To all subscribers of the Amerks mailing list, please accept my utmost
apologies for a horrible season of coverage. Yes, out Amerks were one of the
best teams in the AHL this past season, and no, they didn't win the Calder
Cup, but yes, we will be back online and continuing our excellent coverage of
the Rochester Americans hockey club.
Why are you getting an email in July, you ask? Well, pretty much to get
a head start on the upcoming 2000-2001 season. First of all, please note the
changes in email addresses. Onelist.com has merged with egroups.com and the
following changes have been made:
--To send an email to the list, please address it to amerks@egroups.com
--To subscribe to the list, please send a message to
amerks-subscribe@egroups.com
--To unsubscribe from the list (and hopefully this won't happen too often!),
please send a message to amerks-unsubscribe@egroups.com
--To send a message to me, the list owner, please address it to
amerks-owner@egroups.com. You can also reach me via email at
JazzmanJon@....

Now, on to the important news...

TWO AMERKS SELECTED BY NHL EXPANSION COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
Defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre and winger Matt Davidson were selected in
this year's NHL expansion draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Grand-Pierre
spent time with the Buffalo Sabres this past season and may make the final
roster cut when the team begins play this fall. However, if both are sent to
the Columbus farm team, they won't be far from home...the Syracuse Crunch
signed a deal with the team to be the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate. Also an
FYI, the Crunch recently unveiled a new logo and uniforms to coincide with
the agreement...and they are SHARP (no, I still consider them the "enemy,"
but their logo is AWESOME)! To check it out, visit www.syracusecrunch.com
(if you dare) and feel free to drop the list a line on how you think they
look. Maybe Rochester could use a uniform change soon?

AMERKS MOVE TO A NEWLY-CREATED DIVISION
The Rochester Americans have been relegated to a new division, once
again, as the AHL continues to modify its ranks and make way for new
expansion teams (read: the Norfolk Admirals begin play in the AHL this coming
season; they were previously a member of the East Coast Hockey League).
Rochester is now a member of the Mid-Atlantic Division in the Western
Conference, along with former Empire Division opponents Albany and Syracuse.
Hershey, Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will join the teams in the
division as well.
Other changes in the AHL alignment include the creation of the Canadian
Division (a great addition considering the mass exodus of Canadian hockey
teams!), which will have Hamilton, Quebec, Saint John and St. John's playing
in the division. There will also be the New England Division, hosting
Hartford, Lowell, Portland, Providence, Springfield and Worcester. Finally,
the creation of the Southern Division, which includes Cincinnati, Kentucky,
Louisville and expansion Norfolk. The Southern Division will join the
Mid-Atlantic Division to comprise the Western Conference while the Canadian
and New England Divisions will form the Eastern Conference.

There will be more updates on the Amerks and the American Hockey League as we
draw nearer to the first full season of the new century! Stay tuned!

Go Amerks!
Jon D. LeRoy,
List Moderator/Owner