1/24/03 WELCOME BACK CRUNCH!!! by Don  “I’m back, and better than ever.” -Eric Bischoffs’ entrance theme.  After a 2-week road trip the Crunch returned home on Friday and picked up a 3-1 victory over the WBS Penguins. A game that featured a slow Syracuse start, a couple of fights and a PENALTY SHOT!!! Resulted in the victory for the Crunch.  The 1st period got off to a slow start when the Crunch managed just 1 shot in the first 9 minutes. Syracuse threw a ton of hits in the early going and Gary Agnew broke a personal record for saying a word that starts with “F” in the 1st as well. The Crunch Penalty Kill looked good throughout the game going an overall 6 of 7 on the evening including 2 in the first period. Karl Goehring held the Baby Pens scoreless on 9 shots in the first. The Crunch did however manage to score one on Trevor Ettingers’ first of the season. (Congratulations Trevor!) Picking up the assists were Blake Bellefeuille and Paul Traynor.  The 2nd period saw neither team score but a lot of penalty minutes. Mike Pandolfo tore Matt Murley a new one and Trent Cull pummeled Ross Lupaschuk. In the 2nd the Crunch went 0-2 on the man advantage and killed both Scranton Power Plays. Syracuse’ offense was in high gear throughout the 2nd out shooting WBS 11-3, but they failed to put it home.  The 3rd period saw the most exciting play in hockey come to Syracuse. Mathieu Darche was awarded a penalty shot at 4:51 of the period when a WBS player closed his hand on the puck in the crease. Darche faked Robbie Tallas out of his skates and tucked it in. There was not one person in the War Memorial sitting. Truly an awesome moment for fans and players alike. The Crunch scored a fast goal at :45 when Mike Pandolfo netted one with assists from Blake Bellefeuille and Dan Watson. The 3rd period also saw its share of penalties including a high sticking call on Kent McDonnell at 12:44 that resulted in the only WBS goal of the evening by Matt Hussey and assists to Scuderi and Endicott.  All in all a great game by Syracuse. It broke a personal 11 game losing streak and the team played like last seasons Crunch. The Power Play needs major work and is pure crap on a stick. OK, now for my 3 stars of the evening: #3 Mike Pandolfo #2 Mathieu Darche and #1 with his 1st goal of the season #36 Trevor Ettinger. And an award I used to do and have decided to bring back is my Vaclav Varada (Buffalo Sabres) moron of the game award. The winner, or winners I should say are #26 Kent McDonell for that high sticking penalty that blew the Shut Out and the fool sitting behind me. That guy hit me 7 times with a forearm or a jacket every chance he got and never even apologized. If all goes right I should be back after next Saturdays game with Cra…err, Rochester. Until then LET’S GO CRUNCH!!