Rochester Jr. Americans

Rochester Jr. Americans
City Rochester, New York, United States
League United States Premier Hockey League
Division Premier Division
Founded 1996
Home arena Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex.[1]
Colors Red, White, Blue
              
Owner(s) Maksymum Hockey LLC
Head coach Don Kirnan (EJHL),
John Walsh (EmJHL)
Franchise history
1996-1998 Syracuse Jr. Crunch
1998-1999 Auburn Jr. Crunch
1999-2005 Syracuse Jr. Crunch
2005-2010 Syracuse Stars
2010-2013 Rochester Stars
2013-Present Rochester Jr. Americans

The Rochester Jr. Americans are a Tier III Junior A American junior ice hockey team from Rochester, New York. They currently play in the USPHL in the Premier Division.[2] Their affiliates are the Maksymum Junior Hockey Club of the Empire Junior B Hockey League, also in the EmJHL is the Stars former affiliates the Syracuse Stars Jr. B Team who are not owned by Maksymum Hockey LLC.

History

Jr. Crunch Logo
Syracuse Stars Logo

In 1996, the Syracuse Junior Crunch were founded to play Canadian Junior A in the Metro Junior A Hockey League, which was absorbed by the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League in 1998. The team moved to Auburn that year, and was renamed the Auburn Junior Crunch.[3] In 2005 the franchise was sold and renamed the Syracuse Stars, joining the Eastern Junior Hockey League.[4] On December 9, 2009, Maksymum Hockey LLC, based in Rochester, New York, announced plans to operate the Stars and move them to Rochester beginning with the 2010-11 season. They currently play at the Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex.[1]

For the start of the 2013-2014 season, the Stars began play in the new-look USPHL Empire hockey league.[5] Also, the team was also renamed the Rochester Jr. Americans.[2]

The organization realigned their team to the "Premier" divisin league starting the 2014-2015 season.

Team members and regular season

The Rochester Jr. Americans hold tryouts in April of each year.[6] The season starts the day after Labor Day and playoffs finish during the third week of March each year. The schedule includes 45 EJHL regular season schedule games plus three rounds of playoffs.

Alumni

In addition to those players which have gone on to play for various college teams,[7] a number of former Stars players have gone on to play at the NHL level, including the following:

Ryan Callahan of the Tampa Bay Lightning[8]
Tim Connolly[9][10]
Colby Cohen[11][12]
Jeremy Morin of the Chicago Blackhawks[13]
Matt Murley,[14]
Rob Schremp[15][16]
Tim Sestito[17][18]
Tom Sestito[19][20]

Season-by-season results

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA P Results Playoffs
1996-97 50 10 37 3 - 220 358 23 15th Metro ADNQ
1997-98 49 29 16 4 - 273 219 62 4th Metro ALost Semi-final
1998-99 51 27 22 2 0 232 195 56 6th OPJHL-E
1999-00 49 9 36 2 2 170 303 22 10th OPJHL-E
2000-01 49 20 24 4 1 195 234 45 8th OPJHL-E
2001-02 49 20 24 5 0 187 226 45 6th OPJHL-E
2002-03 49 4 43 1 1 114 308 10 10th OPJHL-E
2003-04 49 20 26 0 3 192 223 43 7th OPJHL-E
2004-05 49 8 35 3 3 158 267 22 9th OPJHL-E
2005-06 45 11 27 1 6 127 208 29 13th EJHLWon QuarterFinals, 2-0 (Warriors
no further information
2006-07 45 19 18 3 5 155 175 46 8th EJHLdid not qualify
2007-08 45 30 9 5 1 155 120 66 3rd EJHL Lost Quarter-final (Kings)
2008-09 45 24 14 6 1 184 160 55 4th EJHL Lost Quarter-final (Bandits)
2009-10 45 22 15 3 5 173 163 52 6th EJHL Lost Quarter-final, 0-2 (Hitmen)
2010-11 45 13 29 3 0 109 173 29 12th EJHL did not qualify
2011-12 45 15 26 - 4 103 156 34 12th EJHL Lost First Round, 0-2 (Breakers)
2012-13 45 24 15 - 6 150 140 54 6th EJHL Won First Round (Apple Core)
Lost Quarter-final (Islanders)
2013-14 40 36 3 - 1 255 107 73 1st Nor Conf
2nd of 24-League
USPHL - EMPIRE		 Round Robin - W Eels 7-2; W Aviators 10-4:L Hitmen 3-6:Advance
W Quarterfinals Revolution 5-0
L SemiFinals Jr Bruins 1-10
2014-15 50 22 25 - 3 170 175 47 8th of 11
USPHL - PREMIER		Lost Quarterfinals, 0-2 (Hitmen)

Playoffs

MetJHL Years

Syracuse Jr. Crunch defeated Pickering Panthers 3-games-to-2
Syracuse Jr. Crunch defeated Thornhill Rattlers 3-games-to-1
Caledon Canadians defeated Syracuse Jr. Crunch 4-games-to-3

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Roth, Leo (2009-12-10). "Maksymum Hockey LLC brings Junior A team to Rochester". Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York: Gannett Company). pp. 1D–3D. Archived from the original on 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 citation needed
  3. ↑ US Hockey Report, August 1998, "A New Season A New Home"
  4. ↑ US Hockey Report, Jan 2005, "EJHL Adds an Expansion Team"
  5. ↑ http://thejuniorhockeynews.com/?p=14704
  6. ↑ Syracuse Stars Official Web Site Tryouts Page
  7. ↑ EJHL Certified College Signings
  8. ↑ Internet Hockey Database Player Bio for Ryan Callahan
  9. ↑ Yahoo! Sports Player Bio for Tim Connolly
  10. ↑ Legends of Hockey Player Bio for Tim Connolly
  11. ↑ NHL Player Bio for Colby Cohen
  12. ↑ Internet Hockey Database Player Bio for Colby Cohen
  13. ↑ NHL Player Bio for Jeremy Morin
  14. ↑ Legends of Hockey Player Bio for Matt Murley
  15. ↑ NHL Player Bio for Rob Schremp
  16. ↑ Legends of Hockey Player Bio for Rob Schremp
  17. ↑ Internet Hockey Database Player Bio for Tim Sestito
  18. ↑ Legends of Hockey Player Bio for Tim Sestito
  19. ↑ Legends of Hockey Player Bio for Tom Sestito
  20. ↑ NHL Player Bio for Tom Sestito

External links