Crunch return home seeking to build on newly formed chemistry

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
April 25, 2017

A split is the ideal situation for the road team to start a playoff series.

Especially when that team owns the home ice advantage.

Syracuse returns to the War Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday to host Game 3 of the North Division semifinals against the St. John’s IceCaps in the best-of-five series. The series is tied at a game apiece after the teams each won a game in St. John’s over the weekend.(The game can be heard tonight on tblpowerplay.com

Syracuse, the top seed in the North Division, will also host Game 4 on Friday and a possible Game 5 on Saturday. And now, two games in to the series, the Crunch hope with all the new faces that have been added to the locker room, the right chemistry is starting to come together.

As the regular season came to a close, the Crunch introduced a slew of players in to the locker room and the lineup. Then, reinforcements from the Lightning arrived. After that, prospects who completed their junior seasons started to make their way to Syracuse.

Now, a team that just a few weeks ago was searching high and low for players to field a lineup suddenly has an influx of available players for head coach Ben Groulx to select from to put a team on the ice.

”Everybody is available for us to find the right chemistry between players and linemates and all that,’’ Groulx said. “We have seven new forwards on this team. It’s a challenge for the players, it’s a challenge for us as coaches to get all the pieces together and find the right chemistry out there. And that’s why I felt we were a much better team in Game 2 and I hope that we are going to continue to get better.’’

The latest editions to the locker room are Mitchell Stephens, the team’s top pick in the 2015 draft who arrived for practice on Tuesday after his season with London ended over the weekend, and Boris Katchouk, who signed his entry level contract and reported to the Crunch on a tryout contract after finishing the season with Sault Ste. Marie.

Neither figure to be a factor in the series – Stephens might have the best chance to see some time – and with the IceCaps picking up the help of 6-foot-6 center Mike McCarron, who is returning after the Montreal Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs, Syracuse is most likely to rely on the players that helped them earn the road split.

”We got a little more taste of how rough it’s been, it’s been a pretty big, physical two games,’’ defenseman Matt Taormina said. “I think some of the guys that haven’t had that much playoff experience got to see it a little bit, which is great. . . . I think the frustration level was there in the first game and not so much the second game. I think they did a good job of getting under our skin in the first game, but we just have to let some of that stuff go and play our game.’’

One player who is not available for the Crunch is center Tanner Richard, a self-proclaimed “rat’’ on the ice who made his NHL debut earlier this season. Richard was a scratch for the first two games of the season and was not likely to see any playing time for the foreseeable future. So Richard left Syracuse on Tuesday to join Switzerland for the World Championships that start next week in Germany and France.

Groulx said he supported the decision and felt that others had passed Richard for playing time.

”You have to come here and coach your team every day, you have to pay attention to details and as a coach you are asking to play a certain way,’’ Groulx said. “Tanner got hurt, which didn’t help, but we got other players here . . . like (Yanni) Gourde who started out the season on the fourth line and now is on the first line. As a coach you have to be open to those situations and to me, on our depth chart we have guys in front of him and that’s the bottom line.’’

While Richard, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, is out of the plans – possibly for good in terms of his time with Tampa Bay – it speaks to the depth that has been established that a player such as Richard, who has been a key role player the past couple of seasons, can be pushed so far down the roster.

It’s that sort of depth the Crunch hope will continue to push the team forward through the playoffs. Syracuse took a step in that direction after splitting the opening two games of the series with St. John’s

”We did what we had to do,’’ Taromina said. “Hopefully we can come back (to Syracuse) hopefully with a packed barn for the next two or three games and hopefully take care of what we need to do.’’

Series schedule, All times Eastern Daylight Time:

Game 1 – St. John’s 2, Syracuse 1

Game 2- Syracuse 4, St. John’s 3 (2OT)

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

Game 4 – Friday at Syracuse – 7 p.m.

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