Monday, September 30, 2019

Buffalo Sabres Assign Vipers Alumni Hammond To Rochester:

The Buffalo Sabres have assigned 14 players to the American Hockey League Rochester Americans. One of the 14 is former Vernon Vipers goaltender Andrew Hammond. Hammond will head to Rochester pending waivers.

Hammond is in his first season with the Buffalo Sabres, made his Sabres preseason debut September 17th 2019 in a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Hammond replaced Sabres starting goaltender Linus Ullmark halfway through the 2nd period, allowed two goals on fifteen shots.

Hammond was a free agent signed with the Buffalo Sabres July 1st 2019 to a one-year contract with an AAV of $700,000. 

Hammond played last year with the American Hockey League Iowa Wild. In 33 games last season Hammond went 19-14-0 with three shutouts and a 2.81 GAA Hammond & the Wild clinched a playoff spot for the first time in franchise history.

The Minnesota Wild signed Hammond July 1st 2018, reassigned Hammond to the Iowa Wild October 1st 2018. Hammond played the past five seasons with the Ottawa Senators/American Hockey League Binghamton Senators before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche November 5th 2017. 

After four seasons with Bowling Green University, Hammond signed his first pro contract with the Ottawa Senators on March 20th 2013. Hammond attended the Chicago Blackhawks 2012 development camp and Ottawa Senators 2013 development camp.

Hammond made his NHL debut February 27th 2014 vs the Detroit Red Wings. Hammond was called up that night from the American Hockey League as the backup for Senators starting goaltender Robin Lehner. Hammond would replace Lehner late in the 2nd period who was pulled after giving up six goals on fifteen Detroit shots. Hammond would finish the game playing just over thirty four minutes stopping all eleven Red Wing shots in a 6-1 loss to Detroit. Hammond made his first career NHL start February 18th 2015 vs the Montreal Canadians, recorded 42 saves in a 4-2 win over the Habs for his first career NHL victory. Hammond is the only goaltender in NHL history to earn 21 wins in his first 27 games.

Hammond played parts of two years in Vernon (2007-2009) after coming over in a trade with the Surrey Eagles during the 2007-08 season. In 52 regular season games with the Vipers

Hammond posted a (33-15-1) record recording 6 shutouts. 

Andrew Hammond's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=38007

This was posted on the Sabres website:

Sabres trim training camp roster by 15 players

14 players assigned to Amerks, Ruotsalainen assigned to Finnish team

by Chris Ryndak @ChrisRyndak / Sabres.com

September 22nd, 2019

The Sabres have assigned 14 players to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.

The team has also assigned forward Arttu Ruotsalainen to Ilves (Liiga).

Here are the players heading to the Amerks:

Forwards

Eric Cornel
Sean Malone
Andrew Oglevie
Kyle Olson
Kevin Porter
C.J. Smith (pending waivers)

Defense

Jacob Bryson
Casey Fitzgerald
Brandon Hickey
Zach Redmond
Devante Stephens

Goaltenders

Andrew Hammond (pending waivers)
Michael Houser
Jonas Johansson

Rochester opens its training camp on Monday. Amerks coach Chris Taylor will lead the first on-ice practice at 12:30 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena. All practice sessions are free and open to the public. 

The Amerks will play their first preseason game on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. when they host the Syracuse Crunch at the Rochester Institute of Technology's campus.

Go to Amerks.com for more info on the team's training camp.
Ruotsalainen, who signed with Buffalo as a free agent in May, recorded 42 points (21+21) in 59 games for Ilves last season.

Those transactions leave the Sabres with 36 players on their training camp roster. Defensemen Brandon Montour, Zach Bogosian, Matt Hunwick and Lawrence Pilut as well as goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are out for the rest of training camp. Forward Scott Wilson and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. 

Buffalo will return to practice on Monday. The team will play its next preseason game on Wednesday when Columbus comes to KeyBank Center. Faceoff is scheudled for 7 p.m. and fans can watch on MSG starting with the pregame show at 6:30. Tickets for the game are on sale now.

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