The Rochester Jr. Americans are a Tier II Junior ice hockey team from Rochester, New York. Junior team returned to Rochester with the North American Hockey League accepting the location as an expansion franchise starting in the 2023-24 season.
In 1996, the Syracuse Junior Crunch were founded to play Canadian Junior A in the Metro Junior A Hockey League, which was absorbed by the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League in 1998. The team moved to Auburn that year, and was renamed the Auburn Junior Crunch.[1] In 2005 the franchise was sold and renamed the Syracuse Stars, joining the American Tier III Junior A Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL).[2] While they played in Syracuse, they also had a Junior B team in the Empire Junior Hockey League (EmJHL).
On December 9, 2009, Maksymum Hockey LLC, based in Rochester, New York, announced plans to operate the Stars and move them to Rochester beginning with the 2010–11 season. During this time they were called the Rochester Stars and were affiliated with the Tier III Junior B Maksymum Junior Hockey Club in the (EmJHL) and were no longer affiliated with the Junior B Syracuse Stars that continued to play in the EmJHL. The Rochester Stars began playing at the Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex.
In 2013, the EJHL dissolved after several members left to form the United States Premier Hockey League. By the beginning of the 2013–14 season, the Stars joined the USPHL in the Elite and Empire Divisions (with the former EJHL team in Elite and the former EmJHL team in the Empire).[3] Both teams were renamed to the Rochester Jr. Americans.
In 2014, the Jr. Americans promoted their Elite Division Tier III team to the USPHL's Premier Division for the 2014–15 season and began playing against many of the former EJHL members.[4] For the 2015–16 season they switched their team from the Empire Division (recently renamed USP3 Division) to the Elite Division.[5] In 2016, the USPHL removed the Jr. Americans from the league and announced a new organization called the Rochester Jr. Monarchs would take their place in the Elite and youth divisions.[6]
In 2020, Perinton Youth Hockey reached an agreement to form an official partnership with the Rochester Americans and restart the Jr. Americans program.[7] Junior team from various age groups began the next season all under the new banner. For the 2023-24 hockey season, Rochester added a Tier-II club when the North American Hockey League (NAHL) announcement that its Board of Governors has approved the membership application for a team in Rochester, New York owned by Hockey ROCS, LLC, an entity owned and operated by Chris O’Donnell and Colleen Wegman.
| Crunch - Stars - Jr. American Records | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | P | GF | GA | Regular Season Finish | Playoffs | |
| Syracuse Jr. Crunch | |||||||||||
| 1996–97 | 50 | 10 | 37 | 3 | — | 23 | 220 | 358 | 15th Metro A | did not qualify | |
| 1997–98 | 49 | 29 | 16 | 4 | — | 62 | 273 | 219 | 4th Metro A | Won First Round, 3–2 vs. Pickering Panthers Won Quarterfinals, 3–1 vs. Thornhill Rattlers Lost Semifinals, 3–4 vs. Caledon Canadians | |
| Auburn Jr. Crunch | |||||||||||
| 51 | 27 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 232 | 195 | 6th of 13, OPJHL-East | Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0–3 vs. Lindsay Muskies | ||
| Syracuse Jr. Crunch | |||||||||||
| 49 | 9 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 170 | 303 | 10th of 10, OPJHL-East | did not qualify | ||
| 49 | 20 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 45 | 195 | 234 | 8th of 10, OPJHL-East | Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0–4 vs. Lindsay Muskies | ||
| 49 | 20 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 187 | 226 | 6th of 10, OPJHL-East | Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0–4 vs. Trenton Sting | ||
| 49 | 4 | 43 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 114 | 308 | 10th of 10, OPJHL-East | did not qualify | ||
| 49 | 20 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 192 | 223 | 7th of 10, OPJHL-East | Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 0–4 vs. Bowmanville Eagles | ||
| 49 | 8 | 35 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 158 | 267 | 9th of 10, OPJHL-East | Lost Div. Quarterfinals, 1–4 vs. Aurora Tigers | ||
| Syracuse Stars | |||||||||||
| 2005–06 | 45 | 11 | 27 | 1 | 6 | 29 | 127 | 208 | 6th of 7, North 13th of 14, EJHL | did not qualify | |
| 2006–07 | 45 | 19 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 46 | 155 | 175 | 5th of 7, North 8th of 14, EJHL | did not qualify | |
| 2007–08 | 45 | 30 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 66 | 155 | 120 | 2nd of 7, North 3rd of 14, EJHL | Lost Quarterfinal South Shore Kings | |
| 2008–09 | 45 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 55 | 184 | 160 | 3rd of 7, North 4th of 14, EJHL | Lost Quarterfinal vs. Bridgewater Bandits | |
| 2009–10 | 45 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 52 | 173 | 163 | 3rd of 7, North 6th of 14, EJHL | Lost Quarterfinals, 0–2 vs. Jersey Hitmen | |
| Rochester Stars | |||||||||||
| 2010–11 | 45 | 13 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 109 | 173 | 5th of 7, North 12th of 14, EJHL | did not qualify | |
| 2011–12 | 45 | 15 | 26 | — | 4 | 34 | 103 | 156 | 6th of 7, North 12th of 14, EJHL | Lost First Round, 0–2 vs. Bay State Breakers | |
| 2012–13 | 45 | 24 | 15 | — | 6 | 54 | 150 | 140 | 4th of 7, North 6th of 14, EJHL | Won First Round, 1–1 vs. New York Apple Core[8] Lost Quarterfinals vs. Islanders Hockey Club | |
| Rochester Jr. Americans | |||||||||||
| 2013–14 | 42 | 36 | 4 | — | 2 | 74 | 217 | 80 | 1st of 10, North 1st of 18, USPHL Elite | Won First Round, 2–0 vs. Portland Jr. Pirates (Elite) Lost Quarterfinals, 1–2 vs. Jersey Hitmen (Elite) | |
| 2014–15 | 50 | 22 | 25 | — | 3 | 47 | 170 | 175 | 8th of 11 USPHL Premier | Lost Quarterfinals, 0–2 vs. Jersey Hitmen | |
| 2015–16 | 44 | 13 | 28 | — | 3 | 29 | 128 | 183 | 9th of 12 USPHL Premier | Won Play-in Game, 3–1 vs. Syracuse Stars Lost Quarterfinals, 0–2 vs. Islanders Hockey Club | |
| Season | GP | W | L | OTL | P | GF | GA | Regular Season Finish | Playoffs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester Jr. Americans of the NAHL | ||||||||||
| 2023–24 | 60 | 34 | 18 | 8 | 76 | 213 | 177 | 3 of 9, East 10th of 32, NAHL | Won Play-In Round, 2–0 vs. Northeast Generals, Lost Div. Semi-Finals, 2-3 vs. Maine Nordiques | |
In addition to those players which have gone on to play for various college teams,[9] a number of former Stars players have gone on to play at the NHL level, including the following: