The Rochester Jr. Americans were a Tier II junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team that played in the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

(NAHL).

History

The

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

the oldest profession ice hockey team in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, began sponsoring a junior club in the NAHL in 1999. This was at least the third time the Americans had supported a 'Jr. American' squad with two previous attempts playing in the Northeastern Junior Hockey League and the

Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League The Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League (GHL) was a junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association from 1974 until 2007. In 2007, the league became a division of the newly formed Greater Ontario Juni ...

. Donald Kirnan was hired to coach the team but, as typical for an expansion franchise, the Jr. Americans had very little success and finished last in the standings. After the year, the Americans withdrew from the league and dissolved their Tier II team, focusing instead on the tier III team of the same name that played out of 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 ...

. Despite lasting for just one season, the Jr. Americans produced two players that would reach the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

: Stephen Gionta and

Thomas Vanek Thomas Vanek (born 19 January 1984) is an Austrian former professional ice hockey winger who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Minnes ...

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Hockey DB

Elite Prospects
{{NAHL Defunct North American Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in New York (state) Ice hockey clubs established in 1999 1999 establishments in New York (state) Ice hockey clubs established in 2000 2000 establishments in New York (state)