Rochester Jr. Americans

Rochester Jr. Americans
City Rochester, New York, United States
League United States Premier Hockey League
Division Premier Division
Founded 1996
Home arena Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex.[1]
Colors Red, White, Blue
              
Owner(s) Maksymum Hockey LLC Jeff Kolcon & Dave Maksymiu
General manager Jeff Kolcon
Head coach Dave Maksymiu (Premier),
Lindsay Putnam (Elite)
Franchise history
1996–1998 Syracuse Jr. Crunch
1998–1999 Auburn Jr. Crunch
1999–2005 Syracuse Jr. Crunch
2005–2010 Syracuse Stars
2010–2013 Rochester Stars
2013–2016 Rochester Jr. Americans

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.[2]

History

Jr. Crunch Logo
Syracuse Stars Logo

In 1996, the Syracuse Junior Crunch were founded to play Canadian Junior A in the Metro Junior A Hockey League, which was absorbed by the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League in 1998. The team moved to Auburn that year, and was renamed the Auburn Junior Crunch.[3] In 2005 the franchise was sold and renamed the Syracuse Stars, joining the American Tier III Junior A Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL).[4] While they played in Syracuse, they also had a Junior B team in the Empire Junior Hockey League (EmJHL).

On December 9, 2009, Maksymum Hockey LLC, based in Rochester, New York, 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.[1]

In 2013, the EJHL dissolved after several members left to form the United States Premier Hockey League. 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).[5] Both teams were renamed to the Rochester Jr. Americans.[2]

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.[6] For the 2015–16 season they switched their team from the Empire Division (recently renamed USP3 Division) to the Elite Division.[7] 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.[8]

Team members and regular season

The Rochester Jr. Americans held tryouts in April of each year.[9] The season started the day after Labor Day and playoffs finished during the third week of March each year. The schedule includeed 44 USPHL Premier regular season games plus three rounds of playoffs.

Season-by-season records

Season GP W L T OTL P GF GA Regular Season Finish Playoffs
Syracuse Jr. Crunch
1996–97 50 10 37 3 23 220 358 15th Metro A Did not qualify
1997–98 49 29 16 4 62 273 219 4th Metro A Won First Round, 3-2 vs. Pickering Panthers
Won Quarterfinals, 3-1 vs. Thornhill Rattlers
Lost Semifinals, 3-4 vs. Caledon Canadians
Auburn Jr. Crunch
1998–99 51 27 22 2 0 56 232 195 6th of 13, OPJHL-East Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0-3 vs. Lindsay Muskies
Syracuse Jr. Crunch
1999–2000 49 9 36 2 2 22 170 303 10th of 10, OPJHL-East Did not qualify
2000–01 49 20 24 4 1 45 195 234 8th of 10, OPJHL-East Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0-4 vs. Lindsay Muskies
2001–02 49 20 24 5 0 45 187 226 6th of 10, OPJHL-East Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0-4 vs. Trenton Sting
2002–03 49 4 43 1 1 10 114 308 10th of 10, OPJHL-East Did not qualify
2003–04 49 20 26 0 3 43 192 223 7th of 10, OPJHL-East Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0-4 vs. Bowmanville Eagles
2004–05 49 8 35 3 3 22 158 267 9th of 10, OPJHL-East Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 1-4 vs. Aurora Tigers
Syracuse Stars
2005–06 45 11 27 1 6 29 127 208 6th of 7, North
13th of 14, EJHL
Did not qualify
2006–07 45 19 18 3 5 46 155 175 5th of 7, North
8th of 14, EJHL
Did not qualify
2007–08 45 30 9 5 1 66 155 120 2nd of 7, North
3rd of 14, EJHL
Lost Quarterfinal South Shore Kings
2008–09 45 24 14 6 1 55 184 160 3rd of 7, North
4th of 14, EJHL
Lost Quarterfinal vs. Bridgewater Bandits
2009–10 45 22 15 3 5 52 173 163 3rd of 7, North
6th of 14, EJHL
Lost Quarterfinals, 0-2 vs. Jersey Hitmen
Rochester Stars
2010–11 45 13 29 3 0 29 109 173 5th of 7, North
12th of 14, EJHL
Did not qualify
2011–12 45 15 26 4 34 103 156 6th of 7, North
12th of 14, EJHL
Lost First Round, 0-2 vs. Bay State Breakers
2012–13 45 24 15 6 54 150 140 4th of 7, North
6th of 14, EJHL
Won First Round, 1-1 vs. New York Apple Core[10]
Lost Quarterfinals vs. Islanders Hockey Club
Rochester Jr. Americans
2013–14 42 36 4 2 74 217 80 1st of 10, North
1st of 18, USPHL Elite
Won First Round, 2-0 vs. Portland Jr. Pirates (Elite)
Lost Quarterfinals, 1-2 vs. Jersey Hitmen (Elite)
2014–15 50 22 25 3 47 170 175 8th of 11
USPHL Premier
Lost Quarterfinals, 0-2 vs. Jersey Hitmen
2015–16 44 13 28 3 29 128 183 9th of 12
USPHL Premier
Won Play-in Game, 3-1 vs. Syracuse Stars
Lost Quarterfinals, 0-2 vs. Islanders Hockey Club

Alumni

In addition to those players which have gone on to play for various college teams,[11] a number of former Stars players have gone on to play at the NHL level, including the following:

Notes and references

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