AHL Syracuse Crunch

Columbus/Syracuse Shuttle Adds Extra Flights

January 20, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


DAVIDSON, LING, VAN IMPE RECALLED - MANNING RETURNS - COLLEY RELEASED: The Syracuse Crunch announced today that the Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled right wings Matt Davidson and David Ling from Syracuse. The Crunch also announced that they have released defenseman Darren Van Impe from his P.T.O. and that he has agreed to a contract with the Blue Jackets. In addition, the Crunch announced that the Blue Jackets have returned defenseman Paul Manning to Syracuse and that they have released center Kevin Colley from his P.T.O.

Davidson, 25, has split time between Columbus and Syracuse this season, appearing in 18 games with the Blue Jackets, tallying three goals, one assist and 14 penalty minutes. In 26 games with the Crunch, Davidson has 16 points (8g, 8a) and 20 penalty minutes. Davidson has appeared in 40 career NHL games, all with Columbus, netting four goals, three assists and 16 penalty minutes. A native of Flin Flon, Manitoba, Davidson was acquired by Columbus in a June 23, 2000 trade, along with defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre and two draft picks for future considerations.

Ling, 27, has appeared in all 44 Crunch games this season, leading the team in assists (32), points (38) and penalty minutes (125). In eight career NHL games with Montreal and Columbus, Ling has seven penalty minutes. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ling was originally signed by Columbus as a free agent on July 7, 2001.

Van Impe, 29, appeared in six games while with the Crunch, recording one goal, four assists and eight penalty minutes. He appeared in a combined 67 games with the NY Rangers, Florida and NY Islanders during the 2001-02 season, recording three goals, eight assists and 59 penalty minutes. He also played in seven playoff games as a member of the NY Islanders, recording four assists. A native of Saskatoon, SK, Van Impe has appeared in 397 career NHL games with Anaheim, Boston, NY Rangers, Florida and NY Islanders, tallying 24 goals, 89 assists and 387 penalty minutes.

Manning, 23, played in eight games with Columbus after being recalled on January 4, recording two penalty minutes. In 26 games with the Crunch this season, Manning has one goal, three assists and 10 penalty minutes. A native of Red Deer, Alberta, Manning was acquired by Columbus from Calgary for a 5th round draft choice in the 2001 Entry Draft on June 24, 2001.

Colley, 23, appeared in three games with the Crunch after signing a P.T.O. on January 14, recording one goal and two penalty minutes.

LING'S BIG NIGHT: A day prior to his recall to Columbus, right wing David Ling recorded a season-high five assists in the Crunch's 6-4 victory over the Hershey Bears, falling one shy of the franchise mark of six, set by Lonny Bohonos on December 27, 1995 vs. Rochester. Ling is currently fourth in the AHL with 32 assists. Hamilton's Benoit Gratton leads the League with 36 helpers.

POWER PLAY KEY TO SUCCESS: The Crunch netted two power play goals on Saturday night for the first time since December 21, helping the Crunch to a 6-4 victory over the Hershey Bears. Entering the game the Crunch's power play unit had scored just two goals in their last 58 opportunities (3.4%) over 14 games. Syracuse enters this week 26th in the American Hockey League with a 11.7% success rate (27-for-231).

ROAD TRIP RECAP: Syracuse returned home with a 2-5-1 record from their season-long eight-game road trip, defeating Grand Rapids on January 10 and Hershey on January 18. The Crunch enter this week 5-14-2-1 at home, including a current 10-game winless streak (0-7-1-1) and a 8-11-3-0 mark on the road.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON (PITTSBURGH PENGUINS): Syracuse returns home on Friday, January 24, after concluding their season high eight-game road trip to host the Penguins for the third of eight regular season meetings this season. The series is tied at one a piece. Left wing Alexander Zevakhin (3g) leads all players in head-to-head scoring with three points. Right wing David Ling (2a), center Blake Bellefeuille (2g) and defenseman Dan Watson (1g, 1a) pace the Crunch with two points each. Goaltender Sebastien Caron has appeared in both games for the Penguins, posting a 2.01 goals against average and .926 save percentage. Karl Goehring recorded Syracuse's lone victory, stopping all 31 Penguin shots on November 9. Lifetime, the Crunch is 18-9-5 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

ALBANY (NEW JERSEY DEVILS): Syracuse hosts the Albany River Rats for the fourth of six regular season meetings on Saturday, January 25. The series is tied at 1-1-1. Albany Center Craig Darby (1g, 2a) leads the River Rats with three points. Right wings David Ling (2g, 1a) and Tim Jackman (2g, 1a) lead the Crunch with three points. Goaltender Ari Ahonen has appeared in two games, with a 1-1-0 mark, a 2.01 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. Goaltender Karl Goehring also appeared in two games for Syracuse with a 1-1-0 mark, a 2.00 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. Lifetime, Syracuse is 32-30-9 against Albany.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Friday, January 24

POWERADE CAP NIGHT: On Friday, January 24 one of the Crunch's most popular give-aways returns. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a cap, courtesy of Powerade. The caps are red in color with the Crunch logo in the center and the Powerade logo on the side.

FOX AND 93Q AMERICAN IDOL NIGHT: Friday, January 24 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will be American Idol Night with the Crunch. During intermissions, video clips of Crunch players competing in their own version of 'Crunch Idol', will be shown on the Verizon Wireless scoreboard. Celebrity judges Ted Long and Amy Robbins, from the 93Q hit radio show 'Ted & Amy in the morning', will critique each Crunch players singing skills. Select Crunch fans in attendance will also have the opportunity to display their skills through a number of American Idol contests during the game, including trivia and singing competitions. American Idol prize packs will be given out throughout the night, compliments of FOX 68 and 93Q. American Idol premieres Tuesday, January 21 at 8 p.m. and Wednesday, January 22 at 8:30 p.m. on FOX.

Saturday, January 25

SPONGEBOB NIGHT: On Saturday, January 25 SpongeBob will visit the War Memorial at Oncenter. SpongeBob will be available during the intermissions and post-game to take pictures with fans. (Due to the costume make, SpongeBob will be unable to sign autographs.) During the night one lucky fan will receive a SpongeBob doll, courtesy of Time Warner.

LIBERTY MUTUAL FINGERPRINTING NIGHT: The Syracuse Liberty Mutual office will team up with the Syracuse Crunch to host a special child safety event at the team's January 25 home game against the Albany River Rats. Liberty Mutual representatives and Syracuse Crunch wives and girlfriends will provide a free child identification kit in which they can register their child's personal information; such as sex, height, weight, hair color, blood type, distinguishing marks, allergies and medical information. The kit also includes a place to secure a recent photo. The Syracuse Crunch and Liberty Mutual will have two tables set up to do the fingerprinting before, during and after the game for those families who would like to participate. Parents are encouraged to keep this record in a safe place for easy reference in the unfortunate event their child becomes missing. Fans who participate in the child identification program also will be entered in a random drawing for a replica jersey autographed by the team.

CNS NIGHT: On Saturday, January 25, the Syracuse Crunch will host the second annual North Syracuse School District Spirit Night, in conjunction with the Cicero-North Syracuse High School Collaborative School/Business Partnership

program. The event has become a class project for high school students in Mr. Mike Lucia's Sports & Entertainment Marketing Class, which have been placed in charge of becoming sporting event promoters. The students cover everything from press releases to assisting the Crunch with public appearances, all the way down to ensure ticket sales for an event. Anyone residing in the North Syracuse School District can receive special rate tickets, by contacting any of the 13 district buildings.

INJURY UPDATE: Defenseman Darrel Scoville is expected to miss three-to-four weeks with a foot injury suffered on January 6 @ Philadelphia... Scoville has missed seven games with the injury... Defenseman Trent Cull is expected to miss one week with a groin injury that he re-injured on January 5 @ Philadelphia. Cull has missed the last seven games and 14 total games with the injury... Center Brad Moran is listed as day-to-day with a abdominal injury that he re-injured on January 10 @ Grand Rapids. Moran has missed the last five games and a total of 25 games with the injury.

INJURIES BY THE NUMBERS: Through 44 games this season, Syracuse has lost 119 man-games due to injuries. Darrel Scoville - 38, Brad Moran - 25, Trent Cull - 14, Paul Manning - 9, Pauli Levokari - 8, Blake Bellefeuille & Ben Knopp - 5, Andrej Nedorost - 4, Radim Bicanek & Kent McDonell - 3, Martin Paroulek & Dan Watson - 2, Adam Borzecki & Trevor Ettinger - 1, represent the Crunch's injury list this season.

CRUNCHABLES: Defenseman Radim Bicanek broke a personal 20-game scoreless streak with his fourth goal of the season Saturday night @ Hershey... Syracuse set season highs for most goals in a game (6) and most goals in a period (4) Saturday night @ Hershey.

2002-03 RECORD: 13-25-5-1, 32 points (5-14-2-1 home, 8-11-3-0 road), fourth place, Central Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Friday, January 24 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (19-19-2-3), 43 points, fourth place, South Division
Saturday, January 25 vs. Albany (14-19-6-5), 39 points, fourth place, East Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, January 15 NORFOLK 1 Crunch 0
Friday, January 17 Crunch 3 OT NORFOLK 3
Saturday, January 18 Crunch 6 HERSHEY 4

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2003


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