Crunch Time

How great it will be to have hockey in our barn again!   It's been too long!   Toronto looked real good today, should be a hell of a game, being that their backs are now against the wall.

Someone crack open the history books here...is this the first Crunch game ever played in May? I want to say that it is, but I'm not 100% sure.

I'll be picking up tickets tomorrow between work and class tomorrow night!  We might as well sweep the series and wait on Chicago and Rockford!

Tim

I'm so excited for this game...the series has looked so awesome, it'll be great to see it at the Memorial. Class is canceled that night, which really worked out perfectly, too!

sundin_13:

Someone crack open the history books here...is this the first Crunch game ever played in May? I want to say that it is, but I'm not 100% sure.

Back in 1996, the Crunch's final game was on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend (Game 5 of the Conference Finals vs. Rochester).  Their final home game was the night before that.

Crunchsite:

How great it will be to have hockey in our barn again!   It's been too long!   Toronto looked real good today, should be a hell of a game, being that their backs are now against the wall.

Yes it will be great and I am sure it will be rocking and very loud. I am suprised there has not been more fights in this series. Both Harrison and the little turtle have been very quiet. I am guessing we will see the same line up for the Crunch the next two games. The Marlies have no one that can match up with Mirasty plus I really like this line up. They have 4 outstanding lines and anyone of them can score.

Toronto would be stupid if they tried to start anything with Syracuse. They have no one who could match up with Mirasty and would be hard pressed to match up against the rest. It would be a futile battle and I think they know that. If they start up, I would see that as a sign of frustration and it would comfirm to me that they have lost all hope. It's bad enough to get beat on the scoreboard. They should not invite anything more. Like the wise man said "Be careful what you ask for"...

Can't wait for the next two games.

Pete  

One of the strengths of the Crunch is that they do not look ahead.  If they let Tuesday's game slip away, it's a series again. Fighting has not been a factor but hard checks have been and the Marlies have matched the Crunch with that; however, the Crunch take those hits and for the most part are not affected.  The problem for the Marlies is their lack of good scoring opportunities because of their tendencies and because the Crunch are doing a great job clearing the puck and Karl has made some spectacular saves.

I see most everyone playing really well on the Crunch. Lindstrom hasn't been a factor for awhile. He seemed to pick it up a little bit in the last game.  And Brule is starting to play better but we could use more out of that line as a whole offensively - Konopka, Lindstrom, Brule. I can't argue with the any of the forwards defensive play. The Mackenzie & Frischmon lines have been just outstanding. 

4th liners - Rycroft deserves some more ice time.  One advantage of limited play though was Rycroft's freshness in the 3rd period, he was flying all over the place. Pineault has seemed a little tentative after his long layoff. Sestito had a no show game.  He seems ill-suited to limited action, like it takes him awhile to get into the flow of a game. With an increased pace of action like we have seen in this series it is important that the Crunch stay fresh and using that 4th line certainly helps.

One other thing Konopka in that last game was outstanding. At one point when the Crunch were losing it in their zone with the Marlies cycling, I think he literally willed the puck out of the zone.  On his goal he got laid out, got up and scored.  What an effort by him and the rest of the Crunch. 

I was expecting somewhere in the area of 5000 for games 3 and 4.  Hopefully they have a big walk-up.

I would guess we will be close to the 5000 mark. I just hope the home games on TV is not hurting the turn out.

I say we get over 5000, but I don't know if we sell out a weeknight game in syracuse just yet...I do think we'll get more than what toronto got in their barn, what was their attendance, 3000?

Just learned that tonight's game will be broadcast on <XM> satelite radio, probably challel 204, and most likely the Syracuse (Bobby Mac) broadcast.  Go Crunch...there are a number of us in Columbus who have become hocked on this team.  

Is anyone tailgating tonight or tomorrow?  That was a great sight a couple weeks ago!  Don't know how possible that is on a weekday for some folks though. 

Um, not quite sure who that team on the ice was but it most certainly wasn't the Crunch.  They gave up.  And as far as Munro is concerned... he should be ashamed of his performance.  Two goals on the first two shots?  Oh yeah, enough with the fighting, wrap up the game and dear God let it be tomorrow already! 

Ah well, that didn't go according to plan....thing is, if Clemmensen wasn't as good/lucky as he was in the first 5 minutes of the game, it's a whole different story.

Still, no need to panic...it's one game, where everything that could go wrong, did, all at once.  Shake it off, move on, etc., etc.

But I've gotta ask - the Dorsett fight near the end - did he really deserve the instigator?  When the B2 camera finally caught up to it, both guys already had their gloves off and were swinging.  We all know St. Laurent's a jackass (like in the previous fight,how did Battaglia get 3rd man in, yet neither he nor Newbury got 5 for that particular fight sequence?  And what did he toss Konopka for?  Anyway, I digress...) , so was it warranted, or was the ref just being his usual self?