2022By Suzie Cool
At the start of the 2022-23 season, the Rochester Americans had a pretty lethal defensive core. Arguably, one of the best bluelines in the American Hockey League according to Amerks head coach Seth Appert.
The defensive unit originally consisted of five players who had seen time in the National Hockey League and three others that played ample minutes with Rochester in the regular season and playoffs in 2021-22. Now, the Amerks defensive core is a little bit of a different story, yet one the team is familiar with due to an all-too-similar situation last season.
“I think there's a lot of similarities. It's still not as bad as the COVID year, that was a little bit more exciting, but obviously last year it happened a little later in the season,” laughed off Amerks assistant coach Mike Weber when asked if he was having déjà vu from last year. “Midway through our season we were scrambling a little bit but, again, that's the exciting part about being a coach in the American Hockey League.”
After the first three games of the season for Rochester, that’s when the call-ups and injuries began. Defenseman Lawrence Pilut was summoned by the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 20 before defensemen Peter Tischke and Chase Priskie were sidelined with injuries the following weekend. Blueliner Kale Clague shortly followed Pilut to Buffalo the very next week, leaving Rochester with literally four healthy defensemen in Jeremy Davies, Ethan Prow, Oskari Laaksonen and Mitch Eliot as they were headed north of the border to take on the Laval Rocket in a back-to-back set at Place Bell last weekend.
“You have to stay on your toes. You have to have a pulse on who's signed and who hasn't” explained Weber when continuing to discuss the shuffling of Rochester’s defensive makeup. “We have great management with (general manager) Jason Karmanos who’s working hard to find guys and when we find guys it’s our job to get them involved and get them into the systems as quickly as possible to get them up to speed.”
With only four defensemen going into last weekend’s games against Laval, Rochester needed to make moves and they needed to make them fast. On Wednesday, the team brought up defenseman Zach Berzolla from the Cincinnati Cyclones before making two major additions in veterans Brandon Davidson and Mark Bartkowski, both of whom were signed to professional tryouts.
“We’re going after character people over skill a lot of times in different situations. We need character guys here to come in that are willing to do a job and put the team first. Right now, I'm very fortunate to have two of those guys on the back end,” stated Weber when discussing how critical the additions of Davidson and Bartkowski are for the defense.
You may remember we did an in-depth breakdown of the defensive core at the start of the season, but here’s a closer look at the recent additions to the Amerks blueline:
#8 ZACH BERZOLLA
Berzolla was signed to a one-year American Hockey League contract with the Amerks on July 18 and began the 2022-23 campaign with Cincinnati.
“He's competitive as heck,” explained Appert when asked about Berzolla’s style of play. “We really like the physicality and the nastiness that he brings to our team. So that's what he's going to add.
Though Berzolla started the season with the Cyclones, he only managed to get into one game and registered one point on an assist before he was called upon by Rochester.
In 2021-22, Berzolla spent a majority of the campaign with the Jacksonville Icemen, logging a career-high 17 assists and 20 points in 51 games. While Berzolla skated in eight playoff games with the Icemen, he also appeared in eight contests with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Prior to turning pro, the young defenseman finished a four-year collegiate career at Colorado College, posting 23 points on four goals and 19 assists in 133 games.
#43 MATT BARTKOWSKI
Bartkowski met the team in Laval on Saturday, immediately singing his PTO and being thrown into the lineup that very same afternoon.
“Barts is a solid veteran guy that has played a lot of games, whether it be in the National League or American League,” commented Weber when asked what Bartkowski adds to Rochester’s defensive core. “He just brings a sense of stability to our young kids that we have right now.”
Bartkowski joined the Amerks after appearing in 72 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2021-22. In addition to recording four goals and 12 assists during the regular season, he also skated in six Calder Cup Playoff contests, scoring one goal.
The veteran AHLer has totaled 140 points on 24 goals and 116 assists in 429 career AHL games with the Providence Bruins, Iowa Wild and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while also adding 48 points on 8 goals and 40 assists over 256 NHL contests with the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Minnesota Wild, winning his only Stanley Cup with Bruins in 2011.
Bartkowski was originally drafted in seventh round (190th overall) by the Florida Panthers in the 2008 NHL Draft.
#88 BRANDON DAVIDSON
Davidson was yet another PTO that was signed last week and met the Amerks in Laval to take on the Rocket. And yes, Davidson was immediately manning the blueline for Rochester upon his return.
“I like coaching a team that he's (Davidson) part of,” said Appert as he discussed his reunion with the veteran blueliner. “He's such a winner of a hockey player. He's a winning hockey player. He is a winner of a person. He's a great teammate. Just getting to see him and give him a big hug was awesome.”
Davidson is returning for his third season with Amerks after appearing in 25 games with the team since the start of the 2020-21 season. In addition to recording one goal and five assists in 2021-22, Davidson skated in six Calder Cup Playoff contests during the Amerks’ run to the North Division Finals.
In his professional career, Davidson has totaled 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists in 183 career NHL games with Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, and San Jose Sharks while also adding 55 points (16+39) over 215 AHL contests with Rochester, Stockton Heat, Rockford IceHogs and Oklahoma City Barons.
Davidson was originally drafted in sixth round (162nd overall) by the Oilers in the 2010 NHL Draft.
While all three of these “new” additions bring their own amount of ample experience on the ice, the message is clear from the coaching staff and management – they’re going after character players and people when looking to add to the roster.