On a brisk morning in early January, the Rochester Americans hockey team took the ice at Blue Cross Arena. The atmosphere was relaxed, but there was a palpable sense of focus coming from the players as they practiced taking shots on the goalie with a second offensive player in front of him, obstructing his view. It all felt routine. Some of the shots were saved. Others were errant and caromed off the boards, while others were successfully deflected into the net by the stick of the pesky forward in the crease. The matter-of-fact nature of the drill belied the unusual goalie situation the Amerks currently face.
Sometimes, one goalie starts in the majority of games, with the backup playing occasionally to give the starting goaltender a night off. But it’s becoming more common for a team’s goalies to alternate as starter. For the first half of 2023-24 season, Amerks goalies Dustin Tokarski and Devin Cooley have split the games 50-50.
The new year has brought change. The Buffalo Sabres, the Amerks’s parent club in the National Hockey League, sent goalie Eric Comrie down to the Rochester team when no other NHL team picked up his contract. What had been a dynamic duo between the pipes for the Amerks has become a trio with unclear roles.
Amerks head coach Seth Appert said the team has faith in all three goaltenders, but Comrie’s addition will likely disrupt the timeshare between Tokarski and Cooley. “Comrie will probably get more of the share than just a split, but that’s a week-to-week (decision),” Appert explained. Planning ahead is difficult because rosters change so quickly in the AHL, due to players’ sudden call-ups to the NHL.
Dustin Tokarksi, known as “Tickers” to his teammates, is a 34-year-old who’s played for five different NHL teams over the course of his career and is now in his second stint with the Buffalo Sabres organization. He said pushing one another as teammates and competing for starts is part of being a professional, and they’ll support whoever starts.
“I don’t think anyone envisioned there being three here right now,” said Tokarski, “but Comrie’s a good dude, Cools is a great guy.”
Tokarksi and Cooley, with more shared history, have bonded over their experience in the Amerks net this season. “(Devin) works hard,” said Tokarski. “He’s a really good goalie and I think we’ve jelled really well. We see eye-to-eye on a lot of things.”
For his part, 26-year-old Cooley — who counts the Amerks as his third AHL team — said he has learned a lot from the more seasoned Tokarski.
“I try to ask questions as much as I can,” Cooley said. “We’re there to help each other through tough times and support each other when things are going well, too.”
Despite their chemistry as teammates, Cooley says his playing style is very different from that of Tokarski. While the latter is a “stay-at-home” goalie who likes to remain in position and play deeper in the crease to block shots, Cooley likes to take more risks, positioning himself higher up to take away the shot angles with his size and reach.
Although he has learned from playing alongside Tokarski, Cooley said they don’t push each other to be better so much as they push themselves. Comrie, the 28-year-old new arrival to the Amerks’ current squad, agreed.
“You don’t make it to pro hockey by being pushed by someone else,” said Comrie, who played seven games for the Sabres this season before being sent down to the minors. “You make it to pro hockey by being self-motivated.”
Now he has new teammates to work with, as they compete with one another for playing time, but that fact doesn’t keep them from connecting with one another.
“We’re all goalies,” said Comrie. “We’re all weird, get along well.”
Daniel J. Kushner is an arts writer at CITY. He can be reached at dkushner@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2022.
