Syracuse Speaks

In this episode, host Alex Ackerman gets you back into the spirit of Crunch hockey with an opinion-packed discussion of the team’s preseason roster. She dishes on who is in town, why the goalie situation is so impressive - and so puzzling - and how exciting it is to have a roster so talented this early in the season. She also has one final discussion on the vacat captaincy position in Syracuse, and explains why her opinion hasn’t changed since mid-summer. Finally, she rounds out the episode with a brief look at the remaining bubble players in Tampa, and how their performance might affect the future.

 In this episode, host Alex Ackerman welcomes guest Lauren Kelly to the pod! Lauren writes for both Raw Charge and Mile High Hockey, covering juniors. She is a wealth of information and passion! The two discuss Peter Abbandonato, an over-ager from the Q, and what Lauren expects out of his upcoming season with an AHL contract with Syracuse. They also parce out the expectations for forwards Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk, and how the trajectories for the two have changed now that they’re in the pros. Lauren also expounds on why juniors are so fun to watch, and also which tournaments are must-sees. Lauren also answers a most difficult question: Which Foote brother is her favorite?

Alex and Lauren cover all of this and more in a packed episode! 

In this episode, host Alex Ackerman celebrates 10 episodes by attempting to convince the Crunch that they need to do a Harry Potter theme night this upcoming season. She outlines her reasons, describes the flexibility and the potential ease of theme, and mentions some predecessors in hockey that have already successfully done wizarding-themed events. She also mentions the easy charitable connections the night could have, bringing up both local organizations and organizations in the wider Harry Potter universe. She muses on nerds, geeks, and hockey fans, and the natural mesh that just might hold them all together. 

It’s a magical episode that bridges the two main passions in Alex’s life! 

A few post-production notes:

In this episode, host Alex Ackerman discusses the release of the Syracuse Crunch’s regular season schedule. She talks about some highlights, discusses why the schedule is so North Division-heavy, and ponders what fans can do if they’d like to see a bigger variety of teams. She then finishes out her recap of the 2018-19 AHL season for Syracuse by covering March and April, including the Connor Ingram demotion and the team’s strong end to the regular season.

Playoff? What playoffs? Never happened. 

 In this episode, host Alex Ackerman discusses the additions of forward Gemel Smith and goalie Zachary Fucale to the Syracuse Crunch/Tampa Bay Lightning organization. She also ponders the re-signings of Cedric Paquette, Carter Verhaeghe, and Danick Martel, and which ones could potentially end up with the Crunch. Lastly, she jumps back into her recap of the 2018-19 AHL season for Syracuse and covers the highs and lows of February, including some scary foreshadowing of the future. 

In this episode, host Alex Ackerman discusses the organization’s first foray into free agency this summer. She briefly covers what the Lightning did for the Lightning, including the signing of Luke Schenn and Curtis McElhinney, and then she discusses what Tampa did for Syracuse. The Lightning signed four free agents and hired a coach for the Crunch: goalies Scott Wedgewood and Spencer Martin, forward Chris Mueller, defenseman Luke Witkowski, and coach Joe Palmer. She considers all five of them and what their contracts mean for the team. 

She also says goodbye to forwards Andy Andreoff and captain Gabriel Dumont, explains why a veteran presence is so important to AHL teams, and reaffirms her choices for the now-vacant captaincy in Syracuse. 

Come on in for this fully loaded show! 

 This week, host Alex Ackerman has a very special guest on: Raw Charge contributor and Syracuse Crunch writer Justin Godfrey! The two of them cover a myriad of topics including what the Crunch might look like this fall, how Justin really feels about Ben Thomas, which players Justin is looking for a big year from (hint: Mitchell Stephens and Boris Katchouk are among them), when Alex is officially allowed to panic about the goaltending situation, and more! They also experience a right of passage in the podcasting world: having news break while recording, and needing to somehow move forward coherently.  

This week, host Alex Ackerman does her best to make sense out the flurry of transactions and news the Syracuse Crunch saw this past Friday. First, she discusses Eddie Pasquale’s decision to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning organization for the KHL, then she discusses the heartbreaking retirement of forward Michael Bournival. Next, she gets so caught up in her thoughts over the whole Connor Ingram situation that she forgets to actually mention what organization the goalie was traded to (it was Nashville). Finally, she ends on a high note with a discussion of what re-signing Cameron Gaunce means for the Crunch, and what it could mean for the captaincy. 

In this episode, Alex answers some questions her listeners had about the game itself and about the Crunch’s restricted free agent defensemen. She then continues her look back at the 2018-19 season for Syracuse, following up last week’s discussion of October/November with December/January. Alex picks out the Crunch’s continued identity struggles and surprise scoring problems as lows (among others). Before things got too depressing, she then reminds her listeners about a certain game in December against a fierce rival, the return of an old friend, and the beginning reign of one Eddie Pasquale.