(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans announced their schedule for the 2015-16 American Hockey League regular season. The Amerks will open their 60th AHL season – and 34th as the affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres – at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9 versus the Lake Erie Monsters at The Blue Cross Arena.
The Amerks, who will move to the AHL’s Eastern Conference this season, will again play a 76-game regular season schedule, including 38 home games and 38 road games. Head Coach Randy Cunneyworth and the Amerks will play 30 of their 38 home games on weekends, with 18 Friday home games, five Saturday home dates and seven Sunday home outings. The team will also host seven games on Wednesdays and one Monday game.
The move to the Eastern Conference will bring a different look to Rochester’s slate of opponents this season. The Amerks will play a total of 50 games against their North Division rivals, facing off with the Albany Devils six times (three home, three road), the Binghamton Senators 10 times (five home, five road), the St. John’s IceCaps eight times (four home, four road), the Syracuse Crunch 10 times (five home, five road), the Toronto Marlies eight times (four home, four road) and the Utica Comets eight times (four home, four road).
In addition to squaring off with its North Division rivals a total of 50 times, Rochester will play 18 games against the remaining Eastern Conference clubs: four games versus the Hartford Wolf Pack (two home, two road) and two games (one home, one road) against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Hershey Bears, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Portland Pirates, Providence Bruins, Springfield Falcons and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Two Western Conference opponents, the Grand Rapids Griffins and Lake Erie Monsters, will each play four games (two home, two road) against the Amerks.
All Wednesday and Friday home games will start at 7:05 p.m. this season, with four of the five Saturday games starting at 7:35 p.m. (the game on Saturday, Dec. 26 starts at 7:05 p.m.). Rochester’s seven Sunday home contests will start at 5:05 p.m. and the lone Monday game will be a 3:05 p.m. matinee on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan. 18).
For the fourth straight year, the Amerks will host a game at Buffalo’s First Niagara Center when they face-off against St. John’s on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 7:05 p.m.
Other home games of interest and annual promotional dates include the a Military Appreciation Night on Friday, Nov. 6 against Binghamton; games the day before Thanksgiving (Wednesday, Nov. 25 vs. Syracuse ) as well as Black Friday (Friday, Nov. 27 vs. St. John’s); the return of the Hershey Bears for the AHL’s oldest rivalry on Friday, Jan. 8; the Kid’s Day game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday, Feb. 21; Irish Night on Friday, Mar. 11 when the Amerks host Utica; the return of the Providence Bruins to Rochester on Sunday, March 20; and Fan Appreciation Night on Friday, Apr. 15 against Albany. Information on additional promotional nights will be announced at later dates.
Rochester’s longest homestand of the 2015-16 campaign is a five-game stretch beginning Friday, Dec. 18 and concludes with the First Niagara Center game on Wednesday, Dec. 30, keeping the Amerks home for the holidays once again this season. The longest string of road games is three games, which occurs five different times.
The Amerks’ busiest month of the season will be January, when the team is slated to play 14 games, including six on home ice. The month of March will offer the heaviest home schedule, with the Amerks at The Blue Cross Arena eight times. Rochester has a total of nine “three-in-three” situations on the docket.
Amerks 2015-16 Season Ticket Memberships, which start as low as just $8 per game, are now on sale. The Amerks are also offering a variety of partial ticket plans, including Half-Season Memberships and Flex Pack Memberships from six to 40 ticket vouchers. For more information, visit www.amerks.com or call 1-855-GO-AMERKS.
