American Hockey League Wiki
Syracuse Crunch
SyracuseCrunch
City: Syracuse, New York
League: American Hockey League
Conference: Eastern Conference
Division: East Division
Founded: 1992
Home Arena: Oncenter War Memorial Arena
Colors: Blue, White, and Silver

              

Owner(s): Howard Dolgon
General Manager: Julien Brisebois
Head Coach: Jon Cooper
Media: Syracuse Post-Standard
WSKO (AM)
Affiliates: Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
Florida Everblades (ECHL)
Franchise history
1992–1994: Hamilton Canucks
1994–present: Syracuse Crunch
Championships
Division Championships: 1 (2001–02)
Conference Championships: 1 (2012–13 AHL season

The Syracuse Crunch are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Syracuse, New York, at the War Memorial at Oncenter. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. On March 17, 2010, it was reported that the Blue Jackets were to cut their affiliation with the Crunch, and place its minor leaguers with the Springfield Falcons. On March 25, 2010, the Crunch announced that they had signed a deal to be the AHL affiliate for the Anaheim Ducks in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 AHL seasons. On June 14, 2012, the crunch announced that they had signed a multi-year deal to be the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, ending their two year tenure with Anaheim.

Official Syracuse Crunch Website: http://www.syracusecrunch.com/

History[]

The franchise originated in 1992 as the Hamilton Canucks, which were an affiliate of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks played in Hamilton, Ontario for two seasons, before relocating to Upstate New York in 1994. They were then renamed the 'Crunch' in a public vote of five names. Since then they have developed an intrastate rivalry with the Rochester Americans. The Crunch made history on February 20, 2010, when they played the first outdoor AHL game against the Binghamton Senators. The Mirabito Outdoor Classic took place at the Grandstand at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. The game set an AHL attendance record of 21,508. Syracuse won the game 2–1.

Honored Numbers[]

The Crunch raised a banner following a fan vote during the team's fifth season in honor of fan favorite #14 "Big Bad" John Badduke. It is not retired, as it would later be worn by former US Olympian Darby Hendrickson and Serge Aubin. In recent years the number has remained on the shelf out of respect for Badduke and the honor given to him by the fans in 1998–99.

During the 2008–09 AHL season, the team temporarily reserved, but not retired, #7 as a tribute to Paul Newman after his death. This honors Reg Dunlop, the player-coach for the fictional Charlestown Chiefs, which Newman played in the movie Slap Shot that was filmed partially at Onondaga County War Memorial. Coincidentally, other scenes were filmed at Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the home ice of the Crunch's former ECHL affiliate, the Johnstown Chiefs. The banner was raised October 14 and was up for the entire season, but the number will not be retired, as it is worn by Crunch player Artem Sergeev

Syracuse Hockey History[]

American Hockey League teams that played in Syracuse:

Season-by-Season Results[]

Regular Season[]

Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SOL Points Goals
For
Goals
Against
Standing
1994–95 80 29 42 9 67 288 325 5th, South
1995–96 80 31 37 5 7 74 257 307 5th, Central
1996–97 80 32 38 10 0 74 241 265 4th, Empire State
1997–98 80 35 32 11 2 83 272 285 3rd, Empire State
1998–99 80 18 50 9 3 48 220 327 5th, Empire State
1999–00 80 35 35 9 1 80 290 294 2nd, Empire State
2000–01 80 33 30 12 5 83 235 254 3rd, Mid-Atlantic
2001–02 80 39 23 13 5 96 228 193 1st, Central
2002–03 80 27 41 8 4 66 201 256 4th, Central
2003–04 80 38 25 10 7 93 239 235 2nd, North
2004–05 80 36 33 4 7 83 215 230 5th, North
2005–06 80 47 25 5 3 102 272 251 2nd, North
2006–07 80 34 34 4 8 80 250 248 5th, North
2007–08 80 46 26 2 6 100 247 201 2nd, North
2008–09 80 40 32 5 3 88 214 226 5th, North
2009–10 80 34 39 4 3 75 227 272 6th, East
2010–11 80 35 38 3 4 77 221 250 6th, East
2011–12 76 37 29 -- 5 5 84 238 229

7th, East

2012-13 76 43 22 -- 6 5 97 247 201 1st, East

Playoffs[]

Season 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finals
1994–95 Out of Playoffs
1995–96 W, 3–1, Binghamton W, 4–3, Baltimore L, 1–4, Rochester
1996–97 L, 0–3, Rochester
1997–98 L, 2–3, Hamilton
1998–99 Out of Playoffs
1999–00 L, 1–3, Hamilton
2000–01 L, 2–3, WBS
2001–02 W, 3–0, Philadelphia L, 3–4, Chicago
2002–03 Out of Playoffs
2003–04 L, 3–4, Rochester
2004–05 Out of Playoffs
2005–06 L, 2–4, Manitoba
2006–07 Out of Playoffs
2007–08 W, 4-2, Manitoba L, 3–4, Toronto
2008–09 Out of Playoffs
2009–10 Out of Playoffs
2010–11 Out of Playoffs
2011–12 L, 1-3, St. John's
2012-13    W, 3-0, Portland   W, 4-0, Springfield   W, 4-1, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton   L, 2-4, Grand Rapids