Jody Gage Out as Amerks GM

Jody Gage is now the former general manager of the Rochester Americans, having been removed from his position after thirteen years in the Amerks' front office.

Beyond that, Gage played for the Amerks for eleven years, racking up 728 points in 653 games.

According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Gage, who has been with the team in some capacity or another, for the last 24 years, may still remain with the club in a lesser role, but at the moment, the D&C reports that neither Curt Styres nor Lewis Staats could be reached for comment to explain the decision.

When Gage retired from playing in the mid-90s, he became an assistant general manager with the Amerks. The team won the Calder Cup and after that, Gage became Rochester's general manager. Since then, Rochester has won five division titles, advanced to the Calder Cup final twice and finished with the best record in the league in 2004-05, setting a franchise record with 51 wins.

I'm very anxious to hear why this move was made, because it definitely caught me by surprise. I don't really think you can attribute Rochester's poor seasons these last two years to Gage. Buffalo was a terrible parent club at the end of their affiliation and Florida gave the Amerks an extremely inexperienced team in their first full season as sole parent. Money could be the driving factor behind the decision, as most of the roster is stocked by the Panthers.