GAMEDAY NOTES AND QUOTES: ATLANTIC ROAD TRIP CONTINUES IN HARTFORD
Cooley expected to make second straight start, Giroux earning his spot
Dec 15, 2023
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (11-7-2-1) look for points in consecutive road games when they face-off against the Hartford Wolf Pack (15-5-3-0) Friday night at XL Center.
The Wolf Pack enter Friday with points in eight of their last 10 games. Hartford ranks second in their division and third across the AHL with 33 points.
“They’re excellent,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. “They’re well coached, well structured, and they have a loaded lineup. That’s a dangerous combination. They’ve got some high-end, young skill with guys like Adam Sykora and Brennan Othmann and they’re mixed in with some high-end, elite older American Hockey League players like Alex Belzile and Riley Nash. There are not many weaknesses and there’s a lot of strengths, so this is going to be a heck of a challenge.”
STAYING (WITH) COOL
Amerks goaltender Devin Cooley is expected to start his second consecutive game Friday night in Hartford. The Los Gatos, California, native is in his fourth professional season, owning a 4-2-2 record. Cooley recorded 38 saves and helped Rochester earn a standings point in the teams’ 4-3 shootout loss to Springfield on Wednesday. This is the second time this season that Cooley will start two games in a row.
“He was good,” said Appert. “He approaches practice and goalie sessions that it’s like a game. He’s extremely competitive in practice and holds himself to a very high standard. There were times earlier in the season where he may have been fighting it a little bit, but part of that was us not being good enough defensively as well. I knew he was going to find his game because he works too hard. Players that invest that amount of time on the ice, but also off the ice into their game eventually get it in a good spot.”
NICO TIME
Rookie defenseman Nicolas Savoie will appear in his second game as an Amerk this season. The 21-year-old blue liner signed a two-way contract with Rochester in the offseason, but has spent the bulk of his campaign in ECHL-Jacksonville, where Savoie scored a goal and has five points through 18 games.
Though Savoie is new to the pro game, the Moncton, New Brunswick, native believes his experience in major junior has helped him get acclimated to this new level.
“I think it especially helped late last season on our way to the Memorial Cup,” said Savoie. “You were playing against really talented players in the playoffs, and in this league it’s all high-caliber players, so I think that really helped me.”
“Nico’s had a good start to his young career in Jacksonville,” said Appert. “Now there’s an opportunity to show his talents at this level. He’s a mobile, puck-moving defender that’s good at taking space away and is willing to block shots. He was the captain of a Memorial Cup team, so he has those traits of being a competitor and doing whatever it takes to get your team to win in hard moments.”
BIG GAME GIROUX
Damien Giroux was a late addition to the Amerks lineup on Wednesday, but the fourth-year pro was ready to go. Slotted on a line with captain Michael Mersch and Mason Jobst, Giroux scored two goals for his first multi-goal game as an Amerk.
“That’s the beauty of pro hockey,” said Giroux. “You never know what’s going to happen from one moment to the next, so you always have to be ready. The staff here do a great job of keeping everyone prepared and I was just fortunate to take advantage of my opportunity.”
Giroux occupied a spot that typically belongs to Brett Murray, but with the veteran Amerk called-up to Buffalo, Giroux was given a chance to shine with two of Rochester’s top players.
“Those two are super easy to play with. They’re two very intelligent players. I was just trying to be a sponge out there, trying to absorb as much information as I can from those two. They made it easy and I’m super thankful to play with them. As the game went on, I got more comfortable realizing they’re always in the right spots. It’s huge for your confidence. It makes the game a lot easier. They’re super predictable and hopefully I can be just as predictable for them tonight so we can make something happen out there on the ice.”
“The American League’s tricky,” said Appert. “There are times you have to play certain guys and get prospects in, but he’s a guy that’s hard to take out of your lineup. He plays with a grit and tenacity that we need more of and he’s a bundle of energy. Our bench is more alive when he’s on it. I can’t say enough good things about the attitude that he’s approached adversity with this year. He’s coming off an NHL contract with Minnesota and played a game in the National Hockey League last year. He started this year in Jacksonville and handled it like a complete pro. He had an unreal attitude. We hated sending him down because he doesn’t deserve to be down.”