by
Jeff Parzych
They say that old habits are hard to break. Consider the Syracuse Crunch living proof of that adage. Winless in their last seven, the Crunch at least have garnered 6 of a possible 14 points in that stretch thanks to the one point awarded for a tie.
Heading into the New Year, Syracuse would have loved to buck that trend and kick-off 2004 with two big points in the standings. Unfortunately for the Crunch they, like some many others, found out the hard way that resolutions are easy to make, but hard to fulfill.
Three unanswered Hamilton goals erased an early two-goal Syracuse cushion and forced the Crunch to tally late just to salvage a 3-3 tie with the Bulldogs Saturday night in American Hockey League action.
In the first Syracuse's dormant power play came to life after a dreadful 3-39 stretch in their last seven games. Darrel Scoville ignited the play with some nice work at the blue line to keep the puck in the Hamilton zone. He then found Mark Hartigan behind the defense and all alone on the doorstep. Hartigan corralled Scoville's pass, deked Hamilton netminder J. F. Damphousse a few times then easily put the puck into the open side for a 1-0 Syracuse lead.
Late in the period Syracuse would strike again with the man-advantage. Jeremy Reich fired a shot on net that Damphousse kicked right to Brad Moran stationed to the left of the Bulldog net. Moran one-timed the rebound top shelf for a 2-0 lead with just five seconds remaining in the first period.
Any momentum gained from Moran's late goal was quickly erased early in the second courtesy of Hamilton defenseman Ron Hainsey. Just 29 seconds into the period Hainsey fired a hard low shot for the blue line that eluded Karl Goehring and cut the Syracuse lead in half.
Two more Bulldog tallies, one courtesy of a bad carom off the glass and the other a fine individual effort from left wing Jimmie Olvestad gave Hamilton the lead and set the stage for Tim Jackman's late game heroics.
With just over two minutes left in regulation Trent Cull fired a shot on net that Jackman was able to deflect past Damphousse for his tenth of the season and a 3-3 tie. The goal was typical Jackman as he out-worked a couple of Hamilton defenders in front of the Bulldog net to get the deflection.
Karl Goehring was solid again in goal for the Crunch. He made some big saves late in regulation and also the extra session to preserve the tie for the Crunch. Goehring finished the night with 29 saves and is now 5-6-4 on the season.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:December 31, 2003
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Hamilton Bulldogs
Attendance:4,879
Boxscore:
First PeriodScoring-1.Syracuse, Hartigan 8 (Scoville, MacLean), 7:38, (pp). 2. Syracuse, Moran 8 (Reich, Komarninski), 19:55, (pp). Penalties-Knopp, Syr (tripping), 3:26; Hartigan, Syr (hooking), 4:53; Blouin, Ham (roughing), 7:18; Svitov, Ham (double minor, interference, unsportsmanlike), 17:47; Beauchemin, Ham (slashing), 19:05; Jackman, Syr (high-stick), 19:05.
Second Period-Scoring-3. Hamilton, Hainsey 3 (Svitov, Perezhogin), :29. 4. Hamilton, Blouin 2 (Hainsey, Traverse), 15:02. Penalties-Carpentier, Ham (fighting), 5:37; Sugden, Syr (fighting), 5:37; Koehler, Syr (elbowing), 7:31; Svitov, Ham (obs. tripping), 9:38; Blouin, Ham (roughing), 19:49; Cull, Syr (roughing), 19:49.
Third Period-Scoring-5. Hamilton, Olvestad 5 (unassisted), 13:59. 6. Syracuse, Jackman 10 (Cull, Reich), 17:52. Penalties-Moran, Syr (high-stick), 3:21; Dykhuis, Ham (hooking), 9:28.
Overtime: No penalties.
Shots on Goal-Hamilton, 5-13-10-4--32; Syracuse, 8-9-9-6--32.
Power Play Opps.-Hamilton, 0-4; Syracuse, 2-5.
Goalies-Hamilton, Damphousse, (10-5-1-3), 32 shots- 29 saves; Syracuse, Goehring, (5-6-4), 32 shots-29 saves. Referee-Brian Pochmara (43); Linesmen-Mike Baker (11), Jeff Walker (17).
Three Stars:
1. Tim Jackman: Jacko continues to impress and his third period tally salvaged a much needed point for the Crunch.
2. Mark Hartigan: Hartigan was tough all night long and he put the Crunch on the scoreboard with his highlight reel goal in the first period.
3. Ron Hainsey: One of seven former first round selections on the Bulldogs, Hainsey recorded a goal and an assist and was a +2.
Lineups:
Bulldogs:Goal:Jean-Francois Damphousse, Eric Fichaud, Oliver Michaud.Defense: Karl Dykhuis, Andrew Archer, Phillipe Plante, Francois Beauchemin, Jean-Phillippe Cote, Patrick Traverse, Ron Hainsey. Forwards:Gordie Dwyer, Marcel Hossa, Jimmie Olvestad, Duncan Milroy, Eero Somervuori, Jonathon Ferland, Alexander Perezhogin, Alexander Svitov, Sylvain Blouin, Benjamin Carpentier, Chris Higgins, Jozef Balej.
Crunch:Goal:Andrew Penner, Karl Goehring.Defense: Darrel Scoville, Aaron Johnson, Zenith Komarniski, Paul Traynor, Pauli Levokari, Trent Cull. Forwards: Mark Hartigan, Ben Knopp, Joe Motzko, Donald MacLean, Jeremy Reich, Tim Jackman, Greg Koehler, Brad Moran, Tyler Sloan, Brandon Sugden, Mike Pandolfo.
Pre-Game Skate:
Hamilton scratched goaltender Eric Fichaud, defenseman Phillippe Plante and right wing Eero Somervuori.
Crunch One-Timers:
Prior to the game the Crunch announced that the Blue Jackets have assigned defenseman Jamie Pushor to the Crunch and recalled right wing Kent McDonell. Pushor appeared in seven games with Columbus, recording two penalty minutes. In eight games with the Crunch this season, Pushor recorded two assists and ten penalty minutes……Syracuse also announced that they have signed right wing Greg Koehler to a professional try-out agreement. Koehler has appeared in 29 games with Elmira (UHL), recording 18 goals, 23 assists and 27 penalty minutes. He also has appeared in one game with Syracuse without recording a point…..Earlier in the day the Blue Jackets announced that they have traded right wing/defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre to the Atlanta Thrashers for future considerations.
U.S.A, U.S.A!!!
For those not already aware, the 2004 World Junior Championships are currently underway in Finland and Team U.S.A. is right in the thick of things. Undefeated in the first four games, they have outscored their opponents 21-4 in the round robin round and lead Group A with 8 points.
The United State's Zach Parise, who currently plays with the University of North Dakota and is property of the New Jersey Devils, leads all players in scoring with 6 goals, 5 assists in 4 games. Columbus' Dan Fritsche has appeared in all four games for the U.S. and has recorded 1 assist.
Team U.S.A. now heads to the medal round looking for their first gold in the history of the World Junior Tournament. Quarterfinal play begins on January 2nd with the semifinals set to start the next day. You can listen to all Team U.S.A. games via the internet at www.usahockey.com. Also, the center ice package has provided coverage of all of Team Canada's games to date and they may provide coverage of medal round play. Check your local listings for times.
On Deck:
The Crunch kick-off the New Year with a Friday evening tilt in Hamilton against these same Bulldogs. Game time is 7:00 PM. They return home on Saturday to face the Albany River Rats and then they have a rare Sunday afternoon game against the Cleveland Barons.