Sharpen Up: April 16, 2018

The Rochester Americans are set to begin their playoff run on Friday. They'll take on Syracuse in the first round and start the series on the road. They'll host the Crunch for Game 3 on April 25 and Game 4 on April 27.
Here's what you need to know.

Amerks ready for playoffs

Rochester secured its first playoff berth since 2014 with a 4-2 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds on March 24 and locked up their first-round opponent over the weekend. The opening round series will mark the first meeting in the postseason between Rochester and Syracuse since the Amerks defeated the Crunch four games to three in the first round of the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Amerks are giving away 5,000 rally towels for the first round, courtesy of Seneca Niagara Resorts & Casino and Genesee Brewing Company.
Individual game tickets for Round One of the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs start as low as just $14 and range in price up to $28 depending on seat location. All tickets purchased on the day of the game will increase by $2. Tickets are available for purchase either in person at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office, online here or by calling 1-855-GO-AMERKS.
We'll have more in this week's Amerks Update.

Central Scouting's final rankings on the way

At 11 a.m. on Monday, the NHL will release the NHL Central Scouting Bureau's final rankings for the 2018 NHL Draft on Monday. The rankings will feature the top 217 skaters and 31 goaltenders in North America as well as the top 130 skaters and 14 goaltenders internationally.
Buffalo has the best odds to win April 28's NHL Draft Lottery.
The midseason rankings, which saw Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin top the list of International-based skaters, and Russian forward Andrei Svechnikov as the best North American-based skater, can be found here.

Emmy winners again

Congratulations to our team at Pegula Sports and Entertainment for picking up three wins at the 2018 New York Emmy Awards over the weekend.
Two of those Emmys were for Sabres projects.
"Beyond Blue and Gold: The Ottawa Brawl" won in the Sports Interview/Discussion category while "Beyond Blue and Gold" won best Program Series.

Last season's batch of BBGs also included these episodes:

PSE took home an Emmy last year for this episode:

Check out this season of BBG here.