Syracuse Speaks

In this episode, recorded May 1, 2022, Alex celebrates the return of the Calder Cup playoffs to Syracuse! She recaps the Crunch's season-ending record and ponders the dream-like state she has found herself in since Friday's game. She discusses Syracuse's final week and what it meant to the franchise, and enthuses about the team's playoff tagline and hashtag (#All4One). She also covers the final layout of the AHL's North Division, and what the matchups are in that division for the start of the playoffs. She goes over the dates of Syracuse's opening series against the Laval Rocket, discusses some general confusion over the "bye" round, and takes a peak at what the other rounds of the playoffs look like. She ponders the impact of Riley Nash's recall to the Tampa Bay Lightning and predicts that his absence won't be as hard for Syracuse to overcome as missing a different player like Gabriel Dumont, Charles Hudon, Gage Goncalves, or Alex Barre-Boulet. She ends with a rundown of everything this Crunch team has in its favor going into the playoffs.

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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 April 23rd, Alex begins by discussing the Crunch's Calder Cup playoff picture (all she has to go on are the clinching scenarios, but those are certainly promising). She discusses how special this season has become for the fans, and enthuses about how much things have changed for Syracuse over the past few weeks. Alex covers the ever-shifting landscape of the AHL's North Division, and takes a look at the schedules of three teams around Syracuse in the standings: Laval, Belleville, and Toronto, who ironically are going to be playing each several times during the final week of the season. Alex makes a bold prediction that Syracuse's playoff seeding will come down to their last game of the season, a home contest against Laval.

Alex then runs down some stats for the team. She covers the usual suspects like Gabriel Dumont, Alex Barre-Boulet, Charles Hudon, and Max Lagace, but also looks how Syracuse's players are doing against the rest of the league. She takes a look at how the special teams are going, a stat bolstered by recent power play success: the Crunch had four power play goals in two games over the weekend thanks to Dumont, Hudon, Riley Nash, and Anthony Richard. She ends with a look at how defensive prospect Nick Perbix is fitting in with the team and how he has contributed to the Crunch's recent success.

Give it a listen today!

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 April 10th, 2022, it's almost playoff time for a team that looked DOA just a few short months ago, and Alex couldn't be more pleased. With nine games left in their season, the Crunch is riding high off of stellar performances from Alex Barre-Boulet (finally!), team captain Gabriel Dumont, Charles Hudon and his power play prowess, prospect Cole Koepke, newcomers Anthony Richard and Riley Nash, and goalie Max Lagace, who is finally looking like the number one netminder Syracuse needs him to be. She also discusses what part the Lightning's own playoffs might play in Syracuse's quest. Alex takes a look at the North Division playoff picture, a field that is drastically different from even just four weeks ago, and discusses what the Crunch will need to do to punch their ticket. She looks at their remaining games, an eclectic mix of the usual divisional and some rarer non-divisional opponents, and offers up the suggestion that this is actually ideal for a team sharpening their skates for an unusual playoff year.

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 March 27th, 2022, Alex and guest Patrick Williams settle in to break down the Crunch's most recent successes on and off the ice. They start by addressing the nostalgic return of Syracuse's famed old mascot, Al the Ice Gorilla ("You can't spell 'Goal!' without 'Al!'"), and theorize why hockey fans grow so attached to certain eras or characters. They also talk through AHL identities and why the fan bases in certain cities - like Syracuse - really need their team to have their own identity, while the fans of other AHL teams - like Toronto - seem to need their NHL club's identity to thrive.

They then move into the present day, discussing the moves made by the Tampa Bay Lightning at the trade deadline to boost Syracuse's playoff hopes. Those moves included Tampa trading the infamous "future considerations" for Riley Nash, a player who has already brought more offense to the Crunch. With a month left in the AHL's regular season, they look at the remaining opponents on Syracuse's schedule and pinpoint the most needed victories to keep the team in playoff contention. Although the Crunch will most likely need help from other teams to ensure a spot in the postseason, Alex and Patrick also discuss what Syracuse can do to help keep its fate in its own hands as much as possible, with a focus on the play of team captain Gabriel Dumont, forward Alex Barre-Boulet, and defenseman Sean Day.

Give it a listen today!

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 March 13th, 2022, Alex begins the episode with a look at the current playoff picture for Syracuse with a discourse around the kind of help the Crunch is going to need from their North Division foes. The probability that Syracuse, with 23 games remaining, can make the playoffs under their own power is low,  so the team will need certain teams to start losing. Alex briefly recaps the team's week of games against Utica, Rochester, and Toronto (of note - this recap does not include Syracuse's game against Rochester on the 13th, as the episode was recorded prior to puck drop). She then answers some questions from her listeners about theme jerseys, potential deadline moves that the Lightning might make in support of the Crunch (with a specific look at goaltending after Hugo Alnefelt's injury Saturday night), and what is up with Syracuse's mascot.

Alex ends the podcast with a look at the Crunch's schedule over the next two weeks, a slate that includes a couple of Atlantic division teams as well as two crucial games against Belleville (not as important, but points are points) and Cleveland (high importance).

Give it a listen today!

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.

In this episode, recorded February 26th, 2022, Alex shares the good and the frustrating about one of Syracuse's most recent games against the Rochester Americans. The game, played on February 25th, featured a masterful penalty kill, the welcome return of Gemel Smith to the Crunch's home ice and Syracuse's score sheet, and, unfortunately, an overtime loss. With two months remaining in the regular season, Alex takes a deeper look than she has before at the current standings in the North Division and discusses why it would behoove the Crunch to get deeper into the field than just 5th place by the time the season ends.  She takes into consideration the new playoff format and, later on in the podcast, makes a not-so-bold prediction about how the playoff field in the Eastern Conference is going to play out (probably regardless of Syracuse's efforts).

Before ending the podcast with a recap of the Crunch's upcoming schedule, one that is very North Division-heavy, Alex takes a minute to highlight a news story she participated in this past week with local Spectrum News reporter Kevin Hayes. Hayes followed Alex around for the better part of Friday's game to get a first-person perspective on being a season ticket holder for the team and to highlight the team's recent vaccine initiative with SUNY Upstate Medical University. Alex shares her experiences participating in this story and her hopes for the end result. She also takes a look at the continued dominance of Gabriel Dumont, and highlights other performances from players like P.C. Labrie, Remi Elie, and Anthony Richard.

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In this episode, recorded February 13th, 2022, Alex welcomes regular guest Patrick Williams to the podcast. Patrick covers the league for TheAHL.com, and has a regular column over at nhl.com. With Syracuse passing the halfway point of their season this month, the two start off by discussing the Crunch's recent rough patch. The Crunch has gone 3-6-1-0 in their most recent 10 games, and is currently on a three-game skid thanks to an unproductive trip to Laval. Alex and Patrick break down what's going on with the team and discuss what needs to be done to get back into playoff contention. They also discuss the season Syracuse captain Gabriel Dumont is having, who needs to start stepping it up (with a specific look at Alex Barre-Boulet), and analyze the recent trade of former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Jimmy Huntington for forward Anthony Richard. They address the challenges of developing young professionals in this league, using Patrick Maroon's career path as a bit of a case study. 

To end the episode, Alex asks Patrick about the slow but inevitable shift back to normalcy in team admittance policies (one Syracuse itself made this past week, with the removal of their COVID-19 vaccination requirement). The two talk about Patrick's most recent interview with AHL President Scott Howson, and ponder the league's most immediate future.

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 January 30th, 2022, Alex starts off by making sure her listeners are aware of the PURE Performance AHL All-Star Fan Vote currently being hosted by Field Pass Hockey. The Crunch has three players nominated: forward Gabriel Fortier, defenseman Sean Day, and goaltender Hugo Alnefelt. She encourages her listeners to support those three players that were a large part of the Crunch's turnaround during the month of January.

Alex then discusses Syracuse's record from the past month, a positive performance that saw the Crunch rise to a .500 points percentage and sneak their way to 5th place in the North Division. Alex highlights the performance of team captain Gabriel Dumont and veteran Charles Hudon. She also discusses Day, forward Alex Barre-Boulet, and rookie Cole Koepke (who is currently on recall to the Tampa Bay Lightning's taxi squad). She ruminates on the Crunch's recent scoring drought, and hopes that Syracuse will pick it up once more as the team heads into a busy February.

Alex ends the podcast with a preview of Syracuse's February, including their 11 games (out of 13) against North Division fo

In this episode, recorded January 9th, 2022, Alex welcomes her listeners back to a new year of Syracuse hockey. And new it is: After a three-week break due to COVID issues with Syracuse and with their opponents, the Crunch stormed back onto the league schedule with a perfect week, going 3-0. Syracuse won twice against division rival Rochester and once against Hershey with a roster that was as a close to complete as the Crunch has had all season. The week featured many highlights, including streaks from forwards Cole Koepke and Otto Somppi, the addition of former NHL defenseman Jason Garrison to the team on a Professional Tryout Contract, and the return of former organizational forward P.C. Labrie. Alex covers all of this, and discusses how important this past week was for the team, both in terms of points percentage and in terms of overall organizational morale.

Alex then previews the team's upcoming schedule, discusses the packed slate Syracuse is facing, and examines how the rest of this month could make - or break - Syracuse's season. With three weeks remaining in February, the Crunch has 10 games currently scheduled, nine of which are against divisional opponents. Needless to say, this is a good time for the Crunch to find their stride! February, March, and April are not going to be any kinder to Syracuse in terms of the sheer number of games they have left to play, which is sure to create a challenge for the coaching staff and the team's trainers as they aim to keep players healthy and free of injury.

In this episode, recorded December 19, 2021, Alex revisits her 2021-22 Syracuse Crunch Season Preview, which she wrote for Field Pass Hockey. With the AHL just a bit past the quarter mark of their season, it's the perfect time for a check-in. Alex describes the Crunch's current record, special team performances, leading scorers, and checks on the goalies. She targets the performances of the team's key acquisitions from this past summer up to this point, looking specifically at Gabriel Dumont, Charles Hudon, and Andrej Sustr.

Back in October, Alex also speculated about some big storylines. She wondered how the breaking of the trio of Boris Katchouk, Taylor Raddysh, and Alex Barre-Boulet would affect Syracuse, so she discusses that storyline in the podcast. In her preview she also pondered about COVID-19 and the team's vacant captaincy, so Alex recaps that briefly, as well. She also confirms that Chase Priskie is still not a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization (*sad trombone*). Alex ends the podcast with a quick look at the future, however foggy it may currently be due to said pandemic.