Player development in the American Hockey League is not simply about success.
Setbacks and disappointments are also a part of that process, and the Rochester Americans have felt their sting this week. The Utica Comets came into Blue Cross Arena on Tuesday night and defeated the Amerks in Game 4 of the teams’ North Division semifinal, 4-2, pushing the series into a deciding Game 5 tonight on Utica ice.
“Adversity’s good,†Rochester head coach Seth Appert said Wednesday via the team website before the team departed for Utica. “[It] makes you better. Our guys are growing through that right now.â€
Teachable moments also make up that player development, and Tuesday’s defeat supplied plenty of those for Appert. The team spent Wednesday morning watching Game 4 video with an emphasis from Appert on better puck management.
“Safe is death,†Appert said of his message for tonight. “That will still be the message. We need to manage the puck better. Just because ‘safe is death’ doesn’t mean we have to try to make so many plays in the neutral zone. But that will be the mindset.
“I just wanted our guys to understand what we did to ourselves.â€
That said, Appert does not want his young players to dwell on Tuesday night as they try to push their way past Utica and meet the Laval Rocket in the North Division Finals.
“You’ve got to have a short memory in the playoffs ― good or bad,†Appert continued. “So learn, apply, get past it, get to Utica, have a team dinner, get the team camaraderie and energy back going, and be ready for [tonight]. Most of our group has never been through this.â€
Appert also said that captain Michael Mersch “won’t likely be in the lineup†again in Game 5 after missing Game 4 with an injury. Regardless, Mersch’s presence is welcomed.
“There’s a reason he’s our captain,†Appert said of Mersch, who won the Calder Cup in 2015 with the Manchester Monarchs. “He drives winning. I love that man, and every guy in that room does.â€
While the New York Rangers continue their progression through the Stanley Cup Playoffs, construction of next season’s Hartford Wolf Pack roster is well underway.
This week the Rangers signed forwards Adam Edstrom and Ryder Korczak along with goaltender Olof Lindbom. All three prospects are potential additions in Hartford next season.
Lindbom, 21, is a 2018 second-round pick by the Rangers who spent this season in Sweden in the second-division HockeyAllsvenskan circuit with Kristianstads IK. He agreed to a two-year entry-level contract with the Rangers.
Also 21, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound Edstrom competed this season in the Swedish Hockey League with Rogle BK and produced nine points (seven goals, two assists) in 43 games. A 2019 sixth-round Rangers pick, he signed a three-year entry-level contract.
Signed to a three-year entry-level deal, the 19-year-old Korczak went in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft to the Rangers. He spent this season with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League, where he generated 79 points (25 goals, 54 assists) in 68 games.
― Patrick Williams
