Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch
2014–15 Syracuse Crunch season
City Syracuse, New York
League American Hockey League
Conference Eastern Conference
Division Northeast Division
Founded 1992
Home arena Oncenter War Memorial Arena
Colors

Blue, White, Silver, Black

                   
Owner(s) Howard Dolgon
General manager Julien BriseBois
Head coach Rob Zettler
Media Syracuse Post-Standard
WTLA
Affiliates Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
Florida Everblades (ECHL)
Franchise history
1992–1994 Hamilton Canucks
1994–present Syracuse Crunch
Championships
Division Championships 2 (2001–02, 2012-13)
Conference Championships 1 (2012-13)

The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the War Memorial at Oncenter. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning.[1]

History

The franchise originated in 1992 as the Hamilton Canucks, which were an affiliate of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks played in Hamilton, Ontario, for two seasons, before relocating to upstate New York in 1994. They were then renamed the 'Crunch' in a public vote of five names. Soon the team was among the most popular of the AHL, leading the league in sellouts in 1996-97 and 1997-98.[2] After the relocation from Hamilton was complete, the Crunch remained the AHL farm team of the Canucks until 2000 - with also a season hosting Pittsburgh Penguins players in 1997-98 - when it switched its NHL affiliation to the newly formed Columbus Blue Jackets, an affiliation it retained for a decade, before the Jackets switched their affiliation to the Springfield Falcons in 2010.[3] The Crunch then spent two seasons affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks before signing a multi-year affiliation deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning effective for the 2012–13 season.[4] In the first year of the new partnership, the team reached the 2013 Calder Cup Finals, losing to the Grand Rapids Griffins.[5]

The Crunch played the first outdoor game in AHL history on February 20, 2010, against the Binghamton Senators. The Mirabito Outdoor Classic took place at the Grandstand at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. The game set an AHL attendance record of 21,508. Syracuse won the game 2–1.

At the end of the 2012-13, Tyler Johnson (ice hockey) was named league MVP. He was the first MVP in crunch history.

On November 22, 2014, the Syracuse Crunch set a new "United States Indoor Professional Hockey" attendance record by playing in front of 30,715 fans at the Carrier Dome for the "Toyota Frozen Dome Classic". Syracuse defeated the Utica Comets 2-1.

Affiliation history

Honored numbers

The Crunch raised a banner following a fan vote during the team's fifth season in honor of fan favorite #14 "Big Bad" John Badduke. It is not retired, as it would later be worn by former US Olympian Darby Hendrickson, Serge Aubin, Richard Panik and Justin Courtnall.

During the 2008–09 AHL season, the team temporarily reserved, but not retired, #7 as a tribute to Paul Newman after his death. This honors Reg Dunlop, the player-coach for the fictional Charlestown Chiefs, which Newman played in the movie Slap Shot that was filmed partially at Onondaga County War Memorial. Coincidentally, other scenes were filmed at Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the home ice of the Crunch's former ECHL affiliate, the Johnstown Chiefs. The banner was raised October 14 and was up for the entire season, but the number was not retired, as it was worn by Crunch player Artem Sergeev.

Logos and uniforms

Owner Howard Dolgon came up with the superhero mascot Crunchman for the team's debut in 1994. In 2000, as the Crunch became an affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Crunchman was replaced with Al the Ice Gorilla. Al remained until 2012, when Dolgon found the new affiliation with Tampa Bay a good reason to return with Crunchman.[6]

Syracuse hockey history

American Hockey League teams that played in Syracuse:

Other hockey teams that played in Syracuse:

Season-by-season results

Players

Current roster

Updated May 5, 2015.[7][8][9]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
10 Canada Angelidis, MikeMike Angelidis (C) C L 29 2012 North York, Ontario Lightning
9 Canada Ashton, CarterCarter Ashton RW L 24 2015 Winnipeg, Manitoba Lightning
6 United States Blujus, DylanDylan Blujus D R 21 2014 Buffalo, New York Lightning
21 Canada Blunden, MikeMike Blunden  RW R 28 2014 Toronto, Ontario Lightning
15 Canada Broll, DavidDavid Broll LW L 22 2015 Mississauga, Ontario Lightning
14 Canada Courtnall, JustinJustin Courtnall LW L 25 2015 Victoria, British Columbia Crunch
24 Canada Cote, Jean-PhilippeJean-Philippe Cote (A) D L 33 2012 Quebec City, Quebec Lightning
44 United States Dodero, CharlieCharlie Dodero D R 22 2015 Bloomingdale, Illinois Crunch
4 Canada Dotchin, JakeJake Dotchin D R 21 2014 Cambridge, Ontario Lightning
37 Canada Gourde, YanniYanni Gourde LW L 23 2013 Saint-Narcisse, Quebec Lightning
50 Latvia Gudļevskis, KristersKristers Gudļevskis G L 22 2013 Aizkraukle, Latvia Lightning
57 Finland Ikonen, HenriHenri Ikonen LW L 21 2014 Savonlinna, Finland Lightning
20 Canada Kunyk, CodyCody Kunyk C L 24 2014 Sherwood Park, Alberta Lightning
12 United States Lynch, KevinKevin Lynch C R 24 2014 Grosse Pointe, Michigan Crunch
18 Canada Marchessault, JonathanJonathan Marchessault LW R 24 2013 Cap-Rouge, Quebec Lightning
8 Canada Martindale, RyanRyan Martindale C L 23 2015 Brooklin, Ontario Panthers
3 Canada Mormina, JoeyJoey Mormina (A) D R 32 2013 Montreal, Quebec Crunch
29 Canada Neilson, EricEric Neilson RW R 30 2012 Fredericton, New Brunswick Crunch
42 United States Nightingale, JaredJared Nightingale (PTO) D R 32 2015 Jackson, Michigan Crunch
17 Canada Paquette, CedricCedric Paquette C R 21 2012 Gaspe, Quebec Lightning
63 Canada Paradis, PhilippePhilippe Paradis  LW L 24 2012 Normandin, Quebec Lightning
22 Canada Peca, MatthewMatthew Peca (ATO) C L 22 2015 Petawawa, Ontario Lightning
11 Canada Point, BraydenBrayden Point (ATO) C R 19 2015 Calgary, Alberta Lightning
71 Switzerland Richard, TannerTanner Richard C R 22 2013 Jona, Switzerland Lightning
33 Canada Smith, DaltonDalton Smith LW R 22 2013 Oshawa, Ontario Lightning
92 Switzerland Vermin, JoelJoel Vermin RW R 23 2014 Frauenkappelen, Switzerland Lightning
32 United States Wilcox, AdamAdam Wilcox (ATO) G L 22 2015 South St. Paul, Minnesota Lightning

Coaching Staff

Team Captains

Team records

Single season

Goals: Lonny Bohonos, 40 (1995–96)
Assists: Bill Bowler, 58 (2000–01)
Points: Lonny Bohonos (1995–96), Bill Bowler (2000–01), 79
Penalty minutes: Jody Shelley, 357 (2000–01)
GAA: Jean-Francois Labbe, 2.18 (2001–02)
SV%: Jean-Francois Labbe, .928 (2001–02)

Career

Career goals: Mark Hartigan, 107
Career assists: Brad Moran, 143
Career points: Brad Moran, 241
Career penalty minutes: Jeremy Reich, 820
Career goaltending wins: Karl Goehring, 78
Career shutouts: Jean-Francois Labbe and Karl Goehring, 11
Career games: Brad Moran, 334

References

  1. ↑ "Lightning to affiliate with AHL’s Syracuse Crunch - Tampa Bay Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  2. ↑ Mancuso, Jim (2005). Hockey in Syracuse. Arcadia Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 0738538981.
  3. ↑ Central New York. "Blue Jackets all but packed and gone; Dolgon targets new parent club for Crunch". Syracuse.com. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  4. ↑ Brett Carlsen (2013-06-06). "10 things to know If you're jumping on the Syracuse Crunch bandwagon | syracuse.com". Blog.syracuse.com. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  5. ↑ Central New York (2013-06-19). "Calder Cup Finals: The 2012-'13 Syracuse Crunch won't soon be forgotten even in defeat". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  6. ↑ "Crunchman returns as the Syracuse Crunch go back to the future : Sports". CNYcentral.com. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  7. ↑ "Syracuse Crunch - 2014-15 Syracuse Crunch Roster". Syracuse Crunch. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  8. ↑ "Syracuse Crunch Roster". American Hockey League. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  9. ↑ "Syracuse Crunch roster". Elite Prospects. Retrieved April 3, 2015.

External links