Sports stats



AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Sweep First Round

April 23, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS: Syracuse wins the best-of-five series 3-0.

Game 1 Saturday, April 15 CRUNCH 5 Philadelphia 3
Game 2 Wednesday, April 17 CRUNCH 4 Philadelphia 1
Game 3 Sunday, April 21 Crunch 3 PHILADELPHIA 1

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: (Best-of-seven series)

Game 1 Friday, April 26 Chicago @ SYRACUSE
Game 2 Saturday, April 27 Chicago @ SYRACUSE
Game 3 Monday, April 29 SYRACUSE @ Chicago
Game 4 Wednesday, May 1 SYRACUSE @ Chicago
*Game 5 Friday, May 3 SYRACUSE @ Chicago
*Game 6 Sunday, May 5 Chicago @ SYRACUSE
*Game 7 Tuesday, May 7 Chicago @ SYRACUSE

* if necessary

CRUNCH SKATE INTO THE WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: The Crunch completed a three game sweep of Philadelphia on Sunday night, defeating the Phantoms 3-1 to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The series marked the first time the Crunch has won a playoff round since they defeated the Baltimore Bandits in the Western Conference Semifinals on May 14, 1996. Center Brad Moran lead the Crunch in scoring during the Philadelphia series with six points (3g, 3a) followed by right wing David Ling (1g, 2a) and defenseman Derrick Walser (3a) each with three points. Goaltender J.F. Labbe appeared in all three games with a 1.67 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.

DANCING WITH WOLVES: Up next for the Crunch will be their first-ever meeting against the Chicago Wolves. In their first American Hockey League season, Chicago finished fourth in the West Division with a 37-36-7 record. Right wing Rob Brown led the Wolves in scoring during the regular season with 83 points (29g, 54a) followed by former Blue Jacket Steve Maltais (67 points) and Kamil Piros (49 points). Goaltender Pasi Nurminen appeared in 20 games for the Wolves, posting a 9-9-1 record, a 2.93 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. Former Crunch goaltender Frederic Cassivi recorded a 6-2-1 record with a 2.50 gaa and a .920 save percentage in 12 games with Chicago.

Maltais (3g, 4a) and Brown (2g, 5a) pace the Wolves in playoff scoring, each recording seven points in eight games. Nurminen (4gp, 3-1, 1.51 gaa, .946 spct) and Cassivi (5gp, 2-2, 2.50 gaa, .923 spct) have split time between the pipes in the playoffs.

LABBE STANDS TALL IN PLAYOFFS: J.F. Labbe continued his post-season play with a series sweep over the Philadelphia Phantoms in the first round of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

In three games Labbe posted a 3-0 record a fifth-best 1.67 goals against average and a .938 save percentage. Saturday night, Labbe appeared in his 75th career AHL playoff game (P.E.I., Cornwall, Hershey, Hartford and Syracuse).

MORAN CLIMBS CRUNCH'S ALL-TIME PLAYOFF LEADERS LIST: Center Brad Moran continues to lead the Crunch in post-season scoring, recording six points (3g, 3a) in three games in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Moran is tied for sixth in points (13) on the Crunch's all-time playoff leaders list, fifth in goals (6) and tenth in assists (7). During the regular season Moran lead the team with 25 goals. Moran, an Abbotsford, British Columbia native, received his first-ever National Hockey League call from Columbus on January 28, playing in three games. BLUE JACKETS RESIGN SHELLEY: The Columbus Blue Jackets announced on Monday that they signed former Crunch star Jody Shelley to a multi-year contract. Shelley, 26, netted three goals and three assists in 52 games during the 2001-02 season, his first in the NHL. He also set a club record with 206 penalty minutes. He scored his first NHL goal at Los Angeles on December 15 and recorded his first NHL assist versus San Jose at Nationwide Arena on January 24. He also led the team in plus/minus rating at +1 and finished sixth in hits with 84.

The Yarmouth, Nova Scotia native spent most of the early part of the season with the Crunch, registering 3 goals, 5 assists and 165 penalty minutes in 22 games. During the 2000-01 season, Shelley tallied 8 points (1g, 7a) with a league-leading 357 penalty minutes in 69 games with Syracuse. In one game with Columbus, he racked up 10 penalty minutes. That contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 17, 2001 marked his NHL debut.

CRUNCH SHAVE PRICES WITH SPECIAL TICKET PROMOTION: The Syracuse Crunch announced that they are extending their razor promotion through the rest of the playoffs. Any fan who beings in a razor to the box office prior to any future home Crunch playoff game will receive a $2 discount off of any $15 seat. Earlier in the month the Crunch issued a special playoff challenge to Central New York, asking their fans to stop shaving until the Crunch's playoff run is over, following the habits of many players, who frequently grow playoff beards.

SECOND ROUND TICKET INFO: Tickets for Game One and Game Two of the second round of the Western Conference Semifinals are available by calling the Crunch's sales office at (315) 473-4444, stopping by the Oncenter Box Office, located on the State Street side of the War Memorial or by calling TicketMaster at (315) 472-0700. Contact the Crunch sales office at (315) 473-4444 for information on group discounts.

Tickets for Friday night's contest will be marked as Game D. Season ticket holders who have purchased the full playoff package, must use the ticket marked Game D. Game C will not be accepted, a credit will be issued towards next season. Please contact the Crunch office at (315) 473-4444 if you have any questions.

CRUNCHABLES: Syracuse and Hamilton were the only two teams that made the playoffs to sweep the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from April 23, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central