LOVE FOR THE GAME ALLOWING AMERKS TO OVERCOME ADVERSITY TOGETHER
Mar 17, 2022By Suzie Cool
It’s no secret that the Rochester Americans have been dealing with an influx of injuries and rosters moves throughout the course of the 2021-22 campaign. Now, even though they’re certainly not strangers to this concept because of dealing with the shortened season prior, it doesn’t make the last two months and the adversity they’ve faced any easier.
“Considering where everything’s at, we’ve done a really good job,” Amerks head coach Seth Appert stated after a couple of days off, following a week from a four-in-five. “It’s not been perfect, it’s been ugly at times, but I think the work ethic and the camaraderie and the love the guys have for each other in there has allowed us to stay afloat.”
That’s what has made this rigorous stretch so tough. Not only do the Amerks not have all of the puzzle pieces back in place, but they’ve also been tasked with a three-in-four pretty much every single week since the turn of the New Year. This arduous schedule has led to injuries occurring more often than they’d like to admit and the comebacks far and few between.
Looking ahead to this weekend against the Cleveland Monsters though, Appert feels that’s all about to change as a lot of his key contributors are going to be back in the lineup.
“Now that we’re getting some pieces back, we need to kind of move out of survival mode,” said Appert. “It’s been a little bit of survival mode and we kind of want to move back closer to the identity we want to have as a team – what makes us great, how we need to play, the structure, the habits and the identity that we need to play with.”
WATCH: SETH APPERT FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY'S PRACTICE
There’s been 33 games for the team since the turn of the calendar year. Once January hit, the Amerks were faced with several players getting moved to the Buffalo Sabres taxi squad, recalled to Buffalo because of the injuries on the bug club’s roster or finding themselves out of the lineup because of the injuries occurring in Rochester.
However, even with a depleted roster being made up mostly of players on professional tryouts, recalls from the Cincinnati Cyclones and the very few Amerks who began the season in Rochester, the team has still found a way to scratch and claw for points. In 18 of the 33 games to kick off 2022, the Amerks have come away with 30 out of a possible 66 points.
And despite playing a schedule that essentially features a game every other day when it’s mathematically spelled out, this team still loves coming to the rink and being with one another.
“That makes a coach smile when you see that because that means that, we’re how many months into this, and they still love being together,” commented Appert when he saw his team coming in on a rare off day.
While the days that the Amerks have actually gotten to rest have been few and far between, Appert and his leadership group have sat down to assess how to give the team some time off. They decided as a collective group that it was necessary to have little two-day blocks sporadically placed throughout the remainder of the schedule to give everyone a great mental and physical reset.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the team goes on trips, sees their family or can go home, but it gives them the healthy head space to know that they can be away from the game for a couple of days. Even in the latter part of the season though, those two-day blocks mean nothing to this group when they want to continually be together and getting better.
WATCH: MICHAEL MERSCH FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY'S PRACTICE
“They have a real passion for hockey and a real care for each other. That goes from the older guys right down to our youngest guys and there’s some real good friendships in this group.”
Appert then continued, “You want to take advantage of that because it’s usually your goal as a coach to try and help create that every year.”
Appert truly feels the adversity this team has faced as of late, is a driving factor as to why they’re as close as they are.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to know it’s not every year and its unique circumstances. I think adversity helps with it because it’ll either break you or make the group closer, because we’ve had a lot of it.”
Having coached at the collegiate level for a number of years and being at the United States National Development Program, Appert has come across groups that get along as well as his current team does. However, Appert did say that the feeling is usually fleeting and the one that his team exudes right now is something that they’ve stuck with for the entirety of the season.
This isn’t something you always come across as a coach, but when you do it’s important that you have the right leadership group, young talent and bond with the coaching staff fighting for it each and every day.
“You need the right core leadership group, but you also need the young talent. You need the young talent to not be too precocious and you need the old guys to not think they’re above things. You need the staff and the players to find a bond, and there’s a lot of things that go into it.”
Appert then finished with, “It’s hard to put your finger on it sometimes, but when you have it, you know it’s special and you want to fight to keep it.”