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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Columbus Reassigns Komarniski to Syracuse

March 1, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


KOMARNISKI RETURNS TO CRUNCH: The Syracuse Crunch announced today that the Columbus Blue Jackets have reassigned defenseman Zenith Komarniski to Syracuse. Komarniski, 25, has appeared in 34 games with the Crunch this season, recording 1 goal, 13 assists and 63 penalty minutes. Komarniski appeared in one game with Columbus this season, without recording a point. In 274 career AHL games with Syracuse and Manitoba, Komarniski has tallied 34 goals, 72 assists and 564 penalty minutes. A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Komarniski was acquired by Columbus from Vancouver for Sean Pronger on October 30, 2003.

PIRJETA MAKES DEBUT: Center Lasse Pirjeta made his Crunch debut over the weekend, recording two assists in his first AHL game Saturday night against Hamilton. Pirjeta is the 43rd player used by the Crunch this season and the 21st player to appeared in both a Crunch and Blue Jackets uniform this season. Pirjeta, 29, appeared in 57 games with Columbus this season, recording 2 goals, 8 assists and 20 penalty minutes. In 108 career NHL games, all with Columbus, Pirjeta has recorded 13 goals, 18 assists and 32 penalty minutes. A native of Oulu, Finland, Pirjeta was Columbus' seventh pick, 133rd overall, in the 2002 Entry Draft.

JACKMAN AND SCOVILLE RECORD FIRSTS: Right wing Tim Jackman recorded both his first NHL goal and first NHL assist on Friday night @ Chicago and defenseman Darrel Scoville recorded his first NHL point (an assist) the following night vs. Colorado.

PLAYOFF RACES BEGIN TO TAKE SHAPE: Syracuse (59 games – 67 points) enters this week one point behind Cleveland (59 games – 68 points) for second place in the North Division and six points behind Hamilton (61 games – 73 points) for first. The Crunch are three points ahead of Rochester (60 games – 64 points), three points ahead of Toronto (62 games – 64 points), nine points ahead of St. John's (60 games – 58 points) and eleven points ahead of Manitoba (62 games – 56 points). Seventeen of the Crunch's 21 remaining games will be against the North Division rivals.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

HAMILTON (MONTREAL CANADIENS): Syracuse heads to Hamilton on Wednesday, March 3 for the sixth and final regular season meetings between the clubs. Syracuse leads the series 1-0-4, after tying Hamilton 3-3 in their last meeting on February 28 at Copps Coliseum. Right wing Alexandre Perezhogin paces all players in head-to-head scoring with seven points (3g, 4a). Center Mark Hartigan (2g, 3a) leads the Crunch in head-to-head scoring with five points. Karl Goehring has appeared in four games, posting a 1-0-3 record, with a 2.35 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. Olivier Michaud has appeared in two games for the Bulldogs with a 0-0-2 record, a 1.85 goals against average and .932 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch are 22-24-11 against the Bulldogs.

MANITOBA (VANCOUVER CANUCKS): On Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6 Syracuse travels to Manitoba for the second and third of four regular season meeting between the clubs. Manitoba leads the series 1-0, after defeating Syracuse 5-4 in their last meeting on December 12 at the War Memorial at Oncenter. Right wing Fedor Fedorov paces all Moose with three points (2g, 1a) in head-to-head scoring. Several Crunch players pace the team with two points each. Pascal Leclaire appeared in the loss for Syracuse, recording 24 saves. Tyler Moss posted the win for Manitoba, recording 18 saves. Lifetime, the Crunch are 0-1-0 against the Moose.

NATIONWIDE INSURANCE COLUMBUS UPDATE: The Blue Jackets (19-34-8-4, 50 points) enter this week in fourth place, 18 points behind St. Louis (68) in the Central Division. Left wing Rick Nash is second in the NHL with 33 goals and paces Columbus with 47 points (33g, 14a). There are currently seven players on the Columbus roster that have appeared in a Crunch jersey (Jody Shelley, Duvie Westcott, Aaron Johnson, David Ling, Tim Jackman, Darrel Scoville and Anders Eriksson).

INJURY UPDATE: Defenseman Trent Cull is listed as day-to-day with a back injury he suffered on Wednesday, February 25 vs. Toronto. He has missed three games with the injury... Center Scott Cameron is listed as day-to-day with a head injury that he suffered on Friday, February 27 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He has missed two games with the injury... Right wing Ben Knopp is expected to miss three week with a knee injury that he suffered on Saturday, February 28 @ Hamilton. He has missed one game with the injury... Through 59 games this season the Crunch have lost 75 man-games due to injury (Trent Cull – 19, Paul Traynor – 12, Brandon Sugden – 9, Zenith Komarniski – 8, Sean Connolly – 5, Andrej Nedorost -5, Pauli Levokari – 4, Shawn Limpright – 4, Brad Moran – 3, David Ling – 2, Scott Cameron - 2, Ben Knopp - 1 and Tyler Sloan - 1 ).

PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The Crunch's weekly schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, March 2 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Wednesday, March 3 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

7:00 p.m. game @ Hamilton

Thursday, March 4 Travel to Manitoba

Friday, March 5 11:15 a.m. (12:15 p.m. est) skate @ Winnipeg Arena

7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. est) game @ Manitoba

Saturday, March 6 11:15 a.m. (12:15 p.m. est) skate @ Winnipeg Arena

7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. est) game @ Manitoba

Sunday, March 7 Off Day

*All practice times and locations subject to change

CRUNCHABLES: Syracuse ended the month of February 7-5-2-1. December is the only month the Crunch have not finished with a .500 or better record (October 5-3-1-0, November 5-5-1-0, December 2-3-3-2 and January 8-3-2-1)... The six goals on Sunday, February 29 is the largest margin the Crunch have lost by this season... Defenseman Paul Traynor's goal on Saturday, February 28 @ Hamilton was his first since October 26 @ Rochester... Defenseman Derrick Walser recorded his first two-goal game of the season on Saturday, February 28 @ Hamilton.

2003-04 RECORD: 27-19-9-4, 67 points (15-7-6-3 home, 12-12-3-1 road), third place, North Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Wednesday, March 3 @ Hamilton (30-18-9-4), 73 points, first place, North Division

Friday, March 5 @ Manitoba (23-29-8-2), 56 points, seventh place, North Division

Saturday, March 6 @ Manitoba (23-29-8-2), 56 points, seventh place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, February 25 CRUNCH 3 Toronto 1

Friday, February 27 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5 CRUNCH 4

Saturday, February 28 Crunch 3 OT HAMILTON 3

Sunday, February 29 ROCHESTER 6 Crunch 0

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

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