AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Weekly

October 16, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


2006-07 RECORD: 0-4-0-0, 0 points (0-2-0-0 home, 0-2-0-0 road), sixth place, North Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Friday, October 20 @ Omaha (3-0-1-0), 7 points, second place, West Division

Saturday, October 21 @ Iowa (4-0-0-0), 8 points, first place, West Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULT

Friday, October 13 Wilkes-Barre 6 CRUNCH 1

Saturday, October 14 Hershey 6 CRUNCH 3

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

DUPUIS NETS FIRST: This past weekend produced a couple of firsts for Crunch rookies Philippe Dupuis and Olivier Labelle. On Saturday night vs. Hershey, Dupuis scored his first professional goal. He joined the Crunch following an outstanding junior career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, recording 324 points (113g, 211a) in 313 games with Hull, Gatineau, Rouyn and Moncton. A native of Laval, Quebec was originally drafted by Columbus in the fourth round, 104th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Dupuis' goal produced right wing Olivier Labelle's first point as a professional, an assist.

Columbus recap: The Blue Jackets went 1-1 last week, defeating Phoenix 5-1 on Monday, October 9 and losing 5-0 against Minnesota on Saturday, October 14.

Many of the Crunch's former players are contributing to Columbus' 2-1-1 record. On Monday night, defenseman Duvie Westcott recorded one goal and two assists while, defenseman Anders Eriksson and center Mark Hartigan each added an assist. Goaltender Pascal Leclaire made 23 saves in the win. On Saturday night Leclaire finished the night with 14 saves after being relieved by Fredrik Norrena midway through the second period.

Through four games this season, Westcott (2g, 3a) and Hartigan (1g, 2a) are among the Blue Jackets top five scorers. Leclaire has appeared in all four games posting a 2-1-1 record, 3.36 goals against average and .889 save percentage.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

OMAHA (CALGARY FLAMES): The Crunch make their first-ever trip to Omaha on Friday, October 20 for the first of two regular season meetings.

IOWA (DALLAS STARS): On Saturday, October 21 the Crunch travel to Iowa for the first of two regular season meetings. This will be the first-ever meeting between to the two teams.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Ashley Furniture Home Store 'Test a Sealy Mattress & Win Crunch Tickets' Program: The Syracuse Crunch announced the details of the Ashley Furniture Home Store 'Test a Sealy Mattress & Win Crunch Tickets' program.

Anytime a potential customer tests a Sealy mattress at Ashley Furniture Home Store between October 13 & October 31, 2006 (or while supplies last), they will receive a voucher valid for a pair of complimentary tickets to a select Crunch game, courtesy of Ashley Furniture Home Store.

In addition, if a customer makes a Sealy mattress purchase during the promotional period, they are automatically entered to win a team autographed Crunch jersey and game used stick, four (4) tickets to a game of their choice and a chance to meet one (1) of the players following a Crunch home game.

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

Tuesday, October 17 10:30 a.m. practice @ Tsha'Hon'nonyen'dakhwa

Wednesday, October 18 10:30 a.m. practice @ Tsha'Hon'nonyen'dakhwa

Thursday, October 19 Depart for Omaha

Friday, October 20 12:15 p.m. skate @ Omaha Civic Auditorium

8 p.m. game @ Omaha

Saturday, October 21 12:15 p.m. skate @ Wells Fargo Arena

8:05 p.m. game @ Iowa

Sunday, October 22 Travel Day

*All practice times and locations subject to change

CRUNCHABLES: Syracuse's start this season (0-4) is the slowest start in team history. In the 1998-99 season the team was winless in their first four games (0-3-1), while in 2000-01, Gary Agnew's first year as head coach, the team went winless in their first five games (0-3-1-1)... Twelve of the twenty-two players who have dressed for Columbus this season have at one point in their career played for the Crunch (Duvie Westcott, Mark Hartigan, Nikolai Zherdev, Anders Eriksson, Jaroslav Balastik, Dan Fritsche, Geoff Platt, Joe Shelley, Alexander Svitov, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Aaron Johnson and Pascal Leclaire)... Syracuse scored their first power play of the season on Saturday, October 14 vs. the Hershey Bears... Right wing Brandon Sugden is 61 penalty minutes short of tying Jeremy Reich (820) for first on the Crunch's all-time penalty minutes list... Right wing Joe Motzko is one assist shy of 100 in a Crunch uniform... Defenseman Jamie Pushor is eight games short of appearing in his 900th professional game.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from October 16, 2006


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