HINOSTROZA SETTLING IN AND RETURNING TO FORM WITH AMERKS
Feb 14, 2023By Suzie Cool
For the first time since the 2017-18 campaign, Rochester Americans forward Vinnie Hinostroza is taking on the American Hockey League. This past Saturday against the Syracuse Crunch was, arguably, Hinostroza’s best game since joining the Amerks last month.
“I thought that was Hinostroza’s best game that he's had with us,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert when asked how he’s settled into Rochester.
On the strength of his first three-point outing in the AHL in over five years, Hinostroza powered the Amerks to a 4-1 victory over the Crunch Saturday night at Upstate Medical University Arena. Along with a two-goal effort, Hinostroza added an assist for his first three-point performance since Dec. 2, 2017 as a member of the Rockford IceHogs.
It seems Hinostroza has finally found his stride with the Amerks.
“Guys come down from the NHL, you're playing in and out of the lineup a lot and if you're in games you’re probably playing eight to 10 minutes. Then you come down here and it's totally different. Now you're playing 18 to 20 minutes and you're playing on the first line, on the power-play and penalty kill. There's an adjustment period to that. I thought that was the game (Saturday against Syracuse) where he looked the most like himself in terms of the energy and passion and the competitiveness that he plays with.”
Hinostroza’s previous stint in the AHL in 2017-18 was his last split between the NHL and AHL levels before making the permanent jump ahead of the 2018-19 campaign. While Hinostroza appeared in 23 games and went on to compile 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists for the IceHogs, he also played in 50 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, registering 25 points.
From that season on, Hinostroza has gone on to spend ample time in the National Hockey League between the Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres. Over the last two seasons with Buffalo, the forward has compiled 33 points on 13 goals and 20 assists in 81 games.
“When I think of Vinnie Hinostroza at the NHL level playing his best, I envision this puck-hunter, this energetic pest that's on the puck and pestering opponents with his pace and his compete and then he makes plays at a high speed,” said Appert.
It’s good to see Hinostroza coming back to form when the Amerks need him to be at his best. An energetic pest. A puck-hunter. A veteran forward that is able to rack up multi-point games on any given night.
Hinostroza and the Amerks close out their brief two-game road swing as they face the Cleveland Monsters on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. All the action from the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.