AHL Syracuse Crunch

McDonell Returns From Columbus

December 15, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Right wing Kent McDonell returned to the Crunch line-up on Saturday night against Chicago after appearing in 23 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, recording one goal (his first NHL tally – October 18 @ Nashville), one assist and 34 penalty minutes. In three games with the Crunch this season, McDonell has two goals, two assists and two penalty minutes. A native of Williamstown, Ontario, McDonell was acquired by Columbus from Detroit for a sixth round draft choice in the 2003 Entry Draft on August 16, 2000. He has appeared in 179 career AHL games, all with the Crunch, tallying 37 goals, 42 assists and 253 penalty minutes. McDonell is fifth on the Crunch's all-time game-winning goals list with seven. Lonny Bohonos and Brian Loney are tied for first with 14.

CULL BACK FROM INJURY: Defenseman Trent Cull returned to the Crunch's lineup this past weekend, appearing in both Crunch games after missing the previous 16 with a broken foot. In nine games this season with the Crunch, Cull has one assist and 17 penalty minutes. A native of Georgetown, Ontario, Cull has appeared in 386 career AHL games with St. John's, Springfield, Wilkes-Barre, Houston, and Syracuse, recording 18 goals, 44 assists and 918 penalty minutes. Syracuse signed Cull to a two-year AHL contract on August 31, 2002.

TEAM PENALTY MINUTES: Syracuse enters this week the third-most penalized team in the AHL, averaging 23.16 penalty minutes a game. Philadelphia (the Crunch's opponent on Friday night) leads the League with 27.48 penalty minutes a game.

TRANSACTIONS: Through December 15 the Crunch have had 40 player transactions. Through the same time frame last season Syracuse had 38 player moves.

UPCOMING APPEARANCES:

Wednesday, December 17:

All Sports Collectors Gallery, Inc. Autograph Signing: Crunch players Mark Hartigan, Ben Knopp, Joe Motzko and Jeremy Reich will be at All Sports Collectors Gallery, Inc. in ShoppingTown Mall on Wednesday, December 17 to sign autographs from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

All Sports Collectors Gallery, Inc. will serve as a retail outlet for Syracuse Crunch merchandise during the 2003-04 season. Crunch Merchandise will be available for purchase at the appearance. All Sports Collectors Gallery, Inc. is located in ShoppingTown Mall (3649 Erie Blvd. East). For more information call 446-7701.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

December

CellBucks In-Game Auction: During each Crunch home game for the 2003-04 season the Crunch and CellBucks will hold an in-game auction featuring a special Crunch item.

To participate in the auction, fans must be registered with CellBucks. Registration is free and can be done by visiting www.CellBucks.com and completing a quick start sign-up form. After you are a registered user, you will be eligible to participate in CellBucks in-game auctions and order food delivered directly to your seat!

Each month during the regular season, the Crunch will feature the CellBucks in-game auction items on the front page of their website, encouraging people to sign up and bid prior to the game.

December 19 – Blue Hooded Sweatshirt

December 20 – White Replica Jersey

December 26 – Pair of Crunch tickets and a long sleeve t-shirt

December 31 – Autographed Puck

CellBucks continues to provide Crunch fans with wireless food and beverage in-seat service. Fast, convenient and safe, this service allows fans to order and pay for food and beverages at the press of button – and have it delivered right to your seat. Visit www.CellBucks.com to register now!

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:

PHILADELPHIA (PHILADELPHIA FLYERS): The Crunch host the Philadelphia Phantoms at the War Memorial at Oncenter on Friday, December 19 for the second and final regular season meeting between the clubs. Syracuse defeated Philadelphia 2-1 in their first meeting on October 19 at Wachovia Spectrum. Right wing Kent McDonell leads all players with two points (2g). Right wing Mike Peluso (1g) and center Ben Stafford (1a) lead the Phantoms with one point. Crunch goaltender Karl Goehring posted the victory for Syracuse, recording 30 saves. Antero Niittymaki recorded 14 saves for Philadelphia. Lifetime, the Crunch are 10-16-7 against the Phantoms.

ST. JOHN'S (TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS): St. John's visits Syracuse on Saturday, December 20 for the first of eight regular season meetings. Center Kyle Wellwood leads the Maple Leafs with 26 points (4g, 22a). Goaltender Sebastien Centomo has appeared in 17 games for St. John's, posting a 6-8-2 record, a 2.72 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch are 13-7-0 against the Maple Leafs.

NATIONWIDE INSURANCE COLUMBUS UPDATE: The Blue Jackets (8-15-4-2) enter this week fifth in the Central Division, one point behind Chicago (23 points). Left wing Rick Nash leads the NHL with 19 goals and leads Columbus with 23 points (19g, 4a). There are currently eight players on the Columbus roster that have appeared in a Crunch jersey (Jody Shelley, Duvie Westcott, Derrick Walser, David Ling, Todd Rohloff, Anders Eriksson and Jamie Pushor).

INJURY UPDATE: Left wing Andrej Nedorost is out indefinitely until further testing with a concussion he suffered on November 29 against Binghamton. He has missed five games with the injury... Through 25 games this season the Crunch have lost 42 man-games due to injury (Trent Cull – 16, Paul Traynor – 7, Sean Connolly – 5, Brandon Sugden – 5, Andrej Nedorost -5 and Pauli Levokari – 4).

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

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

Wednesday, December 17 10:30 a.m. practice @ Tsha'Hon'Nonyen'Dakhwa

Thursday, December 18 10:30 p.m. practice @ Tsha'Hon'Nonyen'Dakhwa

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

7:30 p.m. game vs. Philadelphia

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

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

Sunday, December 21 Off

*All practice times and locations subject to change

CRUNCHABLES: In Syracuse's 3-1 loss on Saturday vs. Chicago, the team outshot their opponent (37-36) for the first time since November 26 @ Cleveland, a span of six games... Despite being outshot in 19 of their 25 games, Syracuse's record in those games is 9-7-1-2. In the 6 games that they have outshot their opponent the team's record is 2-3-1... With the Crunch's lone goal during Saturday night's 3-1 loss against Chicago, Tim Jackman is just one goal shy of matching his 2002-03 total of nine, in just 25 games... Defenseman Darrel Scoville appeared in his 100th Syracuse game on Saturday night against Chicago, a night after appearing in his 300th AHL game... The Crunch's 20 second period shots on Saturday night vs. Chicago were a season high... Syracuse is unbeaten in regulation this season (10-0-1-1) when one or more players record a multiple point game. Mark Hartigan (4-0-01), Donald MacLean (3-0-1-1) and Brad Moran (3-0-1-1) lead the way for Syracuse with five multiple point games apiece.

2003-04 RECORD: 11-10-2-2, 26 points (7-3-1-1 home, 4-7-1-1 road), fifth place, North Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Friday, December 19 vs. Philadelphia (15-10-3-1), 34 points, third place, East Division

Saturday, December 20 vs. St. John's (14-14-2-1), 31 points, second place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, December 12 Manitoba 5 OT CRUNCH 4

Saturday, December 13 Chicago 3 CRUNCH 1

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2003


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