Alex Ackerman welcomes her listeners back to a new year of Syracuse hockey. And new it is. After a three-week break due to COVID issues with Syracuse and with their opponents, the Crunch stormed back onto the league schedule with a perfect week, going 3-0. Syracuse won twice against division rival Rochester and once against Hershey with a roster that was as a close to complete as the Crunch has had all season. The week featured many highlights, including streaks from forwards Cole Koepke and Otto Somppi, the addition of former NHL defenseman Jason Garrison to the team on a Professional Tryout Contract, and the return of former organizational forward P.C. Labrie. Alex covers all of this and discusses how important this past week was for the team, both in terms of points percentage and in terms of overall organizational morale.
Alex then previews the team’s upcoming schedule, discusses the packed slate Syracuse is facing, and examines how the rest of this month could make – or break – Syracuse’s season. With three weeks remaining in February, the Crunch has 10 games currently scheduled, nine of which are against divisional opponents. Needless to say, this is a good time for the Crunch to find their stride! February, March, and April are not going to be any kinder to Syracuse in terms of the sheer number of games they have left to play, which is sure to create a challenge for the coaching staff and the team’s trainers as they aim to keep players healthy and free of injury.
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Paul is a producer responsible for production of podcasts and streamed content on our network. This includes Finger Lakes Today, FingerLakes1.com’s flagship daily live program. He hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast, too. Have a question? Send it to [email protected].