Chairman How's Glorious Army
Significantly Lowering the Bar Since 2008.

In this edition: The Era of Excitement, Dashed Hopes, and the Sprint to the End

 

Thrills and Chills: Two steps forward, one step back…or is it one step forward, two steps back?

The final three months of the season was a ridiculous time of horrible loses and hope-restoring wins. Eric lost all his hair. Some of us became alcoholics. Some of us already were on the juice, but the stretch just made it worse. I myself became so drunk for the first time during this stretch I may have spent the night indisposed. We all took one for the team at different times, I can tell you that much. Let’s first run down the thrills and chills with some highlights from a few games:

–This time period started off with a 1-4 loss against the WBS Penguins, a loss that came in front of a sold-out crowd at home. While it wasn’t exactly a great way to create repeat patrons, the game did prove one thing: Steve Kelly could still score, as his power play marker was the only one to find the twine in the Crunch’s 41 SOG. Of course, Kelly made up for the sudden appearance of his ability to play hockey with making a stupid move and blatantly slashing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Luca Caputi, earning himself a match penalty and a one-game suspension.

–Syracuse was completely undressed in a 3-6 loss against Toronto, giving up two power play goals and a short handed goal while managing only 19 SOG the whole game. The low shots on net would be a huge issue for the Crunch, plaguing them for the rest of the season. Syracuse would again lose to Toronto a short time later, this time 5-8. At that point, Syracuse was trailing the 4^th place Marlies by 6 points in the playoff run. These games would be the first of the “must wins” the team would lose, leaving both the players and the fans wondering if they were looking at a very long off season. In another “must win” game a few weeks down the road, Syracuse would lose to Rockford in a shootout (score: 3-2). The Crunch would also lose a clutch game against Bingo in OT (score: 3-4).

–In a game that forced Captain Smith to break his silence with the media and announce he had held a Captain’s Meeting afterwards, the Crunch again lost to WBS 1-3. The residue of the playoff run from the year before was thick in the air at this point, with fans wondering if this team had the balls to pull off another such run. Confidence in the team was not helped at all when the Crunch then lost 0-6 to Lake Erie. Other losses would be just as hard to take—Syracuse would lose to Rochester (score: 1-2), Manitoba (score: 3-5), and San Antonio (a 1-4 loss in a weird twist of fate that would see Karl Goehring come back to haunt the Crunch yet again…I think we’re all relieved that scenario can’t happen anymore). 

– Never short on drama, the team even had a few wins that were almost as unbearable as the losses. One of these wins was a 6-5 win over Grand Rapids, where the Crunch scored 5 times in the second and then watched the Griffins knock out five goals of their own before the Crunch was able to go in for the win. MacDonald, Holden, Picard, Clitsome, McGuirk, and Frischmon would score those six goals.

–However, Syracuse did manage to scrape by sometimes. One of these nights was with a shoot out win over Grand Rapids (final score: 2-1). Dahm finally looked like an AHL goalie in this game, the Crunch’s special teams spoke up with a shorty, and York, Mayorov and Kelly all scored in the shootout. The team also finally showed signs of life with 41 SOG. The next night, the team did it again against Springfield, winning the game in another shootout with Dahm yet again standing tall. A month later, Syracuse would stun league-leaders WBS with a 4-2 win at the War Memorial, bringing hometown fans to their feet with goals from MacKenzie, Picard, Frischmon and Blunden. I can still remember staring across the arena at Magic after this game, cheering and wondering what if?

Thrill: Harvey gets a contract

Forward Kevin Harvey had been on a 25-game PTO until he was signed to an AHL deal in the beginning of February. Crunch fans were thrilled because the deal not only gave him till the end of the season but also kept him in a Crunch uniform for the next year, as well.

Chill (though a thrill for him): LaCosta gets called up again

The precariousness of the goaltending situation within the organization came to a head during February, with star prospect Mason going down with a bad case of mono. Many Crunch fans had said Mason was being pushed too hard with too little experience, and most of us were just waiting for something to happen. When it did, LaCosta got the call (and did amazing, might we add), leaving Syracuse with Dahm and another random player. Fans began to fume about the ridiculous situation, but the pleas for a more permanent solution here in Syracuse would go unanswered for another couple of weeks.

Chill: Filatov and LaCosta get sick

With a condition that seemed to only get worse as time went on (and only got better once his mom was called in), forward Nikita Filatov got quite sick in the middle of February. He seemed to battling one long case of sinusitis, with reports of increasing concern coming in nearly every day. Although the illness eventually got better, fans never really get to see the “old Nikita” come back.  Dan LaCosta, on the other hand, was reportedly out the flu, an illness he got sick with upon his send down from C-Bus. Only later would Crunch fans realize how sick he was—the illness left him weak and down 8 pounds. Luckily for the Crunch, however, Dan was more than ready to bounce back at the end of it all.

Chill: Mirasty injured…

Crunch enforcer Jon Mirasty suffered a streak of bad luck to end what many thought would be his last season in a Crunch uniform (thankfully, the hockey gods smiled on us all and brought him back). His hands were hurt quite a few times during the beginning of the season, then his shoulder was injured, and then to end his season he got gouged in the eye during a fight. Although fans would show their appreciation for Mirasty during the last match of the season, we all missed having The Policeman on the ice for those final games.

Spill: …with no replacement? WTF?

Despite everyone knowing how differently teams play when enforcers are dressed, CBJ decided they were not going to find a replacement for Nasty, leaving the Crunch vulnerable. Although there were some middle weights on the roster—Harvey and Blunden had proved themselves repeatedly, while Sestito can be an effective fighter when he’s not concerned about his shoulder—there was really no one else who invoked the excitement and the intimidation Nasty Mirasty did. Fans would remain puzzled by this decision for the rest of the season.

Spill: Vigilante traded…

On the night of Febuary 20^th, 2009, I got a very strange text from Magic that I believe went something like this: We just traded one our best forwards for a -19 ECHL defenseman. My hockey ladies and I blinked at each other in shock. Considering the low-scoring, low-SOG games the Crunch had been experiencing, why the hell had we frittered away one of our forwards on someone who appeared to be as much of a black hole as Plekhanov? What was even more confusing was that CBJ appeared to love Vigilante: We know what we’re getting. We’re getting a good, character person who can play anywhere on your top nine (forwards). He’s got good hands. He makes the right play at the right time. He’s a jack of all trades that all coaches like to have on the roster. That one made a lot of sense for us and the organization. (MacFarland to Lindsay Kramer, 7/8/2008)

Thrill: …Spang added

However, little did we all know that the -19* d-man we were all so worried about would come in and be the spark the Crunch needed during that final push at the end of the season. Defenseman Dan Spang turned out to be a welcome addition to the Crunch roster. His energy and enthusiasm would soon catch the eye of a lot of fans, many of whom would call for his return next season (not that it happened…).   

*This number might be really high. I can’t remember what it really was. Sorry, Spang.

Spill: Rome gets called up

The addition of Spang came at exactly the right time, as a week later Aaron Rome was called up to CBJ, leaving Smith as the only veteran d-man on the squad. Although a strong player for the Crunch, Rome would unfortunately spend most of his time holding down the carpet in the press box at Columbus, leaving many fans to wonder why the hell he was even called up to begin with.

Thrill: Pic’s Gordie Howe Hat Trick

In what would prove to be one of the most exciting games of the season, Syracuse romped all over Albany with a 5-2 win on the night of February 28^th. Picard put his own spin on the legendary Gordie Howe hat trick (one player scoring a goal, getting an assist and getting into a fight in a single game) by scoring twice, adding an assist and fighting Albany goalie Justin Peters. Everyone who was there that night can probably still remember how awesome it was to see Peters go out of his way to get to Picard and then Pic holding his own against the goaltender. If only the fight would have be allowed to go for a bit longer.

Spill: Plekhanov loses the game for Syracuse

The night after Syracuse lost a ridiculously important game against the Hamilton Bulldogs, an odd anomaly happened in hockey land. The Crunch was getting ready to play WBS when suddenly about half the arena stood up and cheered as the scratches for the game were announced. Confused, a WBS fan turned to me and asked what was going on, as home fans usually don’t cheer for their own scratches. If you remember this weekend, then I’m sure you know exactly what went on. For those that need a memory jog, let me fill you in: Plekhanov was the player, we were all well aware it was a healthy scratch, and we were all equally pleased that a message had been sent to the confused kid: make a horrible turnover during overtime and you don’t get to play the next night.

Remember when Plekhanov was good? Yea, neither do I, but he was at one point. Unfortunately, by early March his game had deteriorated so seriously that when he got caught screwing around with the puck behind his own net we all knew what was going to happen. We could see it coming. Sure enough, we were right. Although Syracuse did get a point out of the contest, not getting the two it deserved was a bitter pill to swallow.

Thrill: Lalande added—finally!

In a move that had Crunch fans everywhere checking to see if Hell had frozen over, the Blue Jackets finally stepped up to the plate and signed a real AHL goaltender for Syracuse. CBJ acquired 22-year-old goaltender Kevin Lalande from Calgary in exchange for a fourth-round pick. Although fans were unsure at the time—Lalande appeared to be an “AHL” goalie in name only, seeing as he only had 13 career AHL games (6-4-1)—he would soon grow to be a secure number four within the CBJ/Crunch organization. Fans were even more excited that Lalande was already signed through to the 2009-2010 season. The goaltender would become a huge factor in the Crunch’s next set of wins: the team would beat Toronto (score: 3-1), Lake Erie (score: 3-1), and Rochester (score: 4-1). In those three games, Lalande would make 111 saves on 114 shots and earn himself the AHL Player of the Week award for his effort.

Thrill: Pic’s amazing weekend

7 goals scored over two games. Back-to-back hat tricks. Five straight wins in a row. Now that’s what I call a great weekend. Forward Alexandre Picard certainly gave his team a shot in the arm from March 20^th through the 21^st, scoring 3 goals against Rochester on the 20^th and then 4 goals against Albany on the 21^st. The performance earned him several standing ovations, a couple number one stars of the game, and a hell of a lot of new hats. It also helped the Crunch pick up two more wins.

Thrill: Crunch gets huge wins at home and away

For some reason, no matter how bad they are, Lake Erie has always been a monkey on the Crunch’s back. The team has almost become a second Rochester, seeing as it will still be a battle no matter how stacked Syracuse is or how weak the other team is. However, the Crunch did what it had to do at home against the Monsters on March 28^th, beating them 8-5. The Crunch was up 3-0 but blew that, scored 4 goals in the second and then almost watched that lead melt away as the Monsters came back to score 3 in the third. But, they did win, and the game brought Syracuse within one point of the Marlies, a team the Crunch was facing in Toronto the next night. Syracuse would need every ounce of momentum it could take from the Cleveland match. The Crunch would eventually come away as the winner over Toronto, 4-3, courtesy of one of the most nail-bitingly tense shootouts ever. I’m not ashamed to admit I may have cried just a little with disbelief when the Crunch won this game, as it brought Syracuse up to neck-and-neck status with Toronto in the playoff race.

Spill: Filatov called up for good

In a move that appeared to get shadier as the days went on, Crunch fans were stunned when forward Filatov was called up on April Fools Day. Many thought it was just a joke, not because the kid had been called up—it was half expected—but because CBJ had the balls to admit outright that they weren’t calling up Filatov to play. Filatov was going to sit in a folding chair in the locker room and “soak up the playoff atmosphere” in Columbus. Crunch fans almost immediately smelled a rat and rumors abounded of money issues, an irritated prospect who was threatening to bolt for Russia, and a parent team deciding to set a precedent by caving to the demands of an 18 year old. The repercussions of this one event may be seen sooner than Crunch fans might have thought, with yet another similar prospect making a big stink about not wanting to be in Syracuse.

Spill: The Dispatch disses the AHL and all those who love it (and pay to see it)

To make the Filatov situation worse, the Columbus Dispatch decided to voice an opinion that never should have made it into print at quite possibly the most explosive time it could have picked. Portzline, a staff member, decided it was just fine to say Crunch fans should shut up about the Filatov situation because the AHL doesn’t matter: as everyone knows, he explained, the AHL is just a bunch of “glorified exhibition games.” I personally was disgusted to see that any news organization so closely affiliated with an NHL club was allowed to publish such ridiculous, incendiary, and hurtful drivel. The relationship Syracuse had with Columbus took heavy damage during the 2008-2009 season. Such an ignorant and hateful statement did not help. As I mentioned at the beginning of this series, Crunch fans have long memories. Very long. This comment still circulates among the fans, especially when questionable moves are made, and many of us are still waiting for a public apology that we know will never come.

Spill: The final away game of the season ends Syracuse’s playoff hopes

This is a game my friends and I still talk about, mainly because we were there. I can remember looking over the comments on Crunch Time! the next day and knowing everyone who was talking could not have been in the building on that fateful Friday night. Many fans were all over the Crunch for not trying, not playing hard, giving up, etc., seeing as the team couldn’t manage to score a single goal in 60 minutes of hockey. Those of us who were there, however, saw the situation a little differently. The team was just not meant to win that game. They tried. Oh, lord, did they try. 30 shots on goal went by with not one red light to make Crunch fans happy, but none of us walked out of there frustrated that the team didn’t try. We were all struck deaf and dumb by the realization that it just wasn’t meant to be. As a matter of fact, the whole season could be summed up by the one move of the night that still sticks in my head: in a desperate dive to save the game, d-man Dan Spang threw himself to the ice and stretched his stick out, trying to stop a renegade puck from going down the ice and into the empty net at the other end. He missed it by inches and the puck sailed on, easily going into the goal to give Rochester the 0-2 lead it would take home. Spang, just like some of the Crunch, tried so hard, so desperately, but just didn’t quite make it. It was too little, too late.

Thrill: Final game of the season

Although the loss the night before had been heartbreaking—Kevin Harvey sat on the bench with his head down for a full two minutes at the end—the Crunch’s regular season wasn’t quite done yet. Syracuse still had one more game left to play, at home against Rochester. As customary, the final home game of the regular season was also awards night. The awards were pretty much all good. Captain Smith got what he deserved (although I still say the MVP award should have been his, as well), Nasty Mirasty was honored, and Frischmon finally got recognition for all of his hard work. The Crunch won the game, 4-2, giving Syracuse fans one last thing to cheer about. We were all pleasantly surprised with Smith came out onto the ice to speak to us after the game. The shootout show was ridiculously fun, with host Bobby Mac making the most out of his last night on air for the season with guest Dan Smith and his daughter. Of course, unbeknownst to us Crunchies, the show would be the last time we’d see either Bobby Mac or Dan Smith in the Memorial (at least as part of the Crunch team), but it was a fitting last night with both men.

 

And that’s it, girls and boys. 21 pages later, this season is in the books as one of the most twisted seasons ever, with enough thrills, chills, and spills to really make one sick to their stomach. However, there is good news: the 2009-10 season is just two months away, give or take a bit.

Here’s to all of us: may it be another entertaining year as fans of the best organization in the AHL, with a lifetime of memories still to be made.