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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Tally First Win of the Season

October 15, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH PICK UP FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON: Syracuse played a solid overall game on both sides of the puck, as they scored twice in the third period and stymied the Senators' offense Friday night in Binghamton. Geoff Platt gave the Crunch their first two-goal lead of the season when he took a beautiful cross-ice feed from rookie Tom Sestito and buried one past Binghamton goalkeeper Ray Emery at 12:26. Another rookie, Derick Brassard, continued his great night by scoring just 1:11 later, giving the Crunch a 4-1 lead. He ended up with a goal and two assists on the evening. The other two Syracuse goals were tallied by Joakim Lindstrom and Andrew Murray. Crunch goaltender Tomas Popperle stood on his head, stopping 39 of 40 shots and earning first star of the game honors.

ROOKIE BRASSARD SHINES IN BOTH GAMES: Derick Brassard is quickly making a name for himself around the AHL as a smooth skating centerman with a nifty scoring touch. The 20-year old native of Hull, Quebec had another great weekend tallying 5 points (2g, 3a) in the 2 games this past weekend. He now has a total of 7 points (3g, 4a) in 4 games this season. He currently leads the Crunch in scoring and is tied for second in the AHL in scoring. He was named third star of the game at Saturday's home opener vs. Hartford. Brassard was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 1st round, 6th overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

CRUNCH POWER PLAY POWERFUL: The Crunch power play came alive this weekend as they went 2-for-4 Friday night and 3-for-5 Saturday night. They were 5-for-9 (55.5%) in the two games this past weekend. Overall, Syracuse is ranked third in the AHL converting on 6 of 21 power play opportunities (28.6%). Derick Brassard and Geoff Platt are tied for the team lead with 2 power play goals apiece and Marc Methot and Joakim Lindrom have notched 1 each.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

HAMILTON BULLDOGS (MONTREAL CANADIENS): Syracuse welcomes the defending Calder Cup champion Hamilton Bulldogs to the War Memorial at Oncenter Friday night for the first of eight meetings between these two clubs. The Crunch went 4-3-1-0 against the Bulldogs last season. Hamilton center Maxim Lapierre currently leads the league in scoring with 8 points (4g, 4a) in three games.

LAKE ERIE MONSTERS (COLORADO AVALANCHE): The expansion Lake Erie Monsters make their first-ever trip to the Salt City Saturday night, as they will come in to face-off for the first of eight meetings between these two teams. Matt Hussey, Dan DaSilva and Michael Vernace are currently tied for the team lead in scoring with three points each.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

October 19

SUPERCUTS MAGNET SCHEDULE GIVEAWAY:

The Syracuse Crunch announced that Friday, October 19 will be the Supercuts Magnet Schedule giveaway. All fans in attendance will receive a 2007-08 Supercuts Magnet Schedule, compliments of Supercuts.

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

Tuesday, October 16 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Wednesday, October 17 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Thursday, October 18 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Friday, October 19 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Game vs. Hamilton 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 20 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Game vs. Lake Erie 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 21 TBD

CRUNCHABLES: Crunch center Andrew Murray had a shorthanded goal in the second period Friday. It was the third shorthanded goal this season for Syracuse. Marc Methot's power play tally on Saturday night in the second period was the first goal by a Crunch defenseman this season. Rookie Center Derick Brassard extended his point-scoring streak to 4 games to start the season. There was a multitude of NHL first round draft picks dressed for Saturday night's game including Hartford's Hugh Jessiman, Al Montoya, Alex Bourret and Lauri Korpikoski and Syracuse's Derick Brassard, Kris Beech and Adam Munro.

2007-08 RECORD: 1-3-0-0, 2 points, (1-1-0-0 home, 0-2-0-0 road), fifth place, North Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Friday, October 19 vs. Hamilton (2-0-0-1), third place, North Division

Saturday, October 20 vs. Lake Erie (0-4-0-0), seventh place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULT

Friday, October 12 BINGHAMTON 1 Crunch 4

Saturday, October 13 Hartford 5 CRUNCH 3

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

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