Syracuse Speaks

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. Thanks for listening!

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. Thanks for listening!

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. Thanks for listening!

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!

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. 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. Thanks for listening!

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. Thanks for listening!

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. Thanks for listening!

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. Thanks for listening!

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. Give it a listen today!

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.. Thanks for listening!

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.

In this episode, recorded December 5th, 2021, Alex begins by recounting the changes in Syracuse's schedule that occurred this past week. Due to COVID-19 concerns that are mostly centered around the AHL's Atlantic Division, the Crunch saw their games on December 1st, 3rd, and 4th postponed. The games were against Rochester and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The postponements also saw the rescheduling of Syracuse's Teddy Bear Toss to this Wednesday against Cleveland. The postponements were particularly disappointing for a team hoping to find some solid footing during this period of home games, as going into the week of Thanksgiving Syracuse was scheduled to play six home games between November 24th and December 8th.  Alex then discusses former Syracuse forward Taylor Raddysh's first NHL goal, a shorthanded tally that really showed off the talent he honed in the AHL. She also mentions the good reviews Gabriel Fortier has been receiving from his NHL debut, and briefly discusses the return of Sean Day to the Crunch's blue line. Alex ends the episode with a new "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) segment. She covers some Harry Potter questions, a few personal inquiries, and also discusses her favorite AHL logos from Syracuse's history and from the league itself (Hint: Her favorite involves a Moose, and not of the Rochester variety).. Alex appreciates everyone who sent in questions!

In this episode, recorded November 28th, 2021, Alex welcomes back TheAHL.com contributor Patrick Williams. Patrick has been covering the AHL for many years, and took an in-depth look into Syracuse's slow start last week. Since that article was written, Syracuse went 1-2-0-0, bringing their record for the 2021-22 season to a frustrating 6-8-2-1. Patrick and Alex begin their discussion with Syracuse head coach Ben Groulx and how he is currently feeling about the team's start. They then discuss the North Division and how much it seems to have changed from previous seasons, especially when it comes to the Rochester Americans and the newly-revamped Utica Comets, two teams Syracuse plays the most out of the entire league.  The two then discuss Syracuse's veterans and how much the team is currently leaning on them for production, especially the captain, Gabriel Dumont. Of course, even those strong performances don't seem to be helping, and Patrick expresses how much of a puzzle this season has been. Patrick and Alex then discuss the unfortunate injury to goalie Max Lagace, and how that has affected the team's game plan for the season. They also discuss the recent successes of Gabriel Fortier and Jimmy Huntington, and how the talent they were drafted for is starting to shine through. In a way-too-early prediction (blame Alex completely for this), Patrick selects Huntington as his All-Star for the Crunch for this January's AHL All-Star weekend. As far as some perspective goes, Patrick has some good news for Crunch fans who are worried about the season. "I'd say the bright side for the Crunch is having Ben behind the bench. He's always got something cooking, always got something up his sleeve...there are some real bright spots beyond the vets that are figuring it out, too"

In this episode, recorded November 7th, 2021, Alex discusses what makes the current iteration of the Syracuse Crunch so tenacious. She discusses their two-week record of 4-1-0-0, a record that contains one shutout, two overtime wins, and one shootout win. She breaks apart the current roster configuration and highlights the top seven scorers for the team, beginning with veterans Gabriel Dumont and Charles Hudon, and ending with prospect Gage Goncalves. She speculates about the goalie situation - not only is Max Lagace still hurt, but Hugo Alnefelt joined him on the sidelines Saturday night - and highlights the youngster Amir Miftakhov. Miftakov was originally expected to spend the season with ECHL Orlando, but is now 3-0-0-0 with the Crunch, and earned his first professional shutout Saturday. Alex ends the episode previewing Syracuse's upcoming games against Bridgeport, Utica, Hershey, and Cleveland, with a special focus on Utica and their new affiliation with the New Jersey Devils. 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. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, recorded October 24, 2021, Alex begins the episode by recognizing the Syracuse community and the Crunch Faithful who came out in droves on Saturday, October 23rd to support their hometown team. Syracuse had passed 603 days without fans in the Upstate Medical University Arena at The Oncenter War Memorial, and the team was welcomed back in style by a sold-out crowd of about 5,000 people. Alex describes the atmosphere and the touching opening ceremony, one which honored front-line workers and first responders. Moving on, she then takes a look at some of the storylines dominating Syracuse's 1-2-1 record so far this season. She discusses the games the team has played against  Cleveland, Rochester, and Utica, and recognizes how a slow start has become a hallmark of the Ben Groulx era. The season is still very early. She also touches on the call ups of Andrej Sustr and Fredrik Claesson to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and speculates about the return of forward Alex Barre-Boulet to the organization. She also mentions the injuries to Max Lagace, Otto Somppi and Daniel Walcott, and how those injuries are affecting the team. Alex ends with a rundown of who has stood out to her so far this season, including AHL Player of the Week Jimmy Huntington, Goncalves, Gabriel Dumont, and Darren Raddysh. She previews the upcoming games at Hershey on Wednesday, October 27th, vs. Cleveland on Friday, October 29th, and at Lehigh Valley on Saturday, October 30th. 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. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, recorded October 8th and October 10, 2021, Alex begins the episode by recapping Syracuse's preseason so far. She briefly discusses the Crunch's game against the Utica Comets, a 2-1 victory that saw goals from Shawn Element and Gabriel Dumont. She also offers discourse on the joys of being back to (mostly) normal as a fan who hadn't been inside of the Upstate Medical Arena at the Onondaga County War Memorial in 588 days. She also discusses some of the drama around the placement of forward Alex Barre-Boulet on waivers. The perhaps surprising move may send ripples through the organization as Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk stay with Tampa. Alex then welcomes colleague Deana Weinheimer onto the podcast. Deana covers the Cleveland Monsters for Field Pass Hockey. Syracuse will be facing Cleveland this upcoming weekend as they begin their regular season schedule. In her first appearance on the podcast - but certainly not her last - Deana delves into Cleveland's return to the AHL's North Division. Deana discusses the differences between the Central and the North Divisions, with a focus on their schedules and styles of play. She also breaks down previous seasons between Cleveland and Syracuse before mentioning a few players to keep an eye on that may be potentially joining Cleveland. Alex and Deana also have a good time discussing their experiences covering teams affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and how Columbus' developmental philosophy has changed since they were affiliated with the Crunch in the mid-2000's. 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. Thanks for listening!