ROUSEK'S WELL-EARNED NHL DEBUT IS NO SURPRISE

By Emily Wade

Mar 30, 2023

For the Rochester Americans, there haven’t been many call-ups from the Buffalo Sabres this season. And to be fair, that’s a good thing: it’s great to see the Buffalo roster stay relatively healthy.

 

But sometimes, it can wear on the prospects playing in Rochester. It can make their dream of the playing in the National Hockey League feel a million miles away, even when it’s only 74 miles down the road.

 

For Amerks head coach Seth Appert, there’s a group of guys on his roster that have all earned the right to a call-up this season. Brandon Biro, who made his NHL debut last season and Brett Murray, who has suited up in 21 games for the Sabres have shown their right to be there. Linus Weissbach, who has yet to make his NHL debut, has 40 points so far this season. And then there's Lukas Rousek.

 

“He’s hard on the puck now. He’s taking hits to make plays. He’s winning puck battles,” Appert explained to the media after Sunday’s game. And a lot of this new competitiveness Appert attributes to this being his first full year in North America, after he only appeared in 19 games last season.

 

“When he does [those things],” Appert continued, “His skill is immense. His mind is elite.” It’s Rousek’s intelligence on the ice that has made the Rochester coaching staff wonder if he just might be better in the NHL than he is in the AHL.

 

“You don’t know until you know,” Appert said. But maybe, just maybe, they might’ve gotten a peek at that answer on Monday night.  

 

Rousek made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres in their match-up with the Montreal Canadiens, and Rousek tallied two points: a goal and an assist. His goal, it should be noted, came on his first shot in his first shift.

 

 

Rousek had just over nine minutes of ice time in his debut, and Sabres head coach Don Granato credited Rousek for both goals he was involved with. “It doesn’t go in the net if he’s not there,” Granato said of the first goal. “And the second goal that he was in on: quick kick-out on entry and he drove right to the net to help create the next goal.”

 

 

Rousek’s net-front presence is an example of the growth in the commitment to the details, to playing the right way, and to building habits that Appert has seen so much this season. And it’s building these habits — both on and off the ice — that prepares the prospects to play at the next level.

 

“The preparation that you put in, the daily work that you do,” Appert explained, “All those things build habits.”

 

“Habits build confidence because you know you put the work in, and it allows you to handle the pressure of the moment.”

 

Rousek admitted that he was a little nervous before the game, but once the puck dropped, he was feeling good. “It’s amazing,” he said. “This is my dream, the NHL.”

 

He got to live out his dream alongside former-Rochester teammates Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who helped his nerves before the game. They just told him to have fun, and to play the same as in Rochester.

 

His Rochester teammate, and friend, Jiri Kulich also made the drive to Buffalo once he found out Rousek was making his debut. “I was so happy for him to come,” Rousek said. And Kulich seemed equally as excited to watch him play.

 

 

The rest of the Rochester locker room was buzzing on the Tuesday after the game. “He’s a really well-liked member of the team,” Appert said.

 

“He’s fun to be around, he’s smiling and he’s laughing. The guys now how good of a year he’s had and that he’s earned this moment. It’s fantastic to see.”

 

While you never really want someone to get sent back to Rochester, the team was excited to see him return amidst the playoff push in the North Division.

 

It might not be long, however, until Lukas Rousek sticks around in the Buffalo Sabres locker room. Aside from his habits, his skill, and his intelligence, he carries himself with a new confidence this season.

 

“Lukas has a lot of swagger, a lot of belief in himself, in a good way,” Appert explained. “That’s important that when you go up there, you believe you belong at that level.”

 

“That’s a big piece of fitting in, because almost all the guys in our locker room could go up and play in the NHL because that’s how good the American League is. But it’s also believing in yourself and believing that you can do it when you get there.”

 

On Monday night, Lukas Rousek proved that he can, indeed, do it when he gets there. And that he might get there sooner rather than later, and stay there for good.