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AHL Syracuse Crunch

Express Mart Opening Night Friday, October 15

October 11, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


CRUNCH LOOK TO SET OPENING NIGHT ROSTER: Syracuse enters the first week of their 11th season with 24-players on their roster (2 goaltenders, 8 defensemen and 14 forwards). (Note: The Crunch's official opening night roster is filed with the American Hockey League on Tuesday, October 12). Sixteen of the twenty-four players (66.7%) were members of the Crunch's 2003-04 team.

Syracuse's roster features six players with rookie status (Steven Goertzen, Greg Mauldin, Evgueni Nourislamov, Prestin Ryan, Raffaele Sannitz and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen). Thirteen of the 24 players have National Hockey League experience (Francois Beauchemin, Mark Hartigan, Tim Jackman, Aaron Johnson, Zenith Komarniski, Pascal Leclaire, Greg Mauldin, Brad Moran, Joe Motzko, Mike Pandolfo, Jamie Pushor, Jeremy Reich and Alexander Svitov).

The Crunch's roster features players from six different countries (USA – 6, Canada – 12, Russia – 2, Austria – 2, Norway – 1 and Switzerland – 1). The average height of the Crunch's roster is 6-feet and the average weight is 198 pounds.

NEW LOOK WEB SITE DEBUTS: The Crunch will enter the season with a new look for their web site. The 2004-05 version of the site features a red, white and blue color scheme in addition to an American Hockey League navigation bar at the top of all pages.

DAVID LING RETURNS TO WAR MEMORIAL: Fan favorite and former Crunch captain David Ling returns to the War Memorial at Oncenter as a member of the St. John's Maple Leafs on Friday, October 15. Ling appeared in 131 career games with the Crunch over three seasons, recording 33 goals, 85 assists and 394 penalty minutes. He has played in 326 career AHL contests with Saint John, Fredericton and Syracuse, netting 104 goals, 196 assists and 969 penalty minutes. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ling was originally drafted by Quebec with their ninth choice, 179th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft and signed as a free agent by Columbus on July 7, 2001. In 93 career NHL games with Montreal and Columbus, Ling has four goals, four assists and 191 penalty minutes.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

ST. JOHN'S (TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS): The Crunch open their 11th AHL season by hosting St. John's on Friday, October 15 for the first of eight regular season meetings. Four Maple Leafs players led the team during the preseason with two points. St. John's goaltender Mikael Tellqvist appeared in two games during the preseason, with a 0-1-0 mark, a 4.65 goals against average and a .863 save percentage. Lifetime Syracuse is 18-10-0 against St. John's.

BINGHAMTON (OTTAWA SENATORS): Syracuse travels to Binghamton on Saturday, October 16 for the first of eight regular season meetings this season. Center Jason Spezza led all players in head-to-head scoring during the preseason with four points (1g, 3a). Three players led the Crunch with two points during the preseason. Goaltender Ray Emery appeared in two games during the preseason for Binghamton with a 1-0-0 record, a 1.91 goals against average and .942 save percentage. Crunch goaltenders Goehring and Andrew Penner each saw time against Binghamton this preseason. Lifetime, Syracuse is 7-7-2 against the Senators.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Friday, October 15

EXPRESS MART OPENING NIGHT: Friday, October 15 against the St. John's Maple Leafs will be Express Mart Opening Night at the Crunch. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a hand-clapper noisemaker, compliments of Express Mart. Discounted coupons for $10 tickets will be available at all Express Mart locations.

INJURY UPDATE: Center Raffaele Sannitz is listed as day-to-day with a separated shoulder that occurred during a preseason practice...He has missed the preseason games with the injury.

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

Tuesday, October 12 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Wednesday, October 13 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Thursday, October 14 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Friday, October 15 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

7:30 p.m. game vs. St. John's

Saturday, October 16 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

7:05 p.m. game vs. Binghamton

Sunday, October 17 Off Day

*All practice times and locations subject to change

CRUNCHABLES: Center Alexander Svitov will be the highest draft pick to wear a Crunch uniform in Syracuse's 10 year history. Svitov was selected by Tampa Bay in the first round, 3rd overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft... The Crunch will face four former Crunch players in their home opener on Friday, October 15 against St. John's (David Ling, Brad Leeb, Harold Druken and Robb Palahnuk.)

2003-04 RECORD: 38-25-10-7, 93 points (21-8-6-5 home, 17-17-4-2 road), second place, North Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Friday, October 15 vs. St. John's (32-36-8-4), 76 points, seventh place, North Division

Saturday, October 16 @ Binghamton (34-34-9-3), 80 points, fourth place, East Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, October 6 Binghamton 5 CRUNCH 3

Thursday, October 7 WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 8 Crunch 1

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

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