It was one of those days at the office for the Rochester Amerks on Thursday at the Spengler Cup.
Nothing they did seemed to go right for them in their preliminary round game vs. host Geneve-Servette in Davos, Switzerland.
Geneve-Servette jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
Final score:
Geneve-Servette 5 Rochester 0
Alex Hutchings and Brayden McNabb each finished with a team-high three shots for the Amerks and goaltender Matt Hackett recorded 32 saves in Rochester’s return to Switzerland for the first time since 1996.
Amerks head coach Chadd Cassidy told amerks.com that all in all, he was happy with his team performance in their first game of the Spengler Cup.
“The game obviously got a little out of hand, but I was pretty happy with the way we played,… said Amerks head coach Chadd Cassidy after the game. “We were playing shorthanded and we lost five of our guys to call-ups and injuries. I thought the guys played well tonight and it was certainly good experience for them, but you could definitely see the difference in both our styles tonight.…
Early in the second period, Amerks center Luke Adam delivered this "cheap shot" to Geneve-Servette D Kaspars Daugavins. Adam was assessed a 5 and a game for a head check.
Earmuffs, Adam uses salty language.
Then with 19 seconds remaining in regulation, a pissed off Amerks energy man/agitator Fred Roy looked like he was being cast for a Snickers commercial. Cranky would be a mild understatement to describe Roy's mood. Dude needs a hug or a hot chocolate with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
Roy lost it when he and Geneve-Servette forward Almond started mixing it up. Roy cross check Almond, the two jawed, traded hacks and smacks, then punches were thrown. Things escalated quickly when the 6'2" Almond punched the quick tempered 5'9" Roy while he was tied up by the linesman. Chirping and face washing ensued. Roy threw punches at Almond and tried to goad Almond into a fight. Never happened. Almond pissed off Roy when he sucker punched him while the two were being skated off the their respective rooms.
Watch Roy blow a gasket. Classic. Like father, like son.
Per international ice hockey rules, if you fight, you go to the showers.
I know its an international tournament, but why the hell is the ref wearing a Holstein print sweater?! What is this? NASCAR?
The Amerks will play former NHL all star Sergei Fedorov's CSKA Moscow on Friday in Davos.
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Mikhail Grigorenko had to travel to Malmo, Sweden to find his mojo that had gone missing earlier this year. Grigorenko and the Sabres wisely collaborated on a plan to get the kid out of Buffalo, and North America for that matter, and to let him sew his oats and find re-ignite his hockey blast furnace by playing for Team Russia at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Malmo, Sweden. Grigorenko needed this change of venue moreso than any other professional athlete in recent memory. In 2012, the highly touted center was drafted 12th overall (Quebec Remparts). The NHL lockout denied him the opportunity to attend Buffalo’s first training camp so he concentrated 100% of his energies on making Patrick Roy’s Remparts Memorial Cup contender. At this time last December, Grigo starred on Russia’s bronze medal winning team at the 2013 WJCs in Ufa, Russia. After that tourney, he returned to Q-City where he picked up his scoring and playmaking where he left it a month before. Then, the NHL lockout ended and he reported to Buffalo for his first ever NHL training camp. He made the Sabres after the one week training camp and found himself in the Buffalo lineup for a total of 25 games, most of which he was relegated to fourth line duty cruising with John Scott and Drew Stafford. The kid looked lost at times after Lindy Ruff was fired last February. Ron Rolston wasn’t much of a fan of the young Russian to the point that he opted to scratch him for large chunks of games during the 2013 compressed-season. On March 15, the Sabres sent Grigo back to juniors where they wanted him to apply his new skating techniques. They wanted him to make plays, score goals and to dominate games. He did just that. Once the Remparts were bounced for the QMJHL, the Sabres called him back to Buffalo. He then played two games for the Rochester Americans before they were skunked-out of the AHL playoffs by the Toronto Marlies. Fter a summer of robust training and skating work in Buffalo, Grigo was largely ineffective in the Buffalo lineup, earning scratched from Ron Rolston.When Darcy Regier was fiired in November, Pat LaFontaine and Ted Nolan were hired to change the collision course of the Sabres. They opted to send all kids back to juniors or the AHL. Grigorenko was a man without a country. Quite literally.The NHL denied Buffalo’s two-week conditioning assignment request to play in AHL Rochester. The Remparts were already maxed out at their limit of three import players so Grigo could not play in Q-City.
"We just tried to play the game as if the score was close the whole time or as if we were playing Canada or Sweden," said Mikhail Grigorenko, who finished with a goal and two assists. The 12th overall draft choice in 2012 had played only sparingly with the Buffalo Sabres and was loaned to the Russian team for the tournament.
"I wasn't playing much there, and it's always an honour to play for your country," he added. Grigo was a man without a country.
He had only one option. So, he went to Russia with love.
“It was partially my initiative to play for Team Russia,… Grigorenko told recently Championat.com. “I talked to the Sabres new management and they told me they want me to go to the tourney. I was glad to hear that. It’s a big honor to play for Team Russia. It’s a good tournament and things aren’t working out for me the way I want them to in the NHL so far. Playing at the world juniors will give me the experience I need.…
Whats so wrong with going back to basics and playing the game for fun again?
On Thursday, Grigo got his magic puck powers back when he scored Russia’s fifth goal of the game to make it 5-0 Russia.
Grigo told IIHF.com the opponent doesn't matter at the Worrld Junior Championships. :
Grigo is thankful for the opportunity that Pat LaFontaine and Ted Nolan gave him to play for his native land. He has won silver and bronze medals for at the past two World Junior Championship tournaments. Perhaps he strikes gold in Malmo.
On Thursday, he led his Russian squad to an 11-0 curb stomping of team Norway.
Grigo’s got his groove back.
*** Grigorenko, one of the most talented players in the tournament, said without hesitation earlier this week that he feels that his best friend Nikita Zadorov is going to be the MVP of the 2014 WJCs.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,… he told Sportbox.Ru. “It’s going to be [fellow Sabres pick] Nikita Zadorov [the defenceman from the London Knights]. I’m pretty sure he would agree with me. Jonathan Drouin, I think, is going to be second best player of the tourney. I played against him in the QMJHL. He’s very good. I think, he hasn’t played in the NHL only because he still needs to work on his physical game.…
**
Speaking of Zadorov, scored his first two goals of the WJCs vs. Norway as well.
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Visions of toe drags, bar down beauties, and kick saves are dancing through my head right now!
Its Boxing Day, which signifies the official puck drop on the annual IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships! This year’s spectacle is taking place in Malmo, Sweden. The host Swedes are the favorites to win the World Juniors on home ice, having earned the silver medal in 2013.
Canada vs. Germany kicked off the tourney at 7:30am EDT.
Canada is locked and loaded with quick, young skilled players. They are not a hulking, physical team at all. They won't get into back alley brawls with other teams, however, coach Sutter will push the pace and try to exploit opponent's mistakes with a lightning fast counter-attack game on the 200 by 100 international ice surface.
Russia and Norway will battle at 9am EDT. Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Zadorov will be representing the Buffalo Sabres.
The Russians scrapped their way to a bronze medal on their home soil in Ufa, Russia in 2013. They enter the 2014 WJCs looking for redemption.
Defending gold medal winners, Team USA will be tested by the Czechs at 11:30 am EDT.
Connor. McDavid.
Whats not to love about the most dynamic 16 year old ever to lace up skates at the WJCs? This kid is sick! He will be the first overall pick in 2015. When Sidney Crosby competed for Canada at the 2015 WJCs as a 16 year old, he did so as a role player on a stacked Canadian club. Not McDavid. The kid is the star of the show and he'll drop jaws with eyes-on-the-back-of-his-head passes and highlight reel goals. He's a special, special player indeed.