GAMEDAY NOTES AND QUOTES: AMERKS ‘FOCUSING ON IDENTITY’ AHEAD OF GAME AGAINST BRUINS
Dec 22, 2023
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (12-9-2-1) play their final home game ahead of the annual Christmas break when they host the Providence Bruins (13-11-2-2) at Blue Cross Arena Friday night.
After being on the wrong side of Wednesday’s 5-3 final against Cleveland, the Amerks have gone 2-5-0-1 over their last eight games. Providence sustained a 7-3 loss against Toronto that same night and have dropped four straight, going 0-3-1-0 over that span.
“When I watch Providence and I look at their roster, I don’t see a team that’s struggling,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. “Maybe they’re not getting the results they want for one reason or another the last week or so, but that’s a really strong lineup with high-end older players with really good young players. They’ve got a defense core with massive NHL experience. I see a team that’s very dangerous and looks very good in their play.”
LIFE WITHOUT KULICH
Amerks forward and leading scorer Jiri Kulich is heading back to the World Junior Championships. For a third straight season, Kulich will represent the U20 Czechia team as his country is represented in the Group B bracket that will begin competition in Gothenburg, Sweden the day after Christmas.
“I think this year was a harder decision for him,” said Appert on Kulich going to World Juniors. “Last year, he needed it. He missed home and he needed to feel that connection back to home. He’s a young kid. This year, he’s growing up, but that national pride is important. We told him we were going to support him with whatever he decided. He’s probably their best player. You don’t know how many times you’re going to get to wear that national jersey and it means a ton.”
Kulich has led the way for Rochester with 16 goals and 22 points over 23 games. The Kadan, Czechia, native leads the league in goals with 16, including four in overtime, also an AHL-best.
“It’s a huge honor for him,” said Amerks captain Michael Mersch. “I know he’s super excited to represent his country and hopefully be a leader on that team. I think it’s a great opportunity for him to grow both as a person and as a player.”
“I’ve been fortunate to represent our country from a coaching perspective,” said Appert. “It’s one of the greatest honors I’ve ever had in my life. When a player gets that opportunity, I think it’s something he’ll cherish for the rest of his life.”
BRACE FOR VIOLENCE
With Kulich’s absence, forward Damien Giroux has found room for himself in the lineup. Like many throughout the season, Giroux has been a part of the group that have had that next-man-up mentality.
“You have to be prepared for these situations,” said Giroux. “With pro hockey, you learn pretty quick that a lot can happen from one game to the next. I was fortunate enough with Iowa to learn that and I think it’s helped me a lot the first few months here. Everyone has done a great job of being prepared. A lot of guys have come in and out of the lineup and everyone has done a good job of pulling their own weight.”
“This is an opportunity for someone to get a chance that maybe they’re not getting or finding themselves on the ice in a position they normally wouldn’t,” said Mersch when asked about the next-man-up mentality. “We have good depth on our team. Giroux pops to mind. It’s exciting to see guys rise to the challenge when their name is called upon.”
Giroux will share a line with Brendan Warren. In the past, Appert has used words like grit, tenacious, and violent when describing the two Rochester forwards. Now they’ll have a chance to bring that to the ice simultaneously.
“They have identities as players,” said Mersch. “I think I can speak for everybody on our team when I say you want to play with guys that win battles and play hard. That allows you to have the puck more often on your team’s sticks. Those types of guys can tilt the ice in your favor. They get your team energized.”
“Me and War Dog (Warren) were actually talking about it this morning,” said Giroux. “We love to play with high intensity and finish our hits. We want to make it as hard as possible for the opposition. We’re just going to have some fun out there and try to outwork each other, basically.”
FOCUS IS INTERNAL
While the Amerks are looking for a bounce-back performance and pre-scouting Providence, the team knows its solution to cure this recent slump will be found within.
“We did pre-scout this morning, but we really want to focus on our identity and what we need to do,” said Mersch. “You look at their lineup and there’s obviously a lot of good players on their team, but we have a lot of good players, too. They’re in a similar spot to where we are in the standings, but from my perspective, we need to focus on what we need to do tonight to find success and play to our identity.”
Following Wednesday’s loss, multiple Amerks drew comparisons from last year’s season to this one in which the team hit a bump along the way but came out on the other side of it. From Jan. 4 to Feb. 24, Rochester went 6-11-1-0 over a 19-game stretch, before turning things in its favor on its way to a playoff berth and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Appert believes it can be comparable, pending the players do one thing in particular:
“If you learn your lessons along the way, it’s a benefit. Adversity and failure lead to growth if you learn your lessons through the adversity and failure. Teaching lessons and learning lessons are different. We can teach them, but until you improve on those things, you haven’t actually learned them.”