Menu

JUNE HOCKEY: WHATEVER IT TAKES

Jun 2, 2023

It’s Friday, June 2nd, and the Rochester Americans are still playing hockey. They host the Hershey Bears in a must-win Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight at Blue Cross Arena. And the team is excited.

 

“It’s funny,” Amerks head coach Seth Appert said today, “on my pregame run before Game 5, I saw the date on my phone. The last six weeks are a blur, you don’t even know what day of the week it is, just if it’s a game day or a day you’re preparing for a game, and I realized it was May 31. I thought: well, it would be fun to win tonight, and be able to play in June.”

 

The Amerks beat the Bears 4-1 to force Game 6, powered by two goals from Lukas Rousek and an incredible performance from Malcolm Subban. “it’s something we’ve been talking about a lot,” Appert continued. “It’s late May, it’s early June, and we’re still getting to play hockey. We’re pretty fortune, and we’re having a great time.”

 

 

The positive energy surrounding the Amerks squad is palpable. The team was able to maintain their focus on winning one game in Hershey. They’re now focused on just winning one game for the home crowd.

 

A driver of this energy is defenseman Lawrence Pilut. “He’s incredible,” Appert said. He explained that while he doesn’t wear a captain’s letter — because they weren’t sure how much he’d play in the NHL, and because all three captains returned to Rochester ths season — but “he’s every bit as much of a leader as those guys.”

 

“He just drips with positive energy. His work ethic is elite. I just can’t say enough good things about the kind of player he is, the kind of teammate he is, the kind of person he is.”

 

Pilut has 11 points (3+8) in 13 posteason games so far, which ranks second in the league amongst blueliners. He assisted on two goals on Wednesday night in Hershey.

 

He’s not the only one with that strong, positive energy. Goaltender Malcolm Subban, who has started every Calder Cup Playoffs game for the Amerks, is also an incredible teammate. Subban made 32 saves in Game 5, the biggest key to the team’s success.

 

“On the ice, he’s a relentless competitor. Guys respect him so much because of what he went through, how much NHL time he’s had and how he doesn’t act like he’s above anything,” Appert praised.

 

 

“He is one of the nicest human beings you’ll ever meet. He’s one of the best teammates you could imagine. Regardless of how good he’s playing that night, the guys love going to battle for him. That’s an underrated trait for a goaltender."

 

Guys like Subban and Pilut are easy to rally around, but the entire team has really bonded together in the face of adversity. The mentality recently, according to assistant coach Mike Weber has been simply: whatever it takes.

 

“They’ve really embraced that,” he told Sabres Live. “They’ve come through a lot of different adversity. The way they’ve attacked adjustments from us throughout the playoffs. They’re completely dialed in and bought in.”

 

The adjustments in this best-of-seven series against the Hershey Bears have been the toughest yet. Hershey was the best team in the Eastern Conference all season long, and is a big, physical veteran lineup. But that’s something the coaches have prepared the players for all year.

 

“That’s what special about our group — and especially Seth — and how he manages us and the team, we stay the same,” Weber said. “We’ve been preparing these guys all year for hard hockey, for intense hockey.” He emphasized how competitive they are in practice every single day.

 

It’s not just the guys cracking the scoresheet every game, either. It’s contributions from players up and down the lineup that makes the difference, and it’s how the scratches attack every day that keep them ready to return to the lineup.

 

It's the hard work, it's the focus, it's the dedication to preparing and to playing the right way. But it's also about the positive energy, the enthusiasm, and the love the team has for each other.

 

It’s been the focus from day one of the season. “You never know the journey you’re going to be on together as a group, but the first thing you need to do is try to become a group that works hard, wants to play for each other, and treats each other the right way every day,” Appert said.

 

This team has done that in spades, and now, their journey continues into June.

 

The puck drops at Blue Cross Arena at 7:05pm for a must-win Game 6 for the Rochester Americans, and tickets are still available.

Back to All