Resilient Crunch hope reinforcements will lead to deep playoff run

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
April 21, 2017

Through band aids, patchwork lineups and sheer determination, the Syracuse Crunch survived the American Hockey League season despite a roster constantly raided by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Welcome to life as an affiliate of a National Hockey League team.

Despite using 44 different players through call ups, tryout contracts and trades, the Crunch open up play in the 2017 AHL playoffs as North Division champions and will fact the St. John’s Ice Caps (Montreal affiliate) in the best-of-five opening round starting with Friday’s Game 1 at St. John’s at 6:30 p.m. EDT.(The game can be heard tonight on tblpowerplay.com

The Crunch do hold home-ice advantage in the series and had the choice of starting at home or playing the first two games on the road, opting to get the final three potential games in Syracuse next week.

Syracuse held the division lead for most of the season, but understandably slipped toward the end of the regular season, falling behind Toronto for most of the final few weeks. With Jake Dotchin, Gabriel Dumont, Yanni Gourde, Adam Erne, Michael Bournival and Cory Conacher up with the Lightning for most of the final two weeks of the NHL regular season, the Crunch had a relatively unfamiliar roster on the ice for most of their games down the stretch.

But Syracuse closed out the season on a four-game winning streak and went 4-0-1 over the final five games to overtake the Marlies and claim the division crown.

”We are so proud of all those guys, with all the challenges we have faced this year, the way they have responded, it’s awesome,’’ Syracuse head coach Ben Groulx said. “We managed to get five points in our last five games to put ourselves in this position . . . to clinch the division and we did it. I’m very proud of those guys.’’

The resiliency shown by the Crunch all season was matched, perhaps, only by that shown of the parent club. It creates a strong bond among players.

”It’s a cliché, but in our case it’s true, everybody contributed to our success,’’ Groulx said.

Now, with the Lightning having failed to reach the postseason, the Crunch have perhaps the strongest lineup they have had all season. After Tampa Bay’s season came to an end, a half dozen players that contributed to the Lightning’s near miraculous run to a postseason berth were reassigned to the Crunch. That included Dotchin, Gourde, Erne, Dumont and Conacher. Joel Vermin and Bournival had been reassigned the previous day.

Those reinforcements make the Crunch a favorite to get out of the North Division bracket and reach the Eastern Conference finals.

”Just to get those guys acclimated to (high pressure) style of games and then coming back, it’s huge,’’ defenseman Matt Taormina said. “It’s a big boost of confidence for themselves, too, and I know because I’ve been there myself. Just to get that opportunity was big and then coming back down with a lot of confidence and a lot of firepower left. I think with them coming down it makes this a pretty special team and hopefully we can get that chemistry and make a pretty long run.’’

The Crunch used the final week of the season as a bit of a reintroduction to each other and to get used to playing together again to try and build that chemistry as quick as possible.

”We wanted to fine tune our game with our guys back,’’ Groulx said. “I thought we had a good week of practice, we have a good atmosphere in this room, a good vibe and good energy and we want to keep it that way.’’

That journey starts against the Ice Caps, a team the Crunch have faced eight times during the regular season. Syracuse picked up 11 out of a possible 16 points against St. John’s, posing a 4-1-3 record including 2-1-1 at St. John’s.

The uniqueness of the 2-3 start to the series makes this a bit of an unconventional series, with the higher seed starting on the road to face a team that’s been at home for a week waiting for Syracuse to arrive. The Crunch traveled to Newfoundland on Tuesday to get prepared and acclimated as soon as possible with the lengthy travel involved.

And St. John’s may not be a typical fourth seed, led by rookie goaltender Charlie Lindgren. The IceCaps are led the the high-scoring duo of Chris Terry, who reached the 30-goal mark and had 19 power play goals, and Charles Hudon who finshed with 27 goals.

”It’s a real good team, a solid team,’’ Dumont said. “Since Montreal made all those trades (at the trade deadline) they got guys back on defense and forwards, they got a lot of skill and a lot of depth and good goaltending. It’s a one vs. four matchup, but if they would have had all their guys there all year they would have been higher in the rankings. It’s going to be an interesting start for us for sure.’’

Series schedule, All times Eastern Daylight Time:

Game 1 – Friday at St. John’s – 6:30 p.m.

Game 2- Saturday at St. John’s – 6:30 p.m.

Game 3 – Wednesday at Syracuse – 7 p.m.

Game 4 – April 28, at Syracuse – 7 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 5 – April 29, at Syracuse – 7 p.m. (if necessary)