2003-04 RECORD: 38-25-10-7, 93 points (21-8-6-5 home, 17-17-4-2 road), second place, North Division

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS

Friday, April 16 vs. Rochester (37-28-10-5), 89 points, third place, North Division

Saturday, April 17 vs. Rochester (37-28-10- 5), 89 points, third place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Tuesday, April 6 ST. JOHN’S 2 Crunch 1

Wednesday, April 7 Crunch 5 OT ST. JOHN’S 4

Friday, April 9 ROCHESTER 4 Crunch 1

Saturday, April 10 ALBANY 6 Crunch 3

QUEST BEGINS FRIDAY: The Crunch’s best-of-seven first round series will begin Friday, April 16 at the War Memorial at Oncenter at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the first two home games (Ticket A and Ticket B) are available by calling the Crunch’s sales office at (315) 473-4444, stopping by the Oncenter box office, located on the State Street side of the War Memorial or by calling TicketMaster at (315) 472-0700.

The Crunch’s North Division Semifinals schedule is as follows:

Game 1 (A) Friday, April 16 Rochester @ Syracuse 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 (B) Saturday, April 17 Rochester @ Syracuse 7:30 p.m.
Game 3 Wednesday, April 21 Syracuse @ Rochester 7:05 p.m.
Game 4 Friday, April 23 Syracuse @ Rochester 7:35 p.m.
*Game 5 (C) Sunday, April 25 Rochester @ Syracuse 5:00 p.m.
*Game 6 Wednesday, April 28 Syracuse @ Rochester 7:05 p.m.
*Game 7 (D) Saturday, May 1 Rochester @ Syracuse 7:30 p.m.

* if necessary

ROCHESTER PLAYOFF HISTORY: This years’ North Division Semifinals will be the third time in team history the Crunch has faced Rochester in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Rochester defeated Syracuse in the prior two meetings, beating the Crunch 4-1 in the 1995-96 Western Conference Finals and 3-0 in the 1996-97 Northern Conference Quarterfinals.

ZINGONI RELEASED FROM A.T.O.: The Crunch announced today that they have released center Peter Zingoni from his amatuer try-out contract. In five games with the Crunch, Zingoni recorded two goals and two assists. A native of Newton, Connecticut, Zingoni was Columbus’ 8th pick, 231st overall, in the 2000 Entry Draft.

ALL-TIME PLAYOFF POINTS LEADERS: 1. Lonny Bonohos – 26 points (16g, 10a), 2. Brad Moran – 20 points (8g, 12a), 3. Rick Girard – 19 points (10g, 9a), 4-T. Denny Felsner – 17 points (5g, 12a), Scott Walker – 17 points (9g, 8a), Reggie Savage – 17 points (9g, 8a).

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS:

ROCHESTER (BUFFALO SABRES): Rochester will visit the Crunch on Friday, April 16 and Saturday April 17 for the first two games of the North Division Semifinals, in which Syracuse has home-ice advantage. Rochester won the regular season series 7-5, after defeating Syracuse 4-1 in their last meeting on April 9 at BlueCross Arena. Center Domenic Pittis (3g, 9a) paces all players in head-to-head scoring with 12 points. Right wing Tim Jackman leads Syracuse in head-to-head scoring with eight points (6g, 2a). Pascal Leclaire has appeared in eight games, posting a 4-3-0 record, with a 2.86 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Ryan Miller has appeared in 11 games for Rochester, posting a 6-5-0 record, a 2.00 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch are 42-57-13 against the Amerks.

NATIONWIDE INSURANCE COLUMBUS UPDATE: The Blue Jackets (25-45-8-4, 62 points) finished the season in fourth place in the Central Division. Columbus’s Rick Nash (80gp), Calgary’s Jarome Iginla (81gp) and Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk (81gp) finished the NHL regular season with 41 goals each. Nash was Columbus’s leading scorer with 57 points (41g, 16a). Through April 13, 2004, 25 players have appeared in both a Blue Jackets and Crunch jersey (Donald MacLean, Brad Moran, Jeremy Reich, Kent McDonell, Mark Hartigan, Darrel Scoville, Joe Motzko, Tim Jackman, Mike Pandolfo, Derrick Walser, Zenith Komarniski, Aaron Johnson, David Ling, Todd Rohloff, Jamie Pushor, Anders Eriksson, Lasse Pirjeta, Sean Pronger, Greg Mauldin, Espen Knutsen, Pascal Leclaire, Andrej Nedorost, Dan Fritsche, Jean-Luc-Grand-Pierre and Fred Brathwaite).

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

Tuesday, April 13 12:30 p.m. practice @ Cicero Twin Rinks

Wednesday, April 14 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Thursday, April 15 10:30 a.m. practice @ War Memorial at Oncenter

Friday, April 16 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

7:30 p.m. game vs. Rochester

Saturday, April 17 10:00 a.m. skate @ War Memorial at Oncenter

7:30 p.m. game vs. Rochester

Sunday, April 18 Off Day

*All practice times and locations subject to change

CRUNCHABLES: This season represents the seventh time the Crunch franchise has participated in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Crunch has won a total of three individual series and lost six… Five Crunch defenseman have taken part in a Calder Cup final, including four (Darrel Scoville – Saint John, Derrick Walser – Saint John, Trent Cull – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Brendan Buckley – Wilkes- Barre/Scranton) in the 2000-01 Saint John/Wilkes- Barre/Scranton finals. The other Crunch defenseman to participate in a Finals game is Paul Traynor, who was a member of the 1999-00 Rochester Americans team that lost to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Pictured: Tim Jackman, above; Brad Moran, previous page.