The Johnstown Tomahawks will hit the open road once again this weekend to visit the Rochester Jr. Americans for their fourth road trip of the season through just five weeks. Puck drop for Friday night’s contest will be at 7:30PM on October 10th and 7:00PM on Saturday, October 11th. Both games will take place at the Rochester Ice Center in Rochester, NY.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST SEASON
We’re set for another weekend of East Division showdowns against the Rochester Jr. Americans which is the team who ended our season last year. Every game against the Jr. Americans is a highly spirited one.
Rochester is one of the newer teams to the North American Hockey League but you wouldn’t know that by looking at their success through the organization’s first few seasons. In their first two full seasons, Rochester has an excellent record of 73-30-16. The Tomahawks are in Year 13 and will look to continue their strong play versus Rochester just as they did for the majority of last regular season.
Last year the Tomahawks and Jr. Americans faced off six times just like every division foe, in which the Tomahawks won the season series comfortably winning four of the six games. Oddly enough, Rochester’s wins both came in Johnstown and every series during the regular season was a sweep for whoever won the Friday night game. Rochester went on to win the East Division and were slated to be a tough out once the schedule turned to April. The Tomahawks did in fact meet up with the Jr. Americans in the playoffs after getting past New Jersey in Round 1. The series was an all-time classic in Tomahawks history, as the Tomahawks found themselves down 2-0 in the series after dropping the first two games in Rochester. Clearly the Tomahawks and their loyal fans believed in the storied notion that a playoff series is never truly in jeopardy until you lose a game on home ice as the Tomahawks rattled off back to back overtime wins to stun the Jr. Americans and push it to a series deciding Game Five back in New York. The Tomahawks were ultimately left with a sour taste in their mouths all summer after getting out to a 4-1 lead after two periods in Game 5 but ended up allowing Rochester to make one of the most impressive comebacks you’ll ever see, winning the game 6-5 in OT and moving on.
OCT 18TH – 2-1 W IN JOHNSTOWN
OCT 19TH – 4-3 W IN JOHNSTOWN
DEC 6TH – 4-2 L IN JOHNSTOWN
DEC 7TH – 5-4 L IN JOHNSTOWN
MAR 28TH – 3-1 W AT ROCHESTER
MAR 29TH – 6-2 W AT ROCHESTER
PLAYOFFS* APR 18TH – 5-2 L AT ROCHESTER
PLAYOFFS* APR 19TH – 2-1 L AT ROCHESTER
PLAYOFFS* APR 25TH – 4-3 W IN JOHNSTOWN
PLAYOFFS* APR 26TH – 2-1 W IN JOHNSTOWN
PLAYOFFS* APR 28TH – 6-5 L AT ROCHESTER
2025-2026 KEYS TO THE MATCHUP
- Tomahawks first year Head Coach Adam Houli will look to continue his historic start with his team and new team captain Nick Jarmain as they look to bring the first Robertson Cup to Johnstown.
- The Jr. Americans will skate out a familiar face this weekend as former Tomahawks forward Ryan Flaherty will face off against his former team for the first time.
- The Tomahawks have started their season in historic fashion, surpassing the organization record for points and overall record through the team’s first nine games of the season. They’ve gotten out to a 6-2-1 start and will enter this weekend riding a 7-game point streak.
- Rochester currently sits towards the bottom of the East in 8th place with a 4-5 record, something that is basically foreign to them in their three-year existence.
The Tomahawks have been playing some great hockey and will look to keep the train rolling this weekend.
BY: DREW P. PFEIL