RECORD: 36-22-13-5, 90 points (20-11-7 home, 16-16-6 road), first place, Central Division

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Wednesday, April 3 vs. Rochester (31-28-15-2), 79 points, second place, Central Division

Friday, April 5 @ Rochester (31-28-15-2), 79 points, second place, Central Division

Saturday, April 6 vs. Albany (13-41-12-10), 48 points, fifth place, East Division

Sunday, April 7 @ Albany (13-41-12-10), 48 points, fifth place, East Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, March 29 Crunch 3 ROCHESTER 1

Saturday, March 30 Crunch 4 WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 0

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

CENTRAL DIVISION CHAMPS: The Crunch brought home their first-ever division championship on Friday night, March 29, when they defeated the Rochester American 3-1 at the BlueCross BlueShield Arena, the same building in which the club clinched their first-ever trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs on April 12, 1996. Second-year pro Jonathan Schill scored the game-winning goal with 9 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the game. Syracuse is the first team in the AHL to clinch their division and by doing so is assured of a top three seed in the Western Conference for the Calder Cup Playoffs and a bye from the qualifying round.

FRANCHISE RECORD 36th VICTORY: A night after clinching their first-ever division championship the Crunch continued their steady assault on the record book, winning their 36th game of the season on Saturday night, besting the old mark of 35 won by the 1997-98 and 1999-00 Crunch teams. The win also tied the club record for road victories in a season at 16 (1996-97 and 1997-98).

LABBE CONTINUES SHUTOUT MAGIC/PENGUIN MASTERY: J.F. Labbe continued his amazing play this weekend, backstopping the Crunch to two victories, stopping 67 of 68 shots he faced. On Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre he moved one shutout closer to a 59-year old AHL record, making 30 saves en route to his eighth shutout of the season, one shy of Gordie Bell (Buffalo) who had nine shutouts during the 1942- 43 season. Labbe improved to 10-1-3 lifetime against the Penguins with a 1.78 goals against average and a .948 save percentage. Labbe has gone 172 minutes, 28 seconds without allowing Wilkes-Barre a goal. Entering this week Labbe is two victories shy of 200 in his American Hockey League career. Labbe enters the week sixth on the AHL’s all-time shutout list with 26. He trails Marcel Paille (36) by 10 for fifth on the all-time list.

WALSER TIES CRUNCH MARK: AHL All-Star Derrick Walser tied Radim Bicanek for most goals in a season by a defenseman on Saturday night, netting his 22nd. Walser leads all AHL defenseman in goals and power play goals this year (12). A native of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Walser has appeared in 70 games for Syracuse this season, leading the club with 57 points (22g, 35a).

NEDOROST MAKES NHL DEBUT: Center Andrej Nedorost made his National Hockey League debut on Saturday night @ San Jose, recording an assist. Nedorost is the 15th player to appear in both a Columbus and Syracuse uniform this season. In 37 games with the Crunch this season Nedorost has 5 goals, 13 assists and 28 penalty minutes. A native of Trencin, Slovakia, Nedorost was Columbus’ 10th pick, 286th overall, in the 2000 Entry Draft.

CRUNCH RELEASE BAKER: The Crunch announced today that they have released left wing Jack Baker from his Amateur Tryout Agreement. Baker appeared in both games for the Crunch this weekend without recording a point.

PLAYOFF ENTERS FINAL WEEK: Syracuse enters the seasons’ final week one point ahead of the Grand Rapids Griffins and two points ahead of the Norfolk Admirals for the Western Conference Championship.

* WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS:

SYRACUSE (1) 76 90 36-22-13- 5

Grand Rapids (2) 76 89 39- 26-11-0

Norfolk (3) 77 88 36- 25-12-4

Utah (4) 76 88 39- 28-6-3

Chicago (5) 77 85 37- 29-7-4

Houston (6) 76 85 35- 26-10-5

Hershey (7) 76 85 34- 25-11-6

Philadelphia (8) 76 81 31-26-14-5

Rochester (9) 76 79 31- 28-15-2

Cincinnati (10) 77 77 32- 32-10-3

Milwaukee 77 72 29- 34-10-4

Cleveland 76 64 27- 39-6-4

Wilkes-Barre 77 55 20- 42-12-3

*The Division leaders are seeded 1 through 3, based on points. The remaining clubs, regardless of Division, are then seeded in point order. The top ten teams will qualify for post-season, with the 7th seed playing the 10th seed and the 8th seed playing the 9th seed in a best-of- three ‘qualifying round’. The first round of the playoffs will follow and be played as a best-of-five series with 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc. All subsequent rounds will be played as best-of-seven series.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS/APPEARANCES:

Saturday, April 6

SPONGE BOB NIGHT: During the Saturday, April 6 game vs. Albany there will be Sponge Bob clips shown, along with Sponge Bob t-shirts being thrown out in the crowd. The first 1,000 kids in attendance will receive a Sponge Bob collector’s magazine.

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS:

ROCHESTER (BUFFALO SABRES): Syracuse plays their 11th and 12th games of the regular season against Rochester at home on Wednesday and at The BlueCross Arena on Friday. The Crunch leads the series 5-2-3. In head-to-head scoring, Rochester center Chris Taylor leads all players with ten points (2g, 8a). Right wing Kent McDonell leads Syracuse with six points (5g, 1a). Taylor also leads all Rochester players with 66 points (21g, 45a) in 74 games. Goaltender J.F. Labbe has appeared in four games against Rochester, posting a 2-0-2 record, a 1.44 goals against average and a .957 save percentage. Lifetime the Crunch is 32-43-11 against the Amerks.

ALBANY (NEW JERSEY DEVILS): The Crunch concludes the regular season with a home-and-home series against Albany on Saturday and Sunday. Syracuse leads the series 5-1-0. Defenseman Derrick Walser leads all players in head-to-head scoring with eight points (5g, 3a). Center Steve Guolla leads all Albany players with 55 points (24g, 31a) in 64 games. Labbe has appeared in five games against Albany posting a 4-1-0 record, a 0.79 goals against average and a .966 save percentage. Lifetime the Crunch are 30-28-8 against the River Rats.

INJURY UPDATE: Defenseman Tim O’Connell is expected to miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken orbital bone on March 10 @ Wilkes-Barre… Center Brad Moran is expected to return to the line-up on Wednesday after suffering a sprained finger March 9 against Cleveland. Moran has missed 10 games with the injury… Defenseman Jeff Ware announced his retirement from hockey on January 25 due to a chronic knee injury. He has missed the last 53 games with the injury…Defenseman Paul Manning is expected to miss the remainder of the season after injuring his shoulder on January 25 @ Rochester. He has missed 33 games with the injury… Left wing Martin Spanhel is listed as day-to-day after suffering a broken rib on March 13 @ Rochester. Spanhel has missed nine games due to the injury… Left wing Martin Paroulek is listed as day-to- day after suffering a calf injury on March 29 @ Rochester. Paroulek has missed one game with the injury.

INJURIES/CALL-UPS BY THE NUMBERS: Through 76 games this season, Syracuse has lost 483 man-games due to injuries (282) and call-ups (201). Jeff Ware - 53, Andrej Nedorost - 34, Paul Manning - 33, Darrel Scoville - 28, Matt Davidson - 16, Jeremy Reich - 15, Martin Spanhel 15, Brad Moran - 12, J.F. Labbe & Martin Paroulek - 11, Dan Watson - 10, Tim O’Connell - 9, Kent McDonell & Derrick Walser- 6, Blake Bellefeuille - 5, Brett Harkins -- 4, Andrei Sryubko - 3, Adam Borzecki, Trevor Ettinger, Paul Traynor & Duvie Westcott - 2, Mathieu Darche, Preston Mizzi & Jody Shelley - 1, represent the Crunch’s injury list this season.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The Crunch''s weekly schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, April 2 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial

Wednesday, April 3 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial

7:00 p.m. game vs. Rochester

Thursday, April 4 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial

Friday, April 5 10:00 a.m. practice @ War Memorial

7:35 p.m. game @ Rochester

Saturday, April 6 10:00 a.m. practice @ War Memorial

7:30 p.m. game vs. Albany

Sunday, April 7 5:00 p.m. game @ Albany

*All practice times and locations subject to change

CRUNCHABLES: Nine of the Crunch’s AHL record 12 shutouts this season have come in their last 24 games… Kent McDonell appeared in his 100th AHL and Syracuse game on Saturday night against the Penguins. Derrick Walser’s next game will be his 200th in the American Hockey League… David Ling recorded his 150th American Hockey League assist on Saturday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

PICTURED: J.F. Labbe, previous page; Derrick Walser, above.