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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Crunch Welcome MacLean with Open Arms

March 3, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


WHAT A RETURN FOR MacLEAN: The Syracuse Crunch welcomed center Donald MacLean with open arms this week after he missed the seasons first 61 games with a neck injury. He did not waste any time picking up where he left off last season, netting a goal in his first game back on Friday, February 28 vs. Rochester and tallying two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in his second game on Sunday, March 2 @ Binghamton. His goal on Sunday was the 100th of his American Hockey League career. MacLean, 26, won the John B. Sollenberg Award as the AHL's top scorer (87 points) and finished second in the AHL in assists (54) last season as a member of the St. John's Maple Leafs. In 279 career AHL games with Syracuse, St. John's, Lowell, Springfield and Fredericton, MacLean has tallied 100 goals, 137 assists and 186 penalty minutes. He has also appeared in 25 career regular season NHL games with Los Angeles and Toronto, recording five goals, three assists and six penalty minutes. A 6-foot-3, 208 pound native of Sydney, Nova Scotia, MacLean was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings with their second selection, 33rd overall in the 1995 Entry Draft. Columbus signed MacLean as a free agent on July 17, 2002.

LECLAIRE'S STRONG EFFORT BREAKS STREAK: Crunch goaltender Pascal Leclaire broke a personal eight game winless streak (0-7-1) with a 33 save effort on Sunday, March 2 @ Binghamton. It was Leclaire's first victory since January 10 @ Grand Rapids. The win snapped a team four game losing streak for Syracuse. A native of Repentigny, Quebec, Leclaire has appeared in 32 games with the Crunch this season recording a 6-19-3 record, a 3.62 goals against average and a .887 save percentage. Columbus selected Leclaire with their first pick, 8th overall, in the 2001 Entry Draft.

BORZECKI RECALLED: Syracuse announced prior to Sunday's game @ Binghamton that they recalled defenseman Adam Borzecki from Elmira (UHL) two days after he was loaned to the Jackals. Borzecki has appeared in 49 games with Syracuse this season, tallying one goal, five assists and 63 penalty minutes. In eight games with Elmira, Borzecki has two assists and 20 penalty minutes. A native of Gdansk, Poland, Borzecki signed his third American Hockey League contract with the Crunch on August 27, 2001.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Wednesday, March 5

Dollar Beer Night: On Wednesday, March 5 all draft beer and soda products on March 5 will cost one dollar at all Oncenter concession stands.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

PHILADELPHIA (PHILADELPHIA FLYERS): The Crunch hosts Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 5 for the fifth of six regular season meetings this season. Philadelphia leads the series 3-1-0, after defeating Syracuse 5-3 on February 9. Phantoms right wing Kirby Law (5g, 1a) leads all players in head-to-head scoring with six points. Right wing David Ling (1g, 3a) leads the Crunch with four points. Goaltender Neil Little has appeared in all four games against the Crunch, with a 3-1-0 record, a 2.01 goals against average and .920 save percentage. Karl Goehring has appeared in net three times for Syracuse with a 1-1-0 record, 2.18 goals against average and .925 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch is 7-16-7 against the Phantoms.

ST. JOHN'S (TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS): Syracuse travels to St. John's to play the Maple Leafs on Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 for the third and fourth of four regular season meetings. St. John's centers Alexei Ponikarovsky (1g, 3a) and Brad Boyes (3g, 1a) lead all players in head-to-head scoring with four points. Left wing Andrej Nedorost (1g), defenseman Derrick Walser (1a) and right wing Matt Davidson (1g) lead the Crunch with one point each. Maple Leafs goaltender Mikael Tellqvist has appeared in both games with a 2- 0-0 record, a 1.00 goals against average and .974 save percentage. Karl Goehring (0-1-0, 4.06 gaa, .879 spct) and Pascal Leclaire (0-1-0, 4.00gaa, .867 spct) have split time in the net for Syracuse. Lifetime, Syracuse is 11-7-0 against St. John's.

INJURY UPDATE: Defenseman Duvie Westcott is listed as day-to-day with knee injury suffered on Friday, February 28 vs. Rochester. Westcott has missed one game with the injury... Defenseman Trent Cull is listed as day-to-day with a groin injury, suffered February 14 vs. St. John's. Cull has missed the last nine games with the injury... Center Blake Bellefeuille is listed as day-to-day with an oblique contusion suffered on Friday, February 28 vs. Rochester. Bellefeuille has missed one game with the injury.

INJURIES BY THE NUMBERS: Through 63 games this season, Syracuse has lost 171 man-games due to injuries Darrel Scoville - 50, Trent Cull - 24, Brad Moran - 20, Paul Manning & Duvie Westcott - 13, Pauli Levokari - 8, Blake Bellefeuille & Donald MacLean - 6, Ben Knopp - 5, Andrej Nedorost - 4, Radim Bicanek & Kent McDonell - 3, Matt Dzieduszycki, Martin Paroulek & Dan Watson - 2, Adam Borzecki & Trevor Ettinger - 1, represent the Crunch's injury list this season.

CRUNCHABLES: Center Brad Moran is three points away from 100 in a Crunch uniform... Defenseman Derrick Walser's power play goal on Sunday night against Binghamton moved him into a ninth place tie with Dane Jackson, Brent Sopel and Matt Davidson on the Crunch's all-time leaders list with 14... Syracuse's victory Sunday night against Binghamton broke a four game losing streak (0-3-1).

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