Feb 23, 2024
With what will be their sixth game in 10 days, the Rochester Americans (24-18-5-1) look to honor new Amerks Hall of Famer Rory Fitzpatrick and get payback on the Belleville Senators (24-20-2-3) Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.
“We need to get more shots through from our defense,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. “On Wednesday we got too many shots blocked or they didn’t deliver the puck enough sometimes. Our forwards need to fight through their defense to get to the net for screens, tips, and rebounds. It was a playoff game. There was no space out there. If that’s the case, you got to score dirty goals. They found a way to do that and we didn’t.”
The Rochester Americans are one of the longest tenured teams in all of North American professional hockey. Tonight, Fitzpatrick becomes the 68th member of the Amerks Hall of Fame, and it’s an achievement not lost on the team of the modern era.
“It’s a great accomplishment for Rory,” said Amerks captain Michael Mersch. “I’m sure he’s really looking forward to tonight and we are as well. This team has a lot of history and he’s a big part of that. When you have a person who grew up a fan of Rochester and then grow up and play here is pretty unique. I’m really looking forward to see him get honored tonight.”
“It’s a cool night,” said Appert. “Rory’s going to speak to the team before the game. Nobody probably knows more than him what wearing that jersey means. He’s from Rochester, then he played here and became a Hall of Famer. He has a perspective that’s extremely unique. The American League is interesting in that almost everybody is trying to go somewhere else. The more you can make putting that jersey on feel special and take a lot of pride in putting it on. This is a great opportunity to bring somebody in with a unique perspective like Rory to share what it means to put on that jersey.
New York native and Amerks defenseman Joseph Cecconi has been playing some of the best hockey of his pro career of late. The sixth-year pro has seven points (1+6) in 38 games, with five coming since the turn of the new year.
“He’s been really good the last month or so,” said Appert. “I think his play has took a jump to more of what we saw from him in the playoffs. He’s big, he’s long, he’s physically engaged. These are hard games and his presence helps.”
“I…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Rochester Americans…