"Hey, you have to take the good with the bad," Sugden said while driving from Columbus to Syracuse on Tuesday. "I wanted to play in the show. That's not to say I can't do it this year. If I can't do it in the NHL, there's no place I'd rather play than Syracuse."

Sugden, who compiled 252 penalty minutes for Syracuse last year, has taken on and usually beaten all comers in the AHL and is probably just a little overall polish away from the NHL. But he said he still has enthusiasm for fighting anyone who cares to challenge him at this level.

"I enjoy fighting. I don't think I'll have as many fights this year because I don't think that many guys will want to fight me," Sugden said. "Hopefully, I'll get my 20 or 30 fights and work on the rest of my game. My fighting, right now, is as good as it's ever going to be."

Sugden had a passenger on his ride back to Syracuse on Tuesday - Goertzen. Goertzen, a fast, checking line forward, was perhaps the surprise of Columbus' camp and said he was told on Monday he'd probably be a Blue Jacket.

Tuesday, Columbus claimed defenseman Andy Delmore off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings. Delmore took Goertzen's spot. Goertzen skated with Columbus on Tuesday and was then told he'd be starting his season with the Crunch.

Goertzen could've flown here but he knew Sugden had just left Columbus. He called Sugden, who was about 40 miles out of Columbus at the time, and Sugden turned around to pick up Goertzen for a little riding company.

"They told me I was on the team. Obviously, the excitement and everything was there," Goertzen said. "It's tough to take, but hopefully I'll work my way back up there."

To clear space on its roster, Syracuse made several moves Tuesday. It reassigned right winger Kyle Musselman to Dayton of the ECHL and released defensemen Trevor Hendrikx, Tyler Scott and Tyson Teplitsky, center Brett Nowak, left winger Jason Payne and right winger Jeff Szwez