Before the Amerks Hockey was popular in Rochester, a city known for its cold weather, as far back as the 1920s; the
University of Rochester had a collegiate hockey team as early as 1906, and even at that time,
East High School had already developed a successful program. Professional hockey arrived in 1935 in the form of the
Rochester Cardinals, a member of the
International Hockey League. The Cardinals, who played at
Edgerton Park Arena, lasted only one season, compiling a 15–29–3 record and a host of financial difficulties. The team was named the "Americans".
Early years (1956–1967) Upon entering the league for the 1956–57 season the Americans became a joint affiliate of both the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs of the
National Hockey League, line of center
Rudy Migay, left wing
Gary Aldcorn and right wing
Billy Hicke. Migay and Hicke were named co-MVP for the AHL that season, and Hicke was chosen as the league's rookie of the year. In the summer of 1959, the Maple Leafs bought out the Canadiens ownership share of the club, giving them a 55% controlling interest, due to concerns that with Montreal operating the club they were giving their prospects priority over those of the Leafs. They purchased most of the remaining 45% in 1963, boosting their ownership share to 98% by November 1964. In 1959–60, the Americans became the first team in American Hockey League history to win a playoff series after trailing three-games-to-none. The Amerks' comeback against the Cleveland Barons included the efforts of the veteran Migay, right wing Pat Hannigan and league-leading goaltender Ed Chadwick. A crowd of 7,762 at the War Memorial witnessed a 4–1 triumph in Game 7. Rochester went on to lose the Calder Cup finals in five games to
Eddie Shore's
Springfield Indians. Following the 1960–61 season, in which the Americans failed to qualify for the playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens transferred their working agreement to the
Quebec Aces of the American Hockey League and sent Rochester players
Guy Rousseau and
Claude Labrosse to Quebec. As the exclusive affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Americans made the playoffs the next two seasons but never contended for the Calder Cup championship. The Pittsburgh Hornets also returned with the opening of the
Civic Arena in 1961, but Rochester was allowed to keep the Americans; the Hornets would eventually fold permanently in 1967 when the
Pittsburgh Penguins started play as part of the
1967 NHL expansion. Beginning in 1963–64, former Americans defenseman
Joe Crozier became the team's coach and general manager. Under Crozier, the Americans won the
Calder Cup in 1965, 1966 and 1968 and were finalists in 1967; they are the only team in AHL history to appear in the Calder Cup finals in four consecutive seasons. In 1965–66, the Americans played their final 10 regular season and all playoff home games at neutral sites because the 1966
American Bowling Congress tournament occupied the War Memorial. The home games were at Toronto's
Maple Leaf Gardens, about from Rochester, except for of one playoff game at Buffalo's
Memorial Auditorium in the Calder Cup finals. On May 8, 1966, before a crowd of 7,655 at the "Aud" the Americans tied up the series at two games apiece with a 3–1 victory over the Cleveland Barons. Rochester went on to win the next two games and their second consecutive Calder Cup. Notable players from this era included
Bronco Horvath,
Gerry Cheevers,
Bobby Perreault,
Al Arbour,
Darryl Sly,
Norm "Red" Armstrong,
Duane Rupp,
Wally Boyer,
Dick Gamble,
Stan Smrke,
Jim Pappin,
Don Cherry,
Gerry Ehman,
Larry Hillman, and
Mike Walton.
Alex Faulkner, the first person from
Newfoundland and Labrador to play in the NHL, also played on the Amerks.
The expansion era (1967–1970s) When the National Hockey League expanded from six to twelve teams for the
1967–68 NHL season the Americans lost several players. Arbour (St. Louis), and Boyer (Oakland), were drafted by the new NHL teams. Ehman was traded to Oakland and Horvath was loaned to Minnesota. Rupp and Walton were both promoted to the Maple Leafs while Smrke retired. The Americans struggled through the early part of the 1967–68 AHL season. Just before Christmas, and with the team in last place with a record of 12-15-3, Crozier made a deal with the expansion
Minnesota North Stars. In exchange for forwards
J. P. Parise and
Milan Marcetta the Americans received
Ted Taylor,
Len Lunde,
George "Duke" Harris,
Murray Hall,
Don Johns, Carl Wetzel and the rights to Horvath. The return of Horvath marked his fourth tour of duty with the Amerks since 1956–57. The Americans improved to go 26-10-6 for the balance of the season en route to finish with the best record in the league. The regular-season champion Amerks then defeated the Hershey Bears four games to one in the playoff semi-finals and the Quebec Aces four games to two in the Calder Cup finals. The Amerks won the final game 4–2 before a crowd of 11,711 at the
Colisée de Québec. In July 1966,
Maple Leaf Gardens Limited sold the team to a group which included their then general manager
Punch Imlach for a reported $400,000. Two years later, the team was sold to the
Vancouver Canucks of the
Western Hockey League (WHL) minor league for a reported $950,000. Imlach was a part owner of the Canucks at the time. In the 2003–04 season, the Americans were beaten in five games by the eventual Calder Cup champion
Milwaukee Admirals in the Western Conference Finals. The Americans began a dual-affiliation in 2005 after signing an agreement with the
Florida Panthers. Under this agreement the Panthers and Sabres both supplied the Americans with players while the Sabres still employed the coaching staff. In 2007, the Sabres announced that season would be their last season of affiliation with the Americans. Reasons cited include the financial insecurity of the AHL team, issues between ownership, the City of Rochester, and Blue Cross Arena management, along with the awkwardness of the dual affiliation with the Panthers. In 2008, the 29-year affiliation officially ended when Buffalo chose the Portland Pirates to be their new AHL affiliate. This separation lasted until 2011 when
Terrence Pegula bought the Sabres and then later the Amerks, reuniting them shortly after the 2010–11 season concluded. On May 6, 2008, the
American Hockey League approved the sale of the Americans to Canadian businessman Curt Styres and his investment group, Arrow Express Sports. The sale also included the
Rochester Knighthawks of the
National Lacrosse League. On May 13, 2009, Lewis Staats, president of the Americans, formally announced that
Jody Gage would not return after 13 seasons as the team's general manager. Gage currently serves as the team's director of strategic planning.
2010s The Americans notched their 2,000th win on February 21, 2010, in a shootout against the
Portland Pirates.
Derek Whitmore, from the Rochester suburb of
Greece was the last shooter for Portland but goaltender
Alexander Salak made the save. Head coach
Benoit Groulx left the organization on May 31 after a reported conflict with vice-president of hockey operations,
Ted Nolan. On May 17, 2011, it was revealed that
Terry Pegula had signed a nonbinding letter of intent to purchase the Americans. Pegula, who had recently purchased the Buffalo Sabres desired to re-affiliate the two clubs. The potential purchase had to clear several financial and legal obstacles; first, Pegula had to seek the permission of the Sabres' then current farm team, the Portland Pirates, since the Pirates had an agreement with the Sabres that lasted through 2014 and had no out clause. Second, the Americans' corporate sister club, the
Rochester Knighthawks lacrosse team, was split off and retained by Styres as Pegula owned the rival
Buffalo Bandits. After these arrangements were made, the agreement was reached June 24, 2011, with the official announcement following the same day. Pegula purchased the Americans for US$5 million. For the 2013–14 season, the Americans participated in
that year's edition of the
AHL Outdoor Classic played at
Frontier Field against the
Lake Erie Monsters immediately before leaving to take part in the
2013 Spengler Cup, the first time in 17 years that an AHL team participated (the Americans were also the participants in the
1996 Spengler Cup). On July 28, 2015,
Randy Cunneyworth was re-hired as the Americans' head coach, returning after being the head coach for the Americans from 2000 to 2008. Cunneyworth was relieved of his duties the following season on May 16, 2016 and reassigned to a position in the Sabres' department of player development.
Dan Lambert was named the new head coach. Lambert was fired at the end of the 2016–17 season after a clearing out of the coaching staff and management in Buffalo. For the 2017 season, it was decided by new Sabres general manager
Jason Botterill, that the Americans would have their own general manager and be modeled after how Botterill's previous team, the
Pittsburgh Penguins, operated the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In June 2017, the Sabres' new assistant general manager
Randy Sexton was also made the Americans' general manager and former Americans' player
Chris Taylor was named head coach.
2020s Sexton was fired on June 16, 2020, along with Botterill. Taylor and the coaching staff were later also fired.
Seth Appert was later hired as coach with Jason Karmanos as general manager as part of his Sabres assistant general manager duties. During the
2021–22 season, the Americans finished 5th in the North division, which was also the final playoff spot in the North division, clinching the position on the final day of the regular season. During the first round of playoffs, the Americans faced off against the
Belleville Senators in a best of three playoff series. The Americans would win two of the three games, both in overtime, with both scores resulting in a 4–3 win for the Americans. With the series win, it was the first postseason series win in 17 years, with the last before that coming in the
2005 Calder Cup playoffs. In the following round, they would upset the North division and regular-season Eastern Conference champion
Utica Comets in five games. They would face the
Laval Rocket in the North Division finals, but would lose in three games, including a triple-overtime loss in the final game of the series. The Americans once again qualified for the playoffs following the
2022–23 season, and finished third in the North division. In the division semifinals, they faced off against rival Syracuse. They initially went down 2–0 in the series, but were able to win three games in a row to advance to the division finals. The Americans faced off against the division-winning
Toronto Marlies in the division finals, sweeping them, and advanced to their first conference finals appearance since the
2004 Calder Cup playoffs. ==Season-by-season results==