The Rochester Americans open the Calder Cup Playoffs with a best-of-five series against the rival Syracuse Crunch in a rematch of last year's North Division Semifinals.
Rochester finished as the second seed in the North Division after going 13-2-1-1 in its final 17 games. Syracuse is the third seed in the division.
The Amerks are in the playoffs for the third consecutive season under coach Seth Appert and return many of the players who were part of last year’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, which ended in a six-game loss to the eventual Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears. That run began with a five-game series win over the Crunch.
Devon Levi, one of the newcomers to group, posted a .927 save percentage in 26 regular-season games, the second-best mark in the AHL among qualified goaltenders.
The 22-year-old joins a roster that includes four first-round picks in defenseman Ryan Johnson and forwards Isak Rosen, Jiri Kulich, and Noah Ostlund. Rosen and Kulich are holdovers after having prolific rookie campaigns last season. Ostlund joined the Amerks upon the conclusion of his pro season in Sweden earlier this month and played the final two regular-season games.
Rosen tied for the team lead with 50 points (20+30) this season. Kulich had a team-high 27 goals.
Rochester’s roster also includes a trio of promising rookies in forwards Viktor Neuchev and Anton Wahlberg and defenseman Nikita Novikov along with two veteran prospects who played for Buffalo this season in forwards Brandon Biro and Lukas Rousek.
The schedule for the North Division Semifinals is below. This article will be updated with results throughout the series.