Inside The Syracuse Crunch: Roster, Rivalries, And A Roaring Arena

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Howard Dalton is with me on the phone, and we're
so excited.
He is the team owner of SyracuseCrunch.
And also I might want to add,because I'm a hockey fan of 2024
inducted into the New York StateHockey Hall of Fame.
Howard, how are you, man?
Thanks for calling.

SPEAKER_01 (00:16):
Well, thanks for that great intro, and I'm doing
great.
Really appreciate the call.

SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
You know, we're really excited.
It's here.
It's time for hockey.
And uh you've been a part ofthis team, you know, for
decades.
What makes this year's openerstand out to you?

SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
Well, you know, this will be opener number 32, and it
it doesn't matter, you know,whether it's year one, year ten,
year twenty.
Like I get goosebumps, everyhome opener, and it's great to
see the faces back in theupstate met arena.

SPEAKER_02 (00:48):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
Fans who've been supporting this team since 1994,
fans who've been new to thegame, and you know, uh and the
fact that, you know, hey, thisteam has started on the road
with a two-old record.
Yeah.
To come home undefeated and uhfeeling good about ourselves,
that even adds to the excitementof of opening night.

SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
You know, I I can't wait.
I mean, I I love it when we openup baseball season.
Now I love it when we open uphockey season.
This is like just unbelievablefun, and we're we're so lucky to
have it here in the queue,thanks to you.
Fans are always excited to seewho's hitting the ice.
What can we expect from thisyear's roster?
Any standout players,storylines, anything that you're
excited about?

SPEAKER_01 (01:29):
Well, you know, so here's the great thing.
Like, you know, you mentionedit's great to be hockey back,
and which what I find sointeresting about the game of
hockey, and besides loving it asmuch as I do, is that even
friends and people I run intowho go to a hockey game live,
whether it's for the first timeor the hundredth time, they say
to a man, This is the best sportto watch in person.

(01:51):
And it's like I love watchinghockey on TV, but it doesn't
translate like it does inperson.
And when you add to it, the kindof rambunctious building we
have, it's building as loud.
We've got a tremendous new soundsystem that was put in this
summer, which has transformedthis building.

(02:12):
It'll be the first time our fanshear it on a Saturday night.
We've we redid all the lowerbolts, all new seats downstairs,
a new downstairs club to eatbefore, during, and after the
game.
Wow.
So that's all the the the otherbells and whistles.
As far as the team goes, youknow, we've we've had a little
bit of a face left.
We've got some familiar facesback, like Dylan Duke and you

(02:35):
know, uh uh, you know, uh ourgoalie uh Havelson and uh Matt
Krochek and D, and you know, uhSteve Santini, uh captain of the
defense.
But we got a lot of promisingnew faces who early on have have
really done well.
You've got Scott Sabron, ourheavyweight, who uh is not only

(02:56):
one of the tougher players inthe league, but is a guy who
could play uh a regular shift,which is not usually common for
a tough guy.
Right.
We've got Jacob Peltier, whoplayed a lot of games in the
Calgary organization, alreadyhas four points in two games, uh
Dominic James, who uh got signedin September out of college, and

(03:17):
was our player of the week uhafter this weekend.
You know, it's funny, after weswept Hershey this weekend, uh,
I'm good friends with most ofthe other owners and operators.
And I got on the phone with uhBrian Helmer, who's a friend of
mine who runs the Hershey team.
And Hershey's always been afirst-class organization and

(03:38):
always has had a good team.
And I wasn't at the games thispast weekend, so I said to
Brian, what I said, flat out,what do you think of my team?
He said, You're big, you'reheavy, you're fast, and you play
hard.
I love your team.
And and to hear that from ahockey guy, and again, it's only
two games, but you know, itthere's something uh about the

(04:00):
feel downstairs and thecamaraderie and the other thing
I believe so strongly in at thislevel is coaching.
And young players developing,playing professional for the
first time, playing against men,and we have in in my estimation
just the best coaching staff.

(04:20):
And you know, you see whatthey've done to players, you
know, over the course of ourrelationship who have gone on to
win Stanley Cups in Tampa tohave a lot of success.
And it's you know, the namesthat most people know are Andre
Vasilevski and Nikki DeKutrov.
Yep, yeah, straight in point,you know, Rod Gogudis, on and on
and on.
Oh, yeah.

(04:41):
And then you've got and you thenyou've got names like Yanni
Gord.
Yanni Gord came here, he was onthe East Coast League contract.
We signed him to an AmericanLeague deal.
He wound up developing hisskills in Syracuse and has
become two-time Stanley Cupchampion.
He's back with the lightningnow, playing a pivotal role, and
it's great to see those successstories about the players you

(05:02):
don't think are gonna make it.
And, you know, well, you'regonna watch a lot of them on
Saturday night here at Syracuse.

SPEAKER_00 (05:09):
See, that's that's what's cool about it.
We see these players down theice.
A day later, they could be withTampa Bay.
They kind of, you know, that'stheir opportunity.
Absolutely.
That's just that's just a chancefor you to see them and see how
they play, and uh, you know,their dream is to make it to the
big, so to speak.
And that's what Tampa Bay is allabout.
And talking about Tampa Bay,that strong relationship that
you have with Tampa Bay, and howdo you see that partnership

(05:32):
shaping uh the team's successthis season?

SPEAKER_01 (05:34):
Well, you know, we've been with Tampa's our
fourth organization, it's ourlongest tenured one.
You know, we started when wewhen we brought the team to
Syracuse with Vancouver, we hada long run with the Columbus
Blue Jackets with Doug McLean.
We had a very short tenure,fortunately, we were short with
Anaheim, and then we moved on in2012-13 with Tampa.

(05:56):
And there's no wonder wonderthey win at the National League
level that they attract playersto play in Tampa at uh probably
better contract rates than otherteams have to pay because people
want to play there.
They've got just uh first classownership, everything from

(06:17):
coaches, home ownership to GM tocoaches, yeah, trainers,
equipment managers, you name it,to their front office, is they
do everything the right way.
And it translates down to hereand I play a skip, we've been in
the business now thirty-twoyears.

SPEAKER_02 (06:33):
Yep.

SPEAKER_01 (06:33):
We've learned so much about creating culture from
our partners in the lightning.
And for us, the important thingis for it to be a seamless
organization.
Where if a player's on aSyracuse, he's he's almost like
he's in Tampa, the way he'streated, the way he trains, the
way he eats, the way our staffinteract with him, the way the

(06:57):
coaches do, so then when he getsthe call up, it's an easy move.
And you know, the lines ofcommunication we speak almost on
a daily basis.
I love that.
Uh I'll talk to yeah JulianBriswar, the GM, I'll talk to
Jeff Tambolini, the assistantGM, Steve Grigg, the CEO of the
Lightning, and even Jeff Finick,uh, the owner of the Lightning.

(07:19):
We have a great relationship andit it the players feel that.
The players see that there's avery cohesive, strong
partnership between our twocities.

SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
You deliver such a great fan experience.
And now Saturday we're gonna godown to the game.
Puck drops at seven o'clock, butwe have some stuff going on
beforehand.
Can you talk about that a littlebit?

SPEAKER_01 (07:39):
Well, we've got uh uh a pregame party outdoors.
Yeah.
And uh, you know, music, uhfood, festive atmosphere, you
know, people be able to, youknow, it's almost like a a
tailgate that they do infootball, but more of a a
pre-planned organized one.
And, you know, our fans, youknow, our season unfortunately

(08:00):
last year ended, you know, uhafter the first round of the
playoffs.
And so the fans go through May,June, July, August, September.
Well, the weather is really niceup here, but they can't wait for
the ice to go down and theskates to go on the ice and the
games to begin.
And I can't tell you how manypeople, our fans that, you know,
the last game when it's over,you know, they'll leave the

(08:22):
building, they'll be verythankful for you know the team
being here and and and and whatyour organization does, but
they'll also say, Man, what arewe gonna do for the next five
months?
Like we're gonna really miss ourhockey.
It it's uh it's it's hard tohear it, but it's really
wonderful to hear it because itjust shows their passion and
their love for the team.

(08:42):
You know, we could not be anymore fortunate to have the fan
base that we have here.
Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 (08:49):
Yeah, this it sounds like it's gonna be just a great
home opener, so excited thathockey is back, uh ready to go
through the winter with it andinto spring, and hopefully we
can go all the way this timearound.
I mean, we've come so veryclose.
That's the plan.
Yeah, I know I'm right there.

SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
That's the plan.
I'll tell you what, I'll tellyou what, Sid.
Okay, if and when we lift thatcup, there will be a party in
this city that they have neverseen before.
I guarantee you.
We're gonna bring we're we'rebringing Brooklyn Syracuse for a
party.
I love it, Littlefray.

SPEAKER_00 (09:22):
I love it.
Where can I love it?
And uh, you know, I love yourattitude.
I love everything about you andwhat you've done.
You're just a big part of thecommunity here in central New
York.
Where can fans grab tickets andwhat's your message to Crunch
Nation heading into openingnight?

SPEAKER_01 (09:38):
Well, one did you could call the office 473-444,
go on SyracuseCrunch.com.
The message is like it nevergets old for me.
Like I said, I get thegoosebumps.
60 minutes, it's a two and ahalf hour experience, and that
you're really you're interactingwith your friends, you're you're
riveted to uh uh just a greatsport with hitting and kill and

(10:03):
and the occasional dropping thegloves and fighting and it's all
hockey, baby.
This is a building.
This is a building that you knowit's concrete and the sound, it
doesn't go anywhere.
And when we're rocking here, itit's interesting.
You know, I was talking uhyesterday, I met for the first
time our tough guy, ScottSabarin.

(10:24):
He at one point played inBelleville, and he said, Man,
when we came to your building,your fans, it's a tough place to
be an opponent.
And but it's gonna be a greatplace to be a a player for the
home team.
And I've heard that so manytimes.
So many times that the crowdjust is so supportive of their

(10:46):
players.
They take it personally, andit's great.
It's really it's really special.

SPEAKER_00 (10:52):
It's all of us.
We're passionate.
And we're passionate about thecrunch, we're passionate about
what you're doing and being apart of the community.
And uh so looking forward toSaturday.
It is the home opener.
Uh go online, go to the SyracuseCrunch website.
Uh you can get your ticketsthere.
And go to the party ahead oftime, and let's go front.
That's all I gotta say.

(11:14):
Yes, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
We don't miss it again.

SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
Stop by the case.

SPEAKER_00 (11:18):
I would love to have our goal to the honor of the
Syracuse Crunchy.
Thanks for taking a few minutesout of your 50 day to check in.