The Rochester Jr. Americans were a Tier III Junior A

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team from

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

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. Their top team most recently played in the USPHL in the Premier Division while also fielding a team in the Elite Division.

History

In 1996, the Syracuse Junior Crunch were founded to play Canadian Junior A in the

Metro Junior A Hockey League The Metro Junior "A" Hockey League was a junior level ice hockey league based out of Southern Ontario. The league originated in 1956 as the Metro Junior "B" Hockey League, which lasted until 1991, when it changed its designation from Junior B to ...

, which was absorbed by the

Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league was listed as the 7th best d ...

in 1998. The team moved to Auburn that year, and was renamed the Auburn Junior Crunch. In 2005 the franchise was sold and renamed the Syracuse Stars, joining the American Tier III Junior A

Eastern Junior Hockey League The Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior A ice hockey league. Founded in 1993 by Dan Esdale, the EJHL had fourteen teams from across the Northeastern United States. The EJHL champion then competed for th ...

(EJHL). While they played in Syracuse, they also had a Junior B team in the

Empire Junior Hockey League The Empire Junior Hockey League (EmJHL) was a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III junior ice hockey league. The league was classified as Tier III Junior B until the 2011–12 season when USA Hockey combined the Tier III Junior A and Junior B classifi ...

(EmJHL). On December 9, 2009, Maksymum Hockey LLC, based in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, announced plans to operate the Stars and move them to Rochester beginning with the 2010–11 season. During this time they were called the Rochester Stars and were affiliated with the Tier III Junior B Maksymum Junior Hockey Club in the (EmJHL) and were no longer affiliated with the Junior B Syracuse Stars that continued to play in the EmJHL. The Rochester Stars began playing at the

Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex is a non-profit indoor athletics facility in the Rochester, New York suburb of Brighton. Located on the campus of Monroe Community College, the arena was built in 1998. It is home to four regulation-size ice rinks ...

. In 2013, the EJHL dissolved after several members left to form the

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), ...

. By the beginning of the 2013–14 season, the Stars joined the USPHL in the Elite and Empire Divisions (with the former EJHL team in Elite and the former EmJHL team in the Empire). Both teams were renamed to the Rochester Jr. Americans. In 2014, the Jr. Americans promoted their Elite Division Tier III team to the USPHL's Premier Division for the 2014–15 season and began playing against many of the former EJHL members. For the 2015–16 season they switched their team from the Empire Division (recently renamed USP3 Division) to the Elite Division. In 2016, the USPHL removed the Jr. Americans from the league and announced a new organization called the Rochester Jr. Monarchs would take their place in the Elite and youth divisions.

Team members and regular season

The Rochester Jr. Americans held tryouts in April of each year. The season started the day after Labor Day and playoffs finished during the third week of March each year. The schedule included 44 USPHL Premier regular season games plus three rounds of playoffs.

Season-by-season records

Alumni

In addition to those players which have gone on to play for various college teams, a number of former Stars players have gone on to play at the NHL level, including the following: *

Ryan Callahan Ryan G. Callahan (born March 21, 1985) is an Americans, American former professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), right winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. He ...

of the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

Tim Connolly Timothy L. Connolly (born May 7, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career As a yo ...

Colby Cohen Colby Shane Cohen (born April 25, 1989) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche and in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, the minor league affiliate of the Bos ...

Jeremy Morin Jeremy Morin (born April 16, 1991) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger. Morin played major junior hockey for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), the team he was drafted from in the second round, 45th ...

of the

* Matt Murley *

Rob Schremp Robert B. Schremp (born July 1, 1986) is an American professional ice hockey center currently playing for HK Mogo of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 25th overall, of the 2004 NHL Entry ...

Tim Sestito Tim Sestito (born August 28, 1984 in Rome, New York) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played with the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils organizations of the National Hockey League (NHL). His younger brother Tom Sesti ...

Tom Sestito Tom Sestito (born September 28, 1987) is an Americans, American former professional ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward. He most recently played with the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League (AHL). He has previously played for the ...

References

External links

*
USPHL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester Junior Americans Defunct Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League teams

Rochester Stars The Rochester Jr. Americans were a Tier III Junior A ice hockey team from Rochester, New York. Their top team most recently played in the USPHL in the Premier Division while also fielding a team in the Elite Division. History In 1996, the Syr ...

Ice hockey teams in New York (state) 1996 establishments in New York (state) Ice hockey clubs established in 1996