Crunch Chronicles

On Episode 63 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Jeremy Reich. 

Reich spent five seasons playing for the Crunch, beginning in 2000 at the start of the team's affiliation with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That was Reich's rookie season, and he skated in 56 games and compiled 15 points and 108 penalty minutes.

His role continued to evolve during his tenure with the Crunch. He peaked at 195 penalty min...

On Episode 62 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Ken Klee. 

Klee spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Crunch beginning with the 2017-18 season after he was hired in July 2017. A veteran of over 900 NHL games played, Klee was responsible for the team’s defensemen and penalty kill and he helped the team to two of their best regular seasons ever in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

In 2017-18, the Crun...

On Episode 61 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Lauren Kochian. 

Kochian spent time working in the Crunch's front office, first as a public relations intern in the late 90's, before continuing her career in public relations with the new Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

After spending some time working in sports, Kochian parlayed what she learned to move into marketing and development for Arc of On...

On Episode 60 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Doug MacLean. 

MacLean served as the first General Manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He helped usher the Blue Jackets into the NHL for the inaugural season in 2000-01, and it was his relationship with Crunch Owner Howard Dolgon that led to the affiliation between the two clubs.

MacLean was the Blue Jackets' General Manager through the 2006-07 se...

On Episode 59 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Marc Methot. 

Methot spent three seasons playing for the Crunch during the Columbus Blue Jackets affiliation. A sixth-round pick in the 2003 NHL Draft by Columbus, Methot began his pro career with the Crunch in 2005-06. The defenseman skated in 70 games as a rookie, contributing 13 points.

He spent the majority of his second pro season in Syracuse, ...

On Episode 58 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Robert Dome. 

Dome spent two seasons in Syracuse during the late '90s as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. After being selected in the first round of the 1997 NHL Draft, Dome joined the Crunch as an 18-year-old in the 1997-98 season. He scored 21 goals and added 46 points in 36 games for the Crunch that season, earning a spot in the ...

On Episode 57 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Michael Bournival. 

Bournival spent three seasons in Syracuse with the Crunch between 2016 and 2019. He joined the Lightning organization as a free agent in the summer of 2016 and split his first season between the Lightning and Crunch. He played a big role in the playoffs in 2017, collecting 15 points (8g, 7a) in 22 games to help the Crunch advance...

On Episode 56 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Sarah Costello. 

Sarah is currently the Sr. Manager, Lightning Foundation & Community Events for the Tampa Bay Lightning. She's in her ninth season in Tampa, and oversees all things community relations and charitable foundation for the Lightning.

She began her journey as an intern with the Syracuse Crunch - first in public relations, then in com...

On Episode 55 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Nick Holden. 

Holden spent two full seasons in Syracuse with the Crunch during the team's affiliation with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He began his pro career by joining the Crunch at the end of the 2007-08 season, and made his pro debut during the Crunch's incredible win streak. He played the next two seasons with the Crunch, contributing 45 points ...

On Episode 54 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Jared Nightingale. 

Nightingale spent one full season and parts of one more in Syracuse at the start of the Tampa Bay Lightning affiliation. Nightingale joined the Crunch for the 2012-13 season after signing an AHL contract with the Crunch as a free agent that summer. It marked his seventh pro season, and the veteran carved out a solid role on a loa...

On Episode 53 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Troy Bodie. 

Bodie spent one season in Syracuse with the Crunch in 2011-12, when the team was affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. An immediate leader on the team, Bodie was an alternate captain for the Crunch and accumulated 15 points and 119 penalty minutes in 69 games. He helped the Crunch earn a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

After playing in bo...

On Episode 52 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Cory Conacher. 

Conacher spent parts of five seasons in Syracuse over two different stints with the Crunch during their affiliation with Tampa Bay. Conacher was a member of the Crunch's first team during the Lightning affiliation in 2012-13. He produced 28 points in 36 games to begin the season before being recalled to the Lightning when the NHL Loc...

On Episode 51 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Mike Ayers. 

Ayers played one season with the Crunch. He joined the team early in the 2005-06 season on a professional try-out (PTO). He earned a second PTO before eventually signing an SPC (standard player contract) with the Crunch later that season. 

In 23 games that season for the Crunch, the Hingham, Massachusetts native posted a 12-8-1 record w...

On Episode 50 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Jamie Heffernan. 

Heffernan is a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning's development staff, focusing on functional movement. He is regularly in Syracuse and constantly working with the players to optimize how their bodies move off the ice, which translates to movements on the ice.

He has been working for the organization for seven years and has had an a...

On Episode 49 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Matt Thompson. 

Thompson was an Account Executive for the Crunch, beginning a month before the 2017-18 season. His role with the organization continued to grow and evolve until the pandemic hit in 2020. With the Crunch unable to welcome fans for the 2020-21 season, Thompson adapted and found a different way to contribute that year.

At the end of the...

On Episode 48 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Mathieu Darche. 

Darche spent three seasons as a player in Syracuse at the start of the Columbus Blue Jackets affiliations. He began his pro career with the Crunch in 2000-01, skating in 66 games and logging 40 points. He also skated in nine games for Columbus that season. He split time again in 2001-02, adding another 45 points in 63 Crunch games w...

On Episode 47 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Mike Sgroi. 

Sgroi played parts of two seasons for the Crunch in the mid to late 2000s when the team was affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets. His first stint came at the tail end of the 2005-06 season, after he was bought out by the Devils organization and signed with the Crunch. Sgroi picked up three points in 16 games down the stretch as the...

On Episode 46 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Josh Holden. 

Holden played two seasons in Syracuse with the Crunch at the beginning of his career. A first-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks, Holden's pro career began with the Crunch in the 1998-99 season. He was up and down between the Canucks and the Crunch that season, and he finished with 29 points in 38 games for the Crunch. He also added s...

On Episode 45 of Crunch Chronicles, presented by Wendy's, Lukas Favale is joined by Mike Radja. 

Radja played parts of two seasons in Syracuse with the Crunch. He first joined the organization at the end of the 2007-08 season, when he signed an amateur try-out contract following the conclusion of his senior season at UNH. Radja jumped into the lineup with the team in the midst of their franchise record setting 23-game point streak ...