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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Clinch Second Place

April 5, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


With their victory last night, the Crunch clinched at least second place in the North Division, guarenteeing the Crunch home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. Syracuse (91 points – 4 games left) enters the final week of the season three points beind the Hamilton Bulldogs (94 points – 2 games left) for first place, with two games in-hand. The Bulldogs travel to Winnipeg to face Mantiba Moose on April 8 and April 10 to conclude their season. Cleveland (84 points – 3 games left), Rochester (84 points – 3 games left) and Tornto (79 points – 3 games left) all remain in the hunt for third place. Cleveland hosts Cincinnati on April 7 and Utah on April 9 before wrapping up the regular season in Cincinnati on April 10. Rochester hosts Toronto on April 7 and the Crunch on April 9 before traveling to Binghamton on Apri 10. Toronto's remaining three games are against Rochester on April 7 and at St. John's on April 9 and 10.

CRUNCH PLAYOFF TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY, APRIL 8: Tickets for the Crunch's first round playoff games at the War Memorial at Oncenter will go on sale Thursday, April 8 at 10 a.m. Tickets prices are $16, $14 and $12. Tickets for children 12-and-under are $12 for any available seat. Groups of 15 or more people can receive a discounted rate by calling (315) 473-4444 prior to 3 p.m. on the day of the game.

McDONELL'S EIGHT GAME STREAK: Right wing Kent McDonell enters this week on an eight game point streak (March 21 – April 4), recording five goals and seven assists. The eight-game streak matches the longest by a Crunch player this season (Donald MacLean and Darrel Scoville). In 48 games with the Crunch this season, McDonell has recorded a career-high 30 assists and 47 points.

REICH'S GAME-WINNERS: Left wing Jeremy Reich has scored the game-winning goal in three of his last four games for the Crunch after scoring three game-winners in his first 257 games with the Crunch. With his game-winning goal last night in Cleveland, Reich has moved into a 10th place tie with Brian Bonin, John Namestnikov and Matt Davidson on the franchise's all-time list. Reich is third on the Crunch in scoring this season with a career-high 48 points (14g, 34a). A native of Craik, Saskatchewan, Reich has appeared in 261 games with the Crunch, recording 43 goals, 63 assists and 617 penalty minutes (second all-time behind John Badduke's 649). Originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks with their third choice, 39th overall, in the 1997 Entry Draft, Columbus signed Reich as a free agnet on May 17, 2000.

MORAN'S MARCH TO THE TOP: Center Brad Moran moved into third place on the Crunch's all-time assists list, recording his 97th career assist last night @ Cleveland. Moran (169 points – 72 goals) trails Lonny Bohonos (230 points) by 61 points for the franchise lead in points and Brian Loney (74 goals) by four goals for third on the all-time goals list. A native of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Moran has appeared in 70 games with the Crunch this season, recording 24 goals, 35 assists and 42 penalty minutes.

GOERTZEN RECORDS FIRST PRO POINT: Right wing Steven Goertzen recorded his first professional points this past weekend, tallying assists in both Saturday and Sunday nights games. Goertzen has appeared in five games with the Crunch since signing with them on March 19. A native of Stony Plan, Alberta, Goertzen was Columbus' 11th pick, 225th overall, in the 2002 Entry Draft.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

ST. JOHN'S (TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS): Syracuse travels to St. John's on Tuesday, April 6 and Wendesday, April 7 for the final two of eight regular season meetings between the clubs. Syracuse leads the series 4-2, after St. John's defeated the Crunch 7-6 in overtime, in their last meeting on March 27 at the War Memorial at Oncenter. Center Brad Moran paces all players in head-to-head scoring with eight points (1g, 7a). Several players lead the Maple Leafs in head-to-head scoring with six points. Karl Goehring (3-0-0, 2.00, .933) and Pascal Leclaire (1-2-0, 4.69, .867) have split time in net for Syracuse. Sebastien Centomo has appeared in four games for St. John's, posting a 2-2-0 record, a 4.27 goals against average and a .870 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch are 17-9-0 against the Maple Leafs.

ROCHESTER (BUFFALO SABRES): On Friday, April 9, the Crunch play Rochester at the BlueCross Arena for the final of 12 regular season meetings between the clubs. Rochester leads the series 6-5, after defeating Syracuse 5-3 in their last meeting on April 3 at the War Memorial at Oncenter. Right wing Jason Pominville (5g, 5a) and center Domenic Pittis (3g, 7a) pace all players in head-to-head scoring with 10 points. Right wing Tim Jackman leads Syracuse in head-to-head scoring with eight points (6g, 2a). Pascal Leclaire has appeared in eight games, posting a 4-3-0 record, with a 2.86 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Ryan Miller has appeared in 10 games for Rochester, posting a 5-5-0 record, a 2.10 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch are 42-56-13 against the Amerks.

ALBANY (NEW JERSEY DEVILS): Syracuse concludes their regular season against Albany on Satruday, April 10 at Pepsi Arena for the final of four regular season meetings between the clubs. Syracuse leads the series 3-0, after defeating Albany 5-2 in their last meeting on March 12 at the War Memorial at Oncenter. Center Mark Hartigan (6g) and left wing Mike Pandolfo (4g, 2a) pace all players in head-to-head scoring with six points. Several players lead Albany in head-to-head scoring with four points. Pascal Leclaire has appeared in all three games, posting a 3-0-0 record, with a 2.92 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. Ari Ahonen has appeared in two games for Albany, posting a 0-2-0 record, a 4.32 goals against average and a .871 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch are 35-33-9 against the River Rats.

NATIONWIDE INSURANCE COLUMBUS UPDATE: The Blue Jackets (25-45-8-4, 62 points) finished the season in fourth place in the Central Division. Columbus's Rick Nash (80gp), Calgary's Jarome Iginla (81gp) and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk (81gp) finished the NHL regular season with 41 goals each. Nash was Columbus's leading scorer with 57 points (41g, 16a). Through April 5, 2004, 24 players have appeared in both a Blue Jackets and Crunch jersey (Donald MacLean, Brad Moran, Jeremy Reich, Kent McDonell, Mark Hartigan, Darrel Scoville, Joe Motzko, Tim Jackman, Mike Pandolfo, Derrick Walser, Zenith Komarniski, Aaron Johnson, David Ling, Todd Rohloff, Jamie Pushor, Anders Eriksson, Lasse Pirjeta, Sean Pronger, Espen Knutsen, Pascal Leclaire, Andrej Nedorost, Dan Fritsche, Jean-Luc-Grand-Pierre and Fred Brathwaite).

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

Tuesday, April 6 9:45 a.m. (EST) skate @ Mile One Stadium

6:05 p.m. (EST) game @ St. John's

Wednesday, April 7 9:45 a.m. (EST) practice @ Mile One Stadium

6:05 p.m. (EST) game @ St. John's

Thursday, April 8 Travel Day

Friday, April 9 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

7:35 p.m. game @ Rochester

Saturday, April 10 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

4:00 p.m. game @ Albany

Sunday, April 4 Off Day

*All practice times and locations subject to change

CRUNCHABLES: Syracuse's losses on Friday and Saturday night represents the first time the Crunch has lost back-to-back games in regulation since the 20th and 21st games of the season (November 29 & December 5)... Tim Jackman's penalty shot Sunday night in Cleveland was the second attempted by a Crunch player this season (Joe Motzko - March 3 @ Hamilton). Both attempts were unsuccessful... Defenseman Brendan Buckley's next game will be his 300th in the AHL.

2003-04 RECORD: 37-22-10-7, 91 points (21-8-6-5 home, 16-14-4-2 road), second place, North Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Tuesday, April 6 @ St. John's (30-35-8-3), 71 points, seventh place, North Division

Wednesday, April 7 @ St. John's (30-35-8-3), 71 points, seventh place, North Division

Friday, April 9 @ Rochester (35-28-9-5), 84 points, tied-third place, North Division

Saturday, April 10 @ Albany (19-38-11-9), 58 points, seventh place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, March 31 CRUNCH 3 Cleveland 2

Friday, April 2 ROCHESTER 4 Crunch 0

Saturday, April 3 Rochester 5 CRUNCH 3

Sunday, April 4 Crunch 4 CLEVELAND 2

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

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