Syracuse Speaks

In this episode, recorded September 23rd, 2022, Alex welcomes Crunch Chief Operating Officer Jim Sarosy back to the podcast for a positive, fun episode. (She promises!) Jim starts off with a bang, giving Syracuse Speaks listeners an exclusive preview of the some of the work that has been going on at the The Upstate Medical University Arena at The Oncenter War Memorial. Jim then gives a sneak peak at some of the plans for the organization that are going to be coming to fruition over the next few weeks, from player appearances to season ticket holder events. The two then discuss how the evolution of player development in the AHL has influenced the way the War Memorial looks. Jim covers some of the changes over the years, and discusses the pride behind those shifts and why they are so important to the organization. Jim then takes a dive into how the organization makes decisions on season ticket holder packages, and spends some time breaking down the data from the survey the team sent out to their season ticket holders this past summer. The two then take a look at the Lightning-Crunch affiliation, which is going into its 10th year this season. 

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify,  and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this episode, recorded September 11th, 2022, Alex welcomes Raw Charge contributor Geo FitzGerald to the podcast. Raw Charge is a SB Nation blog that covers the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, and Geo has been writing for them for many years, specializing in the organization's prospects and players. With training camps approaching rapidly, Alex engages Geo in an in-depth conversation about how the 2022-23 Crunch is shaping up. Players discussed include Max Lagace, Trevor Carrick, Sean Day, Ryan Jones, Nick Perbix, Jack Thompson, Haydn Fleury, Gabriel Dumont, P.C. Labrie, Daniel Walcott, Gabriel Fortier, Gage Goncalves, Lucas Edmonds, and Ilya Usau.

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify,  and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this episode, recorded August 21th, 2022, Alex and AHL content creator Patrick Williams reunite for a wide-ranging, entertaining, and engaging conversation as the AHL and the Crunch look towards their 2022-23 season. Making up for the podcast's summer break earlier this month, the two chat for over an hour, beginning with discussing the league's off season and why "NHL Free Agency" should be renamed to the more appropriate "AHL Free Agency." Patrick discusses his impressions of Syracuse's North Division rivals and how their off season has shaped up, and then the two dive into the Crunch's relatively quiet summer. While they look at the bigger picture of the team's roster, they also discuss the return of Max Lagace and the signing of newcomer Trevor Carrick. Patrick shares an in-depth review of Carrick in particular, information Crunch fans will find fascinating and exciting.

The two then turn their attention to the AHL playoffs and the return of last season's playoff structure. They debate the ins and outs of the format, and ponder what changes might be better for the league and its players (improbable as those changes may be).  Their conversation then zooms out so that they can take the league in as a whole, with discussions of how player treatment (with a specific comparison to minor league baseball), divisional makeup, and geography have changed over the years.

It's a packed show for August to get everyone hyped for the new season. Give it a listen today!

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify,  and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this episode, recorded July 24th, 2022, Alex starts off by recapping Syracuse's roster situation. She describes the veterans left on the team, including captain Gabriel Dumont, forwards Daniel Walcott and P.C. Labrie, defenseman Darren Raddysh, and goalie Max Lagace. She echos concerns among the fan base about the lack of veterans on the team, as Charles Hudon, Remi Elie, and Fredrik Claesson, three veterans who played huge roles with the Crunch last season, were not brought back by the Tampa Bay Lightning. She then discusses the signing of overager draftee Lucas Edmonds, a player who is looking to start the season in Syracuse.

Alex then gets onto the big story of the past week: The release of the AHL schedule. After discussing the league's shift to all of the teams playing 72 games, and summarizing the return of the five-team playoff slate for the North Division (and why she dislikes this decision), Alex turns her sights to Syracuse's portion of the schedule. She theorizes about the reasons the Crunch has been consistently starting their season on the road the past few seasons, and takes a look at how the shift to 72 games has changed the team's opponents and overall game slate. She discusses what has stayed the same about the schedule, as well, and how she feels about those familiar patterns (Hi, Rochester...Hi Rochester...Hi Utica...Hi Utica...Hi Utica...Hi Rochester...Hi Utica...Hi Utica...). 

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify,  and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this episode, recorded July 13th, 2022, Alex discusses the 2022 NHL Draft and the start of NHL free agency, the latter of which unfortunately didn't give her much to work with from a Syracuse perspective. However, Alex attempts to take a fair, unbiased, unemotional look at what the Tampa Bay Lightning did for the Crunch over the past few weeks or so, first by discussing the largest signing of the Crunch's July, one that didn't even happen during free agency: The re-signing of goalie Max Lagace. She then covers two players drafted by the Lightning, Lucas Edmonds and Nick Malik, who could be signed soon and then immediately start their professional careers this fall. In the second half of the episode, Alex takes a look at what the Lightning did for themselves for free agency (hello and welcome back Vladislav Namestnikov) and what they did for Syracuse in free agency (hi...uh...Felix Robert). She compares this summer to last summer, which is honestly like comparing apples to oranges, and ponders the differences in the two time periods. She also puts out her wishlist for the near future.

(Related to her wishlist for the near future is that the alternative title for this podcast episode is: THE CRUNCH COULD HAVE HAD CHASE PRISKIE?!)

Give it a listen today!

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify,  and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this episode, recorded June 26th, 2022, Alex does a rundown of all pertaintant AHL, Crunch, and Tampa Bay Lightning news going into NHL free agency on July 13th. She starts by congratulating the AHL and their front office on a successful Calder Cup playoffs, the league's first since 2019. She also sends her congratulations to Chicago, the league's new champion, and to Richard Panik, who won the Cup with the Wolves and who used to play for Syracuse.

She then moves onto the "no news is good news" segment regarding Syracuse head coach Ben Groulx and the "will he or won't he" drama that has marked the first part of the Crunch's off season. She acknowledges the Lightning's current Stanley Cup final round against Colorado, and mentions how rare it is that Tampa signs players for Syracuse while still playing in the playoffs. Sign they have, however, and Alex discusses Gabriel Dumont's two-year AHL contract, the signing of defenseman Tyson Feist to an AHL contract, and the one-year, two-way contracts of defenseman Sean Day and forward Simon Ryfors. She also briefly addresses the departure of Otto Somppi from the organization.

Alex then takes a look at the remaining restricted free agents and potential free agents left in the organization, including Anthony Richard, Alex Green, and Fredrik Claesson.

Give it a listen today!

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify,  and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this episode, recorded June 12th, 2022, Alex welcomes friend to Field Pass Hockey Patrick Williams back to the podcast. The two start out discussing the longer playoff run the AHL is currently experiencing, and what the future might bring for the league and its teams in terms of scheduling. They dissect the upcoming 72-game season for the league, the first season every team in the league will play the same amount of games since 2015, and give credit to the league and its owners for getting that deal done: "To do that especially coming out of the pandemic, the finical hit they took over the past few years, that made it a much bigger deal." 

They then take a look at the Crunch's first round exit against Laval. Patrick ponders what went wrong with the Crunch's game, pinpointing the lackluster performances of Alex Barre-Boulet and Charles Hudon, and also wondering about the health of goalie Max Lagace. Ultimately, though, Patrick leans towards Syracuse just running out of gas after an intense season marked by injury, COVID-caused pauses, and a tight slate of games in the final half of the season. They then can't resist playing a little bit of the "What If" game, not only with 2022 Calder Cup playoffs, but also with the 2017 Calder Cup finals (Alex just had to).

 The two then move onto the recent signing of team captain Gabriel Dumont and what it meant for the forward to sign an AHL-only pact with the organization. Patrick breaks down the kind of thinking that goes into a player making the decision to move from an NHL-focused/NHL-contracted career to an AHL-only focus. To end the episode, Alex and Patrick take a peek at next season for the Crunch. They briefly discuss head coach Ben Groulx's situation and how strange it is that he's still with Syracuse, with Patrick predicting Groulx's departure this summer: "He's worked for it." They end with discussing the team's potential roster for 2022-23, focusing specifically on the unrestricted free agents and the goaltending.

In this episode, recorded May 29th, 2022, Alex looks towards the 2022-23 Syracuse Crunch season. But first, she acknowledges the philosophical struggle around creating podcast episodes about hockey and sports as the nation she lives in experiences painful events. She takes a moment to acknowledge the past few weeks of violence in the United States, but also explains that she feels discussing what people are passionate about is also important. She emphasizes the positive mental health strategy of taking breaks from the coverage of everything, and expresses the hope that this podcast episode will help people do that.

Alex starts out her conversation around this summer right at the top with Coach Ben Groulx. Groulx, who has been with Syracuse since 2016, has made no secret of his desire to coach in the NHL. Speculation in that area has been heating up lately, so Alex takes a look at the current coaching vacancies in that league and discusses her best guest for where Groulx might end up if it goes that way (she sees you, Steve Yzerman). She also takes a very brief look at some coaches who have recently been let go by other AHL teams who could step into Groulx's rather large shoes if he is hired elsewhere.

Alex then goes on to look briefly at the Tampa Bay Lightning's roster situation before looking at Syracuse's, starting with the team's rather talented crop of unrestricted free agents. Not surprisingly, Alex's largest concern is UFA Gabriel Dumont, who captained Syracuse all season, but she also discusses forward Anthony Richard and defenseman Fredrik Claesson. Alex then addresses the goaltending, including veteran Max Lagace potentially moving on, and ponders what the Lightning might do (which is potentially different from what she hopes they do).

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify, and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this episode, recorded May 15th, 2022, Alex and Syracuse Crunch Chief Operating Officer Jim Sarosy chat about all things Crunch.  The two start with a lookback at how far the team has come since the AHL shut down in March of 2020 and the team had a season without fans in 2020-21. Although there's still challenges in the league - the two spefically highlight how strange it's been to have a lack of interaction between the organization, fans, players, and sponsors - they also celebrate the return of fans to the arena and the necessary escapism hockey allows. Jim runs through all of the logistics, changes, and challenges the team has faced over the past year, but never allows the amazing reality of the present day to fade too much: "We're here on May 15th. We made it to this date so far...the fact that we came from there to here...is what I'm most proud of. We're still doing what we set out to do."

Later on in the episode, Alex and Jim spend some time conversing about one of the big splashes the organization was able to achieve in 2021-22: Their many theme jerseys worn throughout the season. Alex specifically makes sure to highlight her favorite, the team's Al the Ice Gorilla throwback jerseys. The design was based off of the team's former mascot, and Jim gives fans of that design some really good news for the 2022-23 season. The two then discuss the Laval series, fan attendance, and the how two former Crunch players on the Rocket - Danick Martel and Cedric Paquette - have done such a great job against Syracuse. Jim acknowledges the challenges of selling tickets for Tuesday's game 5 with such a short turnaround, but expresses confidence that the Syracuse faithful will show up, be loud, and support their team.

Alex ends the episode with a short look at Game 5 and some of the big headlines going into the contest, including the injury Syracuse goalie Max Lagace suffered during game 4 and how the Tampa Bay Lightning could end up shorting the Crunch a player or two sooner rather than later.

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify, and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

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In this bonus episode, recorded May 13th, 2022, Alex expresses her feelings about the Crunch facing elimination by the Laval Rocket in the 2022 North Division Semifinals. Syracuse, currently down 2-1 in the five-game series, is showing the overemotional, scrambling tendencies that were more like the Crunch of the first half of the season than the second. Alex acknowledges the frustration the team's fans are feeling, and discusses why this is such a letdown to the Syracuse faithful.  She admits to being gobsmacked by the sudden disappearance of team powerhouses Gabriel Dumont, Charles Hudon, and Alex Barre-Boulet from the scoresheet (while also giving credit to Remi Elie, Anthony Richard, and Daniel Walcott). She also discusses how the losses of defensemen Sean Day and Alex Green are affecting the team, especially when combined with the lack of scoring from the team's top talent. She finally makes the prediction that Syracuse's semi-Cinderella-esque season will truly be over if Syracuse's best players don't start looking like Syracuse's best players.

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify, and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

Thanks for listening!