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Crunch Netminder Kristers Gudlevskis Named to Latvian Olympic Team

January 7, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Syracuse, NY - Syracuse Crunch goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis will be among nine past and present Syracuse Crunch players representing their countries in the Winter Olympics at Sochi, Russia.

Gudlevskis became the third person to join an Olympic team as an active Crunch player when he was named to team Latvia on Jan. 7. The other two players include Ukraine's Andrei Sryubko (Crunch '00-02) who played in Salt Lake City and Finland's Tuomas Gronman (Crunch '97-98) who appeared in Nagano, winning a bronze medal.

Nine players for one Olympic tournament ranks tied for most in franchise history, equaling the total from the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. Of the nine players selected this year, three will skate for the Czech Republic, three for Austria, and one each for Norway, Slovakia and Latvia.

From last season's Eastern Conference championship team, Radko Gudas and Ondrej Palat will represent the Czech Republic and Richard Panik will play for Slovakia. The trio currently plays for Syracuse's parent club, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

With Norwegian Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (Crunch '04-06) and Austrians Andre Lakos (Crunch '04-05) and Matthias Trattnig (Crunch '04-05) earning their second Olympic bids, four Crunch alumni will have played in multiple Winter Games. Only Jarkko Ruutu (Crunch '99-00) has been part of more than two Olympics, playing for Finland in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

Michal Rozsival (Crunch '98-99) will play for the Czech Republic with Gudas and Palat, and Brian Lebler ('10-11) will compete for Austria alongside Lakos and Trattnig.

In the six Winter Olympics since the Crunch began play in September, 1994, 28 Syracuse players have represented 11 different countries and collected nine medals: two gold, five silver and two bronze.

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