Kevin Oklobzija

@kevinoDandC

The American Hockey League's All-Star break has ended and the puck drops on the season's "second half" for the Rochester Americans on Friday night in Syracuse.

Through 45 games, the Amerks are 21-21-2-1 and sit 13th in the AHL's 15-team Eastern Conference.

That near-the-bottom ranking is not exactly cause for alarm anymore, however. Not when fair-to-mostly-middling has been the norm for a decade for this franchise.

The Amerks haven't won a playoff series since the spring of 2005, haven't reached the Calder Cup finals since 2000 and haven't won the league championship since 1996.

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And they won't this year unless a whole lot changes. Such as:

1. Tim Murray, general manager of the parent Buffalo Sabres, remembers he believes winning matters for the Amerks.

He has said many times that he "hates to lose" in the AHL. Unfortunately, he also apparently hates to address deficiencies once the season begins.

From Day 1, the defensive corps has been very one-dimensional. There are plenty of puck-movers and plenty of offensive talent, but there's a lack of physicality in the defensive zone. It's too easy for teams with big forwards to get to the front of the net, and stay there.

The Amerks also aren't very efficient when comes to ending plays on the wall or riding opponents off the puck. That's why they spend far too much time in their own zone.

Nothing, however, has been done to address it.

Up front, there are a whole lot of players who are smallish and/or do their best work on the perimeter. When you're not big and you don't get to the net, life is easy for opposing goalies because they see most shots.

Which brings us to No. 2 on the list.

AHL still won't be homogenizing schedule for Cali teams

2. Someone needs to be given the power of Amerks general manager.

Why the organization refuses to have someone oversee the Amerks on a full-time basis, or even as a secondary assignment, is beyond bizarre.

The Amerks have a vision coach, a sleep coach, a food coach, a mental skills coach, four athletic trainers and a multitude of personnel in the strength and conditioning department. For all we know, there's even a mascot coach for The Moose. Their support staff is so big they take two buses to every road game.

But the Sabres have no one watching the Amerks on a consistent basis who has the authority to upgrade the roster.

Sure, Murray will always have the final say, especially on "prospects." But let someone run day-to-day operations and spend some time finding out what may be available.

Patience can be a virtue. Yet sometimes, when you stick with the status quo, it's more like neglect.

In this edition of the ROC Sports Talk Podcast, Sal Maiorana, Jeff DiVeronica, and Kevin Oklobzija discuss Super Bowl 50, Peyton Manning's legacy, the new NHL All-Star Game format and Syracuse basketball, plus they each have a hot take. Check it out.

3. A goaltender must make saves on a more consistent basis.

That's pretty much always a given; no team makes a deep playoff run without Grade-A goaltending. Now is when it must start.

Nathan Lieuwen had put together a very solid stretch though late January. But then came last Friday's start against Binghamton, when three of the first 10 shots found the net before the game was 23 minutes old.

The coaching staff — probably at the direction of the Sabres — seems eager to ride Linus Ullmark. But he, too, is searching for consistency.

4. The guys expected to score must start to do so.

That was said in October, it was said in December and now it's February and it's still being said. The Amerks rank 27th in the 30-team AHL in goals per game, averaging just 2.42. They have scored more than two goals just four times in the past 15 games.

Just one player, center Phil Varone, has hit double-digits in goals. He has 12. No one else has more than seven.

5. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency.

Too often there are lulls in games. Sometimes the Amerks start with a flourish, then fizzle. Or they come out sleep-walking and by the time the alarm goes off, it's too late.

Somebody needs to take charge. The coaches, the veterans, the kids, whoever, because this win-two/lose-two, win-three/lose-four is getting really tiresome.

KEVINO@gannett.com

Injury update

Center Cal O'Reilly (lower body) — day-to-day.

Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti (upper body) — recurrence of a lingering issue, out at least a week.

Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel (broken arm) — on schedule; out at least another week.

Right winger Nick Baptiste (lower body) — could return next week.

Goalie Andrey Makarov (undisclosed) — no update.