Amerks clinch playoff berth, add Borgen and Peterson

The Amerks officially punched their ticket to the postseason with a 4-2 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday, the team's first playoff berth since 2014.
On Sunday evening, the Utica Comets became the fourth and final team from the North Division to lockup playoff spot joining the Amerks, Toronto Marlies and Syracuse Crunch.

Scoring leaders

1. C.J. Smith: 17G - 26A - 43 PTS
   2. Zach Redmond: 13G - 29A - 42 PTS
   3. Kevin Porter: 16G - 23A - 39 PTS
   4. Seth Griffith: 14G - 23A - 37 PTS
   5. Sahir Gill: 16G - 20A - 36 PTS

Goaltending leaders

1. Linus Ullmark: 20-11-10; 2 SO; 2.44 GAA; .923 SV%
   2. Adam Wilcox: 11-7-6; 2.82 GAA; .904 SV%
   3. Jonas Johansson: 0-2-0; 4.87 GAA; .842 SV%

Borgen, Peterson join Amerks

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The Sabres signed defenseman Will Borgen to a three-year, entry-level contract. Borgen also signed an Amateur Tryout and has reported to the Amerks. The entry-level contract will kick in at the start of the 2018-19 season.
Borgen recently completed his NCAA career with St. Cloud State, collecting 41 points (5+36) in 106 games. The native of Moorhead, Minnesota was named the National College Hockey Conference's Defensive Defenseman of the Year this season.
Borgen was one of four collegiate players to be named to the 2018 United States Olympic Men's Hockey Team. The defenseman also captured a bronze medal with the U.S. team at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The Sabres selected Borgen in the fourth round (92nd overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.
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His St. Cloud State teammate Judd Peterson has also signed an ATO.
Peterson, 24, recently concluded a four-year collegiate career at St. Cloud State University, where he finished with 65 points (37+28) in 151 games with the Huskies.
This past season, Peterson scored six goals and added a career-high 12 assists in 40 games while helping the team to an NCHC championship as well as an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Peterson served as one of two team captains and was named a finalist for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award.
Peterson was originally drafted by the Sabres in the seventh round (204th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft.

News and notes

• Alexander Nylander continues his hot stretch of late as he shows 15 points (4+11) over his last 17 games, including six points (1+5) over his last five.
• Nylander matched last season's total with 18 assists in 20 fewer games this season and is on pace to break his career-high 28 points as he shows 24 (6+18) so far this year.

Amerks mourn the loss of Hall of Famer Dick Gamble

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The Rochester Americans are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Amerks Hall of Famer and hockey legend Dick Gamble. He was 89 years old.
"The entire Rochester Americans organization is deeply saddened by the loss of Dick Gamble," said Amerks and American Hockey League Hall of Famer Jody Gage. "Dick was someone who helped bring the Rochester Americans to prominence in the AHL and was instrumental in building this great franchise. Dick was an Amerks and AHL Hall of Famer and a founding father who played with class and dignity. It was truly a great honor to have known Dick for all these years and I will always cherish his friendship. He will be dearly missed."
Gamble's career in Rochester spanned parts of nine seasons from 1961-70, a time during which the Amerks - and hockey for that matter - was relatively in its infancy. Gamble would quickly bring the franchise to prominence, however, transforming a cast of future Amerks legends and American Hockey League icons alike into a dynasty that would go onto win three Calder Cup championships over a four-year span. No other AHL team would ever match the feat.
On March 19, 1999, Gamble and Gage had their No. 9 retired, joining Norm "Red" Armstrong as the only players in team history to receive that honor. The six-time postseason All-Star would later be inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame in 2007.
In honor of Gamble, the Amerks will wear helmet decals for the remainder of the 2017-18 season and a commemorative patch will soon be added to their jerseys for all remaining home games.
A special in-ice logo, mirroring that of the jersey patch, will also be placed behind both nets in the coming week for the remainder of the season.

Coming up

The Amerks kick off another busy stretch of three games in four days with the first two contests coming at The Blue Cross Arena, where they have earned at least one point in the five of the last six games (3-1-2-0 record over that span).

After Wednesday night's matchup with the Utica Comets, the Amerks will host the Charlotte Checkers Friday night before wrapping up their season series with the Binghamton Devils on Saturday to close out the month. All three games begin at 7:05 p.m.

March 23: BNG 4 - RCH 2

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Rochester defenseman Stuart Percy and forward Sahir Gill each netted their career-best seventh and 16th goals of the season, respectively, while goaltender Adam Wilcox endured his third straight loss despite making 29 saves.

March 24: SPR 2 - RCH 4

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In his second game since returning from the Buffalo Sabres, Seth Griffith bagged his eighth multi-point outing of the campaign with a three-point (1+2) night to give Rochester its fifth win all-time in just six games against the Thunderbirds.
Second-year forward Colin Blackwell chipped in two goals, including the eventual game-winner, while Danny O'Regan rounded out the scoring with his 12th of the year. Goaltender Adam Wilcox halted a personal three-game winless streak as he stopped 20 of 22 shots. The South St. Paul, Minn. native improved to 11-7-6 with the win.