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Inside The Syracuse Crunch: Roster, Rivalries, And A Roaring Arena

• Skip Clark

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SPEAKER_00:

Howard Dalton is with me on the phone, and we're so excited. He is the team owner of Syracuse Crunch. And also I might want to add, because I'm a hockey fan of 2024 inducted into the New York State Hockey Hall of Fame. Howard, how are you, man? Thanks for calling.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thanks for that great intro, and I'm doing great. Really appreciate the call.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, we're really excited. It's here. It's time for hockey. And uh you've been a part of this team, you know, for decades. What makes this year's opener stand out to you?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you know, this will be opener number 32, and it it doesn't matter, you know, whether it's year one, year ten, year twenty. Like I get goosebumps, every home opener, and it's great to see the faces back in the upstate met arena.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Fans who've been supporting this team since 1994, fans who've been new to the game, and you know, uh and the fact that, you know, hey, this team has started on the road with a two-old record. Yeah. To come home undefeated and uh feeling good about ourselves, that even adds to the excitement of of opening night.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I I can't wait. I mean, I I love it when we open up baseball season. Now I love it when we open up hockey season. This is like just unbelievable fun, and we're we're so lucky to have it here in the queue, thanks to you. Fans are always excited to see who's hitting the ice. What can we expect from this year's roster? Any standout players, storylines, anything that you're excited about?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you know, so here's the great thing. Like, you know, you mentioned it's great to be hockey back, and which what I find so interesting about the game of hockey, and besides loving it as much as I do, is that even friends and people I run into who go to a hockey game live, whether it's for the first time or the hundredth time, they say to a man, This is the best sport to watch in person. And it's like I love watching hockey on TV, but it doesn't translate like it does in person. And when you add to it, the kind of rambunctious building we have, it's building as loud. We've got a tremendous new sound system that was put in this summer, which has transformed this building. It'll be the first time our fans hear it on a Saturday night. We've we redid all the lower bolts, all new seats downstairs, a new downstairs club to eat before, during, and after the game. Wow. So that's all the the the other bells and whistles. As far as the team goes, you know, we've we've had a little bit of a face left. We've got some familiar faces back, like Dylan Duke and you know, uh uh, you know, uh our goalie uh Havelson and uh Matt Krochek and D, and you know, uh Steve Santini, uh captain of the defense. But we got a lot of promising new faces who early on have have really done well. You've got Scott Sabron, our heavyweight, who uh is not only one of the tougher players in the league, but is a guy who could play uh a regular shift, which is not usually common for a tough guy. Right. We've got Jacob Peltier, who played a lot of games in the Calgary organization, already has four points in two games, uh Dominic James, who uh got signed in September out of college, and was our player of the week uh after this weekend. You know, it's funny, after we swept Hershey this weekend, uh, I'm good friends with most of the other owners and operators. And I got on the phone with uh Brian Helmer, who's a friend of mine who runs the Hershey team. And Hershey's always been a first-class organization and always has had a good team. And I wasn't at the games this past weekend, so I said to Brian, what I said, flat out, what do you think of my team? He said, You're big, you're heavy, you're fast, and you play hard. I love your team. And and to hear that from a hockey guy, and again, it's only two games, but you know, it there's something uh about the feel downstairs and the camaraderie and the other thing I believe so strongly in at this level is coaching. And young players developing, playing professional for the first time, playing against men, and we have in in my estimation just the best coaching staff. And you know, you see what they've done to players, you know, over the course of our relationship who have gone on to win Stanley Cups in Tampa to have a lot of success. And it's you know, the names that most people know are Andre Vasilevski and Nikki DeKutrov. Yep, yeah, straight in point, you know, Rod Gogudis, on and on and on. Oh, yeah. And then you've got and you then you've got names like Yanni Gord. Yanni Gord came here, he was on the East Coast League contract. We signed him to an American League deal. He wound up developing his skills in Syracuse and has become two-time Stanley Cup champion. He's back with the lightning now, playing a pivotal role, and it's great to see those success stories about the players you don't think are gonna make it. And, you know, well, you're gonna watch a lot of them on Saturday night here at Syracuse.

SPEAKER_00:

See, that's that's what's cool about it. We see these players down the ice. A day later, they could be with Tampa Bay. They kind of, you know, that's their opportunity. Absolutely. That's just that's just a chance for you to see them and see how they play, and uh, you know, their dream is to make it to the big, so to speak. And that's what Tampa Bay is all about. And talking about Tampa Bay, that strong relationship that you have with Tampa Bay, and how do you see that partnership shaping uh the team's success this season?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you know, we've been with Tampa's our fourth organization, it's our longest tenured one. You know, we started when we when we brought the team to Syracuse with Vancouver, we had a long run with the Columbus Blue Jackets with Doug McLean. We had a very short tenure, fortunately, we were short with Anaheim, and then we moved on in 2012-13 with Tampa. And there's no wonder wonder they win at the National League level that they attract players to play in Tampa at uh probably better contract rates than other teams have to pay because people want to play there. They've got just uh first class ownership, everything from coaches, home ownership to GM to coaches, yeah, trainers, equipment managers, you name it, to their front office, is they do everything the right way. And it translates down to here and I play a skip, we've been in the business now thirty-two years.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

We've learned so much about creating culture from our partners in the lightning. And for us, the important thing is for it to be a seamless organization. Where if a player's on a Syracuse, he's he's almost like he's in Tampa, the way he's treated, the way he trains, the way he eats, the way our staff interact with him, the way the coaches do, so then when he gets the call up, it's an easy move. And you know, the lines of communication we speak almost on a daily basis. I love that. Uh I'll talk to yeah Julian Briswar, the GM, I'll talk to Jeff Tambolini, the assistant GM, Steve Grigg, the CEO of the Lightning, and even Jeff Finick, uh, the owner of the Lightning. We have a great relationship and it it the players feel that. The players see that there's a very cohesive, strong partnership between our two cities.

SPEAKER_00:

You deliver such a great fan experience. And now Saturday we're gonna go down to the game. Puck drops at seven o'clock, but we have some stuff going on beforehand. Can you talk about that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we've got uh uh a pregame party outdoors. Yeah. And uh, you know, music, uh food, festive atmosphere, you know, people be able to, you know, it's almost like a a tailgate that they do in football, but more of a a pre-planned organized one. And, you know, our fans, you know, our season unfortunately last year ended, you know, uh after the first round of the playoffs. And so the fans go through May, June, July, August, September. Well, the weather is really nice up here, but they can't wait for the ice to go down and the skates to go on the ice and the games to begin. And I can't tell you how many people, our fans that, you know, the last game when it's over, you know, they'll leave the building, they'll be very thankful for you know the team being here and and and and what your organization does, but they'll also say, Man, what are we gonna do for the next five months? Like we're gonna really miss our hockey. It it's uh it's it's hard to hear it, but it's really wonderful to hear it because it just shows their passion and their love for the team. You know, we could not be any more fortunate to have the fan base that we have here. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, this it sounds like it's gonna be just a great home opener, so excited that hockey is back, uh ready to go through the winter with it and into spring, and hopefully we can go all the way this time around. I mean, we've come so very close. That's the plan. Yeah, I know I'm right there.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the plan. I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, Sid. Okay, if and when we lift that cup, there will be a party in this city that they have never seen before. I guarantee you. We're gonna bring we're we're bringing Brooklyn Syracuse for a party. I love it, Littlefray.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it. Where can I love it? And uh, you know, I love your attitude. I love everything about you and what you've done. You're just a big part of the community here in central New York. Where can fans grab tickets and what's your message to Crunch Nation heading into opening night?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, one did you could call the office 473-444, go on SyracuseCrunch.com. The message is like it never gets old for me. Like I said, I get the goosebumps. 60 minutes, it's a two and a half hour experience, and that you're really you're interacting with your friends, you're you're riveted to uh uh just a great sport with hitting and kill and and the occasional dropping the gloves and fighting and it's all hockey, baby. This is a building. This is a building that you know it's concrete and the sound, it doesn't go anywhere. And when we're rocking here, it it's interesting. You know, I was talking uh yesterday, I met for the first time our tough guy, Scott Sabarin. He at one point played in Belleville, and he said, Man, when we came to your building, your fans, it's a tough place to be an opponent. And but it's gonna be a great place to be a a player for the home team. And I've heard that so many times. So many times that the crowd just is so supportive of their players. They take it personally, and it's great. It's really it's really special.

SPEAKER_00:

It's all of us. We're passionate. And we're passionate about the crunch, we're passionate about what you're doing and being a part of the community. And uh so looking forward to Saturday. It is the home opener. Uh go online, go to the Syracuse Crunch website. Uh you can get your tickets there. And go to the party ahead of time, and let's go front. That's all I gotta say. Yes, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't miss it again.

SPEAKER_01:

Stop by the case.

SPEAKER_00:

I would love to have our goal to the honor of the Syracuse Crunchy. Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your 50 day to check in.

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Skip Clark

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