The home opener starts a 3-game homestand for Rochester.
The Rochester Americans announced their schedule for the 2018-19 American Hockey League regular-season. The Amerks will open their 63rd AHL season – and 37th as the affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres – on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7:05 pm against the Charlotte Checkers at the Blue Cross Arena. The home opener will be part of a season-opening 3-game homestand for Rochester, which will meet the Checkers again the following night for a rematch on Saturday, Oct. 6 before hosting the North Division rival Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday, Oct. 10.
The Amerks, who remain in the North Division of the Eastern Conference, will again play a 76-game regular-season schedule (38 home games and 38 road games) against 15 of the AHL’s 31 teams. Second-year head coach Chris Taylor and the Amerks will play 27 of their 38 home games on weekends, with 20 Friday home games, four Saturday home dates and just three Sunday home outings. The team will also host 11 games on Wednesdays, two more than last season.
For the third straight year, the Amerks will play all 76 of their games solely against Eastern Conference opponents this season, with 54 coming against their North Division rivals and 22 versus teams from the Atlantic Division. The North Division will expand to eight teams in 2018-19 to welcome the addition of the Cleveland Monsters, who played out of the Central Division for the previous two seasons. The Amerks will again be joined in the North Division by the Belleville Senators, Binghamton Devils, Laval Rocket, Syracuse Crunch, Toronto Marlies and Utica Comets.