The Rochester winger and his Swedish linemates had a fantastic season together.
By Erica Whyte / Rochester Americans
Red, white, and blue appear to look good on Danny O’Regan.
In his first full season as a Rochester American, the 5-foot-10-inch, 205-pound, forward tallied 48 points (20+28) in career-high 70 games, finishing the year in fourth for team scoring and solidifying himself as one-third of the Amerks’ top point-producing lines.
“I thought we had a great season,” the Berlin, Germany native said on locker clean out day. “It was a great group of guys. We came together and had a really good year.”
A really good year for both the team and for O’Regan personally, who capped off the regular season with 8 points (2+6) in the last 7 games. With the achievements from the 25-year-old, who was traded to the Buffalo Sabres organization from the San Jose Sharks halfway through the 2017-18 season, he insists his success had everything to do with his Swedish linemates: Victor Olofsson and Rasmus Asplund.
“I played with two unbelievable guys the whole year, which you don’t see very often,” O’Regan said of the trio, who scored a combined 60 goals or nearly a quarter (23.6 %) of Rochester’s goals throughout the season.
“I think we kind of spoiled each other,” O’Regan admitted. “Usually with that many goals, some guys will be getting called up, hurt, or it changes up. I was lucky to play with those guys. For being in their first year in the league, they (Asplund and Olofsson) did an unbelievable job. It’s not an easy league to jump right into, but they were awesome. It was a blast and made a great friendship.
“I can pretty much speak Swedish now,” joked O’Regan.
The tight friendships didn’t stop there. According to O’Regan, the Amerks locker room was a special place.
“It’s a pretty easy room in there and it is easy to jump right in,” added O’Regan of the entire team. “A lot of great guys, great leaders, a number of young guys that made the transition easy. I thought everyone did a fantastic job and everyone had a great attitude.”
Looking towards the off-season, O’Regan will be sticking to the basics. “There is always room for improvement for the little things like shooting pucks, getting faster and stronger. I will probably just keep it simple.”
And as for fun stuff, O’Regan has a long list.
“I’ve got some stuff planned, I don’t know if I’ll get to do it all.” He laughed. “I usually take a golf trip with some friends and go to the Belmont Stakes Horse Race. Then I will be heading back to Boston and I’m excited to be around family and friends for a little bit.”