The Syracuse Crunch announced Wednesday their schedule for the 2010-11 American Hockey League season.
The Crunch will open their 17th AHL season with a home-and-home series against Lake Erie on Friday, October 8 at Quicken Loans Arena and Saturday, October 9 at the War Memorial at Oncenter. The Crunch and Monsters will be one of three home-and-home series’ being played in the first week of the AHL’s 75th anniversary season, with teams participating from the league’s six senior-most cities. It is the seventh time in the Crunch’s 17-year history and fifth year in a row the club will start the season on the road (2000-01, 2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10).
The 40-game home schedule includes 35 weekend games, with 31 of those dates being played on either a Friday or Saturday. Saturday is the busiest night for the Crunch at home, as they will play 17 games on that night. The Crunch also have 14 games on Friday, four on Sunday, three on Wednesday and two on Tuesday.
The Crunch will play 48 games against their East Division opponents (Adirondack 8, Albany 8, Binghamton 8, Norfolk 8, Hershey 6, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6, Charlotte 4). Syracuse also has six contests against the Atlantic Division (Bridgeport 2, Hartford 2 and Springfield 2).
In addition, the Crunch will face-off against North Division teams 20 times (Rochester 10, Hamilton 4, Toronto 4, and Lake Erie 2) and West Division clubs six times (Houston 2, San Antonio 2 and Texas 2).
The Crunch play nine games in October, 12 in November, 13 in December, 14 in January, 11 in February, 15 in March and six in April. Syracuse plays a high of seven home games each in January and March and a high of eight road games each in December and March. March is again the busiest month for the Crunch, as the club plays 15 total games (seven home, eight road).
The Crunch have two separate five-game home stands from January 21-29 and February 18-26, which are the longest home stands of the season and total nine days each. The longest road trip of the season is seven games, starting on December 29 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and ending 16 days later on January 14 at Hamilton. The Crunch play three games in three nights 12 times this season, up from eight times in each of the last two seasons.
Notable games include the home opener vs. Lake Erie on Saturday, October 9, the first home meeting of the season with the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears on Friday, October 29, the first home meeting against the now Columbus-affiliated Springfield Falcons on Saturday, November 20 and the first-ever visit to Time Warner Cable Arena to take on the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday, December 5.
In addition, the Crunch travel to Hershey for a New Year’s Eve match-up with the Bears on December 31, then travel to Rochester the following day for a New Year’s Day tilt against their I-90 rivals on January 1. Syracuse makes its seemingly annual trek to the Lone Star State, kicking things off on Friday, March 4 at Houston, then traveling to San Antonio on Saturday, March 5 and wrapping up the trip with a 12 p.m. tilt vs. Texas on Monday, March 7.
The complete Crunch schedule is as follows:
OCTOBER (9 games - 5 home, 4 road)
8 Friday @ Lake Erie 7:30 p.m.
9 Saturday LAKE ERIE 7:30 p.m.
15 Friday @ Adirondack 7:30 p.m.
16 Saturday BINGHAMTON 7:30 p.m.
22 Friday NORFOLK 7:30 p.m.
23 Saturday @ Hartford 7:00 p.m.
27 Wednesday @ Hamilton 7:00 p.m.
29 Friday HERSHEY 7:30 p.m.
30 Saturday ALBANY 7:30 p.m.
NOVEMBER (12 games - 6 home, 6 road)
5 Friday @ Springfield 7:30 p.m.
6 Saturday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:05 p.m.
7 Sunday @ Binghamton 5:05 p.m.
13 Saturday HERSHEY 7:30 p.m.
17 Wednesday BINGHAMTON 11:00 a.m.
19 Friday ALBANY 7:30 p.m.
20 Saturday SPRINGFIELD 7:30 p.m.
21 Sunday @ Rochester 5:05 p.m.
26 Friday HERSHEY 7:30 p.m.
27 Saturday @ Toronto 3:00 p.m.
28 Sunday HAMILTON 3:00 p.m.
DECEMBER (13 games - 5 home, 8 road)
3 Friday @ Rochester 7:35 p.m.
5 Sunday @ Charlotte 3:00 p.m.
6 Monday @ Charlotte 7:00 p.m.
8 Wednesday @ Norfolk 7:15 p.m.
10 Friday ADIRONDACK 7:30 p.m.
11 Saturday BRIDGEPORT 7:30 p.m.
17 Friday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
18 Saturday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 7:30 p.m.
19 Sunday HARTFORD 3:00 p.m.
26 Sunday @ Rochester 5:05 p.m.
28 Tuesday ADIRONDACK 7:00 p.m.
29 Wednesday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:05 p.m.
31 Friday @ Hershey 5:00 p.m.
JANUARY (14 games - 7 home, 7 road)
1 Saturday @ Rochester 7:35 p.m.
2 Sunday @ Albany 4:00 p.m.
7 Friday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
8 Saturday @ Albany 7:00 p.m.
14 Friday @ Hamilton 7:00 p.m.
15 Saturday ROCHESTER 7:30 p.m.
16 Sunday ADIRONDACK 4:00 p.m.
18 Tuesday @ Norfolk 7:15 p.m.
19 Wednesday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:05 p.m.
21 Friday ROCHESTER 7:30 p.m.
22 Saturday NORFOLK 7:30 p.m.
26 Wednesday HOUSTON 7:00 p.m.
28 Friday TORONTO 7:30 p.m.
29 Saturday ADIRONDACK 7:30 p.m.
FEBRUARY (11 games – 6 home, 5 road)
4 Friday @ Adirondack 7:30 p.m.
5 Saturday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON
11 Friday @ Norfolk 7:30 p.m.\
12 Saturday @ Norfolk 7:15 p.m.
16 Wednesday @ Adirondack 7:00 p.m.
18 Friday SAN ANTONIO 7:30 p.m.
19 Saturday ROCHESTER 7:30 p.m.
22 Tuesday CHARLOTTE 7:00 p.m.
25 Friday BINGHAMTON 7:30 p.m.
26 Saturday HAMILTON 7:30 p.m.
27 Sunday @ Rochester 3:05 p.m.
MARCH (15 games - 7 home, 8 road)
4 Friday @ Houston 8:35 p.m.
5 Saturday @ San Antonio 8:00 p.m.
7 Monday @ Texas 12:00 p.m.
11 Friday TEXAS 7:30 p.m.
12 Saturday ROCHESTER 7:30 p.m.
13 Sunday @ Albany 4:00 p.m.
16 Wednesday ALBANY 7:00 p.m.
18 Friday TORONTO 7:30 p.m.
19 Saturday CHARLOTTE 7:30 p.m.
20 Sunday @ Hershey 5:00 p.m.
23 Wednesday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
25 Friday ALBANY 7:30 p.m.
26 Saturday ROCHESTER 7:30 p.m.
27 Sunday @ Bridgeport 3:00 p.m.
30 Wednesday @ Toronto 11:00 a.m.
APRIL (6 games - 4 home, 2 away)
1 Friday BINGHAMTON 7:30 p.m.
2 Saturday @ Adirondack 7:00 p.m.
3 Sunday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3:00 p.m.
8 Friday NORFOLK 7:30 p.m.
9 Saturday NORFOLK 7:30 p.m.
10 Sunday @ Hershey 5:00 p.m.
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
Home Game Times: Monday – Thursday: 7 p.m., Friday & Saturday: 7:30 p.m., Sunday: 3 p.m. except November 17 @ 11 a.m. and January 16 vs. Adirondack @ 4 p.m.
All times Eastern Time Zone, game times subject to change.
Courtesy: Syracuse Crunch
