Forgive the fans in Syracuse if they were a bit skeptical when it came to Andre Lakos. Far too often the faithful in these parts have been burned, so to speak, by players hailing from overseas and Lakos appeared to be the latest in a long line.
One month into the regular season, Lakos' play seemed to justify the fan's doubts. He admits that early on he struggled with trying to do much until he heeded a teammates advice to just keep it simple.
Throughout those trying times Head Coach Gary Agnew remained patient with his new addition. That task was made easier after conferring with his cohort behind the Syracuse bench, assistant coach Ross Yates.
"Ross did what Andre did. He went from North America to Europe and back to North America as a player," stated Agnew. "He said it is a real tough transition to come back from Europe to the North American game because you have less time, the rinks are smaller and it is more physical."
Slowly Lakos' game has rounded into form, but it is still a work in progress. Take Saturday versus the St. John's Maple Leafs for instance. Early on in Saturday's tilt Agnew was less than pleased with Lakos' effort and the coach expressed his displeasure loud and clear.
"He needs to be better earlier and we told him that on the bench," said Agnew. "The first two or three shifts I didn't think he was into the game like he should be and we challenged him to pick it up and he did."
Lakos responded with quite possibly his best game of the season. The hulking defenseman notched his first goal of the year along with adding a couple of assists for a three-point night. It is that type of play that has made Lakos a mainstay on the Crunch blueline along with being the recipient of some heavy praise from Agnew.
"I like the fact that (Aaron) Johnson and Lakos has found a little niche between them and I think they have been our best defensive pairing and certainly Lakos has been our best defenseman over the last three or four weeks consistency wise."
Coinciding with the Crunch's climb out of the North Division cellar has been the emergence of Columbus' AA affiliate, the Dayton Bombers. Heading into this upcoming weekend the Bombers have won three straight and first year forward Tyler Kolarik is leading them.
The former Harvard standout spent the preseason in Syracuse and admits to being mildly disappointed with his demotion, but you couldn't tell from his play. So far this season Kolarik has appeared in 19 games with the Bombers, registering 10 goals and 6 assists and is currently in the midst of a team-high 8 game point streak.
"Things are going well right now and I've been a little hot lately," stated Kolarik. "I'm just trying to keep the game simple. I'm not going to be anything flashy, just shoot the puck and go to the net."
Kolarik also performed admirably with the Crunch during training camp, especially when you take into consideration that not only was he attempting to adjust to the pro game, but a new position as well. Kolarik was asked in camp to make the jump from his traditional spot on the wing to center, a position totally unfamiliar to him.
"I am sort of playing a little bit of both right now in Dayton. I have been filling in at center at times during the year, but also playing a good amount of wing," stated Kolarik. "I would rather be on the wing. That's where I feel more comfortable after playing there for so long, but the center position is something I obviously have to learn and be ready to step in and be able to play."
Based on his performance to date it seems likely the rookie will find his way back to Syracuse at some point, but that's not first and foremost on Kolarik's mind.
"That is not something that really crosses my mind a whole lot and I don't think it does for a lot of the guys down here," said Kolarik. "You just want to worry about yourself and your game here and if you get the call, you get the call."
Forty-five days. Twenty games. That is how long it took the Syracuse Crunch to finally break the double-digit barrier in terms of success on the power play.
Syracuse hit that magical mark with a 1-5 night on Sunday against Philadelphia. They regressed somewhat with a goose egg their next outing against Albany, but Saturday's season high of three goals with the man advantage pushed the Crunch well over 11 percent on the season.
"Thank god," joked Crunch center Mark Hartigan. "It was kind of embarrassing there for a while, but if we keep it going like this and keep working hard on the power play I think we will be good."
The Crunch epitomized hard work to notch their second power play goal of the game Saturday night versus the baby Leafs. The unit of Tim Jackman, Mike Pandolfo and Alexander Svitov up front along with Aaron Johnson and Andre Lakos at the points totally dominated their shift, creating multiple opportunities that resulted in Jackman's fourth goal of the season.
"It was unbelievable wasn't it," asked Gary Agnew. "It was great puck movement, we penetrated, we got the puck to the net and we won a lot of races to the puck. It was just a dominating shift by those guys."