Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Michael Mersch he went home this summer to suburban Chicago thinking hard ahead of him.
He had wrapped up another pro season. Of course he could still play. No one doubted that, not after he put up 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) in 66 games for the Rochester Americans. The former power forward at 6-foot-2 and 223 pounds, still had a lot of toughness to him. His big-brother approach and down-to-earth personality earned him the Rochester captaincy over the past three seasons when the parent Buffalo Sabers relied on the Amerks to bring in a few top prospects. They tasked Mersch with leading a group of leaders to help young first-round picks Jack Quinn again Isaac Rosen adapting to the AHL. More like this Jiri Kulich they followed as the Sabers’ attempt to build a long-term core took root in Rochester.
But this summer he plans to make big life decisions, decisions that affect more than him. His contract at Rochester was up. What was to come next?
Mersch and his wife, Jennahe had two sons. His family is not young, and time is not slowing down. His brother, DominickI just got a job working in downtown Chicago. Life beyond hockey continued the procession. The very nature of playing at one level removed from the NHL means that a player’s career takes on a larger role in the hockey family. Those families are leaving. Jobs are suspended. Trading is possible. The grandparents are back home, wherever home may be.
“In the summer we were at home as a family,” explained Mersch, “and I just see the relationships my children had with their aunts and uncles or cousins, their grandparents, their friends here in the area… them. I felt like as time went on, it felt selfish of me to pack the bags and get everyone out again.”
So put, the decision was clear to Mersch. He put his family first and announced his retirement this week.
It was about time.
Retirement is never going to be easy, but Mersch, who turned 32 on Wednesday, is leaving the ice having ticked off a few important items on any hockey player’s list. He played 17 games in the NHL, all with the Los Angeles Kings, the team that made him a fourth-round draft pick. He won the Calder Cup as a rookie with the Manchester Monarchs in 2015. That spring tournament offense went so well, in fact, that Mersch ended up tying the league with 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 18 playoff games. . He has played for some of the AHL’s most memorable coaches over the past decade – Mike Stothers Manchester and Ontario; Derek Laxdal again Neil Graham in Texas; again Seth Appert in Rochester.
It was in Rochester that Appert and Mersch connected. This pandemic has increased the market for pro hockey players as much as it has disrupted the world. It also pushed the start of the 2020-21 AHL season to February. Mersch didn’t even have a contract coming off two solid seasons with Texas. Everything that year and that season began – and remained – changing in hockey.
But the Americans had a promise. It came one day after the AHL season started, but it was a tryout offer. Indeed, no one could make promises at that time. Hockey and the AHL have had to find and adapt to ever-changing conditions just like the rest of society.
Mersch took the offer.
“It wasn’t much of a decision,” Mersch quipped. “It was my only option. I was on the verge (of retirement).”
He hurried to Rochester. This move quickly paid off for both parties. Appert was in his first season of pro hockey that year, which is a challenging career step for any coach let alone trying to get through that season. Appert relies heavily on Mersch on and off the ice. Mersch became a fixture on Rochester’s roster, someone for Appert to rely on amid less predictable external conditions.
“Everything just came together at the right time,” Mersch said of the decision that ultimately led to four seasons in Rochester. “I was very proud of it. I bought what I had to do to continue playing because I quickly found out that it was not guaranteed.”
Mersch received a new two-year contract with the Amerks that summer. With Mersch as captain, Rochester got the success their fans had been looking for. The Buffalo managers were also happy as the Sabers got the chance to face the Calder Cup Playoffs. The team eventually advanced to the 2023 Eastern Conference finals, and Mersch tied for the team lead with 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 14 games.
In all, 220 of Mersch’s 597 AHL regular season games came with Rochester. He finished his AHL career with 401 points (188 goals, 213 assists).
Mersch looks at that time in Rochester differently than he might have looked at earlier stages of his career. By signing an AHL deal, he admits that some of the pressure to fight for an NHL recall came off him. He would be in Rochester, and that was where he could focus his attention.
“I felt like anything from that point on was a bonus,” Mersch said. “I can say it made me shut down a little bit. I love it in Rochester. The four years there were incredible. Those four years were probably some of the most fun hockey I’ve ever had.”
A lot will look different in Rochester this fall. Appert now works in Buffalo, where he is an assistant coach for the Sabres. Free agency shook up Rochester’s roster. Several familiar names have gone while others have entered. It will be different for Mersch, too. He’s exploring the possibilities there, professionally, although he says he’d like to stay in hockey. He plans to make a return trip to Rochester sometime.
Said Mersch, “[I still] go through times when I feel like I’m a hockey player. I will probably always identify as a hockey player even though I no longer play professionally.”
But for now you can be a full-time husband and father. This summer gave her a real taste of what was possible, and she loved it.
“We created a lot of memories.”
In the American Hockey League for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams and currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for the league’s top scorer in 2016.
