FLU BUG WREAKS HAVOC ON AMERKS GOALTENDERS
Nov 15, 2022By Suzie Cool
Rochester Americans goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has started off the 2022-23 campaign strong for the team.
Going 6-3-0 through his first 10 starts of the season, the Amerks netminder is tied for first in the league with his six wins while his 527:12 in the crease ranks fourth. Additionally, Lukkonen has stopped 98 of the 108 shots he’s faced this season after the second period, which includes 49 of 52 in his last four outings.
Not a bad start for the fourth-year pro, arguably, the best of his pro career.
“He (Luukkonen) had a great summer. We've talked about that,” commented Amerks head coach Seth Appert when asked how Luukkonen has been able to steady the ship for Rochester this season. “He’s in phenomenal physical condition, so that helps. His habits keep getting better. Seamus Kotyk, our goaltending development coach, does a fabulous job with him and he's got an elite work ethic.”
So, what happens when Luukkonen isn’t available to start for Rochester?
Well, the team would’ve looked to goaltender Malcom Subban, who signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Buffalo Sabres. However, Subban hasn’t been an option for the Amerks all season after facing an injury in the team’s second preseason matchup of the year against the Utica Comets.
As a result, the Amerks again turned to the always-reliable Michael Houser, who’s been an absolute rock for the entire organization over the last two seasons and re-signed a one-year American Hockey League deal with the Amerks over the summer.
If it weren’t for Subban’s preseason injury, more than likely, Houser would’ve started the season with the Cincinnati Cyclones, helping Rochester whenever needed. However, Houser was needed much sooner than expected and has gone on to appear in four games with the Amerks this season, going 1-1-0 over that span and registering a .913 save percentage.
Again, not bad for Houser who’s so used to be being called upon whenever he’s needed after the last two seasons.
Now, what happens if Subban is inching closer to coming back and then falls ill to the flu? On top of Luukkonen also getting the flu and being out of the lineup? On top of Houser making it 41:14 into last Friday’s game against the Cleveland Monsters and then also falling victim to this year’s flu bug?
Well, the Amerks have no choice but to call upon Cincinnati at some point, which they did prior to Friday’s game, and netminder Beck Warm had to make the seven-hour trek from Cincy to the Flower City. Finally arriving at The Blue Cross Arena well after puck-drop, little did Warm know he didn’t have much time before he’d be making his Amerks debut, which would turn into an overtime affair.
While Rochester fell short in Beck’s first game with the team, the 6-5 overtime loss was the least of the Amerks concerns heading into Saturday.
Directly after Friday’s game against Cleveland, Rochester boarded a bus to head north of the border to take on the Belleville Senators in less than 24 hours.
Which then led to the question of, which goaltenders, if any, will be traveling to take on the Senators?
“You don’t,” laughed Appert when asked how he set a game plan going into Saturday’s game against Belleville. “You hope that five more guys don't go down with that (the flu) is what you're really hoping. That was wild to lose three goalies in 15 hours, or whatever it was, and credit to Beck Warm. We got a hold of Beck after morning skate (on Friday), he had a seven-hour drive, because there's no flights that would got him here in time, and he rolled in at 7:01 and jumped on the bench. It's a really tough way to go into your first game but then what a response by Beck on Saturday.”
Warm traveled with the team to Belleville, however, Luukkonen, Subban and Houser did not so that the flu didn’t run rampant throughout the Amerks locker room. With Warm being the only healthy available goalie, this of course meant the team was in need of another netminder, one that could be in Belleville by game time on Saturday.
Or there’s the second option of bringing in an emergency backup goaltender that was local to the Belleville area. Faced with no other alternative, the Amerks took the latter route, signing netminder Leif Hertz to an amateur tryout (ATO) ahead of Saturday’s game.
“Seamus (Kotyk), our goaltending development coach and scout, does a great job. He really helped out by finding Leif Hertz, a Canadian university goaltender, so we could have a capable back-up,” said Appert when talking about last weekend’s goaltending predicament.
Despite the struggles the Amerks may have faced in net, the team still managed to go 1-0-1-1 over last week’s efforts, keeping them in second place in the AHL’s North Division. The most important takeaway for Rochester was still managing to muster up valuable standings points no matter the roster fluctuation they were facing over a 15-hour period.
The Amerks are back in action this Friday for Hockey Fights Cancer Night, and for the second time this month, they’ll host the Utica Comets in the front-end of a home-and-home series at The Blue Cross Arena.
The Amerks are one of 17 AHL clubs supporting the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative and will wear special lavender-colored jerseys that will be auctioned off to benefit Cancer Support Community at Gilda’s Club this Friday. Lavender, the official color of Hockey Fights Cancer, represents all forms of cancer.
The online auction, powered by DASH, a sport-focused online auction platform and partner of the Amerks, is currently open for bidding and will run through 10:00 p.m. the night of the game. Winners will be contacted directly.
To access the auction, visit www.amerks.com/auction, or text “DASH” to 66866, click on the download link and install DASH on your mobile device. Fans can then create their own personal profile and select the Amerks as their favorite team to start bidding.
Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.