We made our way to Rochester, New York this weekend for another dose of Calder Cup Playoff Hockey – First, to get the Boring “Game Coverage” stuff out of the way….
The Rochester Americans defeated the Laval Rocket by a score of 5-3 on Friday, May 16th, 2025, in Game 2 of the North Division Finals. The win evened the best-of-five series at 1-1 as it shifts to Laval for the remaining games.
Key Highlights:
* Kale Clague continued his scoring streak, netting the opening goal for the second consecutive game on the power play early in the first period.
* Laval responded in the first with a goal from Laurent Dauphin to tie the game.
* Isak Rosén put the Amerks back in the lead, deflecting a shot from Ryan Johnson.
* Laval surged ahead in the second period with goals from Lucas Condotta and Jared Davidson.
* With just 40 seconds left in the second, Lukas Rousek tied the game for Rochester with a diving backhand effort.
* Jiří Kulich scored the eventual game-winner on the power play with less than eight minutes remaining in the third period.
* Isak Rosén added an empty-net goal to secure the 5-3 victory for the Amerks.
* Devon Levi made 16 saves for Rochester to earn the win, while Jacob Fowler stopped 31 shots for Laval in the loss.
The series now moves to Laval’s Place Bell for Game 3 on Wednesday, May 21st.
Ok….now my favorite part (and the reason we go on these road trips)….ARENA REVIEW TIME!!
I think this Arena is what I’ve been asking for from all the other Minor League Hockey arenas (that aren’t shared with a professional team – obviously those are the biggest and usually best). It ACTUALLY has a 360-degree Concourse, AND they have a Moose!….ok….the moose has nothing to do with the arena, but, this one looked like the real deal.
While there were a few steps you had to ascend to get to the main bowl, it was nothing like my various ECHL arena complaints, where everything was split into two levels, one of which being restricted access because its where players etc. come onto the ice (then don’t make us go down there to go to the bathrooms/ team shops and all that) – This was just a few steps from the doors to where everything else was.
I can’t exactly complain about the tightness/size of the Concourse, because I feel that it’s standard for the Minors, so, my only “complaint” was some of the odd unmarked hole-in-the-wall seating sections, and the angle of the seats in the corners (both Pictured Below).
As far as the seats in the corner go, it seemed to be advertised as if the ice just didn’t fit exactly into the arena floor plan, so there was a little catty corner seating section in the corner, more of at a square, than a rounded corner like the rink is. But in reality, it was a bunch of empty space, then like a stage surfaced party area with people standing or sitting at like four top tables on stools. this type of area is popular in Minor League sports, but, I wouldn’t have made it wrap around the corner – that was kind of odd and pushed “Row 3” to like the tenth row.
Lastly, that upper level of seats that looks like it was cut into the back wall, had absolutely no signage as to where to go to get to it, and the staircase was behind a long desk of team representatives/executives, so I had to make a lap (once I saw the stairs) to make sure it wasn’t a private rental or club area, then just decided to go up any stairs I could possibly find on either side and see what happens. It was a cool view, complete with it’s own scoreboard facing down on the section, but the flags and banisters were blocking the net on the other side of the ice, if you weren’t sitting centered (hopefully nothing happens over there, right?)
Overall, everything considered, I give this arena a solid 8 out of 10 ranking, still keeping it in the top 5 on our overall list!
Watch all our arena & Stadium visits in live action on COTW TV!
Chewing on the Wire Media 
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