www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/shownews.jsp?content=h041911ARochester Americans face hot Hamilton Bulldogs team in AHL playoffs CP) - The Rochester Americans have been in their own world this season in the American Hockey League.
The powerhouse Buffalo Sabres affiliate (51-19-4-6) racked up a team record and league-best 112 points in 80 regular season games. But Rochester also knows that the Hamilton Bulldogs (38-29-7-6), their opponent in the first-round playoff series beginning at the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial on Wednesday night - have been on a roll of their own.
"We pay attention to these things," said Ryan Miller, the Americans all-star goaltender. "We're aware of what they're playing at. We have the utmost respect for these guys. It's a situation where we had a tight series all year.
"Coming into the playoffs, they're playing well, and they had to play well to get into the playoffs. I hope that helps us actually because the more we respect a team, the more we're going to put into it. If we take a team lightly, the series isn't going to go our way.
"From here on out, we have to understand that everybody who made the playoffs had a great year. There's been a lot of focus on us because of our record but it's a new season and we've got to prove ourselves like everybody else and I think that's what we need to understand, that we've got to go out and do it again."
Hamilton, the top affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, finished 23 points behind Rochester in the North Division standings but of the 89 points it accumulated, a significant portion came in the past two months with the team on the brink of playoff elimination.
The Bulldogs were thrown a proverbial bone by an Edmonton Road Runners team that imploded in the second half and, to their credit, they took advantage of the break.
Hamilton went 19-8-1-0 in its last 28 games, losing back-to-back just once in that stretch, to steal the fourth North Division spot away from Edmonton and the Syracuse Crunch.
"We've been very hungry the last couple months," said Hamilton captain Jason Ward, an offensive catalyst in that run. "It's good because we have a young team and it was almost like a mini playoff for us. We learned how to win games when we had to win games. We couldn't lose too many because if we did we'd be out and we knew that. We had to deal with the pressure of winning games and that's what the playoffs are all about."
Bulldogs head coach Doug Jarvis has been the epitome of even keel throughout the season, but even he cracked a smile when Hamilton earned its playoff berth last Wednesday with a 4-3 home win over Syracuse.
The former NHL ironman said he was most proud of the way his guys accepted the challenge put before them.
"Where we were at and where we had to get to, I think they came with a real focus to get the job done," said Jarvis. "They deserve a lot of credit for that."
The matchup is a repeat of last season's second-round series when the Americans beat Hamilton four straight.
Despite Rochester's dominance of almost every team it faced, the Bulldogs managed three wins over the Americans in the regular season and have no fear of the AHL's elite team.
Both employ a trapping, physical style of play and each expects a long hard, tight-checking series with no shortage of emotion.
"Last year we swept them and I think that left a bad taste in their mouth," said Rochester centre Derek Roy. "I think they're going to come out real strong this time around. Being embarrassed and swept like that, I think they want to come back and pretty much sweep us."
The Americans will look to players like Roy, captain Chris Taylor (79 points) and the immensely talented Thomas Vanek (42 goals) for scoring as they make their 16th consecutive playoff appearance. Rochester also boasts a physical defence that chips in at the offensive end but Miller, who was named the AHL's most outstanding goalie last week after posting league highs in wins (41) and saves (1,814), will be a key to the series.
"They've got a great goaltender in Miller," said Ward. "He didn't win 41 games by mistake. We're going to have get shots and traffic and really get under their skin."
Miller's counterpart is first-year starter Yann Danis. Danis hardly looked like a rookie, posting 28 wins, the most by a first-year player since Mika Noronen won 33 for Rochester back in 1999-2000.
The St. Jerome, Que. native has shown incredible poise in the past two months as he took over the bulk of the goaltending work in the race for the playoffs.
The Bulldogs showed an inability to score in the first half of the season but the offence began to take shape around December. In the final 16 games, they averaged 3.5 goals a night but importantly came up with the big one when it was needed most. Tomas Plekanec, MVP of the all-star game, paced the team with 29 goals, while second-year man Chris Higgins had 28.
Hamilton received a significant boost in the last quarter of the season when NHL regulars Steve Begin, a former Calder Cup playoff MVP with the Saint John Flames, and massive defenceman Mike Komisarek joined the team after rehabbing respective shoulder and hip injuries.
38-29-7-6 : 89 points (4th in the North Division) 
51-19-4-6 : 112 points (1st in the North Division) 
# 35 Yann Danis (28-17-6), 2.34 GAA 
# 30 Ryan Miller (41-17-4), 2.45 GAA
