The AHL schedule was released today, and with that release came the thing all AHL fans have been waiting for: that glorious list of game dates for their respective teams.
For the Syracuse Crunch, things are mostly business as usual, although their schedule has a few interesting twists this year.
As a reminder, the Syracuse Crunch play in the AHL East Division with four other teams: the Norfolk Admirals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Binghamton Senators, and the Hershey Bears. The Crunch were the champions of the East Division last year, finishing first in a race that came down to the AHL’s final weekend. The Crunch’s larger Eastern Conference–which Syracuse is also the reigning champion of–consists of 15 different AHL teams that are scattered across the easterly coast of the US and Canada.
As far as divisional play goes, Syracuse will play each team the following number of times:
- Norfolk: 8
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton: 10
- Binghamton: 10
- Hershey: 8/
It must be noted that one of those Hershey games will take place at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. in February, under the banner of the AHL Showcase. The Crunch will also play again the Bell Centre in Montreal against Hamilton on 11/22. The Hershey game is costing Crunch fans a home date, as Syracuse is the home team for that contest. The Crunch will not be the home team when they play at Bell Centre.
The Crunch has never played every team in the Eastern Conference, something that didn’t change this season. Syracuse will not face Manchester, Worcester, Hartford, or Portland. They will, however, face the St. John’s IceCaps times, which makes sense as the Crunch has developed quite the pre-season rivalry with that team. The two teams will face off four times.
Due to several division/conference changes over the years and geographical closeness, the Crunch has close rivalries with several Western Conference teams. Syracuse and Rochester have been rivals for years, although the continued conference separation of the two teams that first occurred at the start of the 2009-2010 season has damped things a bit. Syracuse will face Rochester 8 times this year, which is down from previous seasons.
It might be said that the Crunch now has a new rivalry with the Grand Rapids Griffins, who bested the Crunch four games to two in the Calder Cup finals last season. Surprisingly, the Crunch will not face off against the Griffins during the regular season. I figured Crunch owner Howard Dolgon would have wanted to get at least a two-game series in.
Other Western Conference teams the Crunch will face include the newly-minted Utica Comets (formerly known as the Peoria Rivermen), as well as Toronto and Hamilton. The Crunch’s last weekend of the regular season is actually against all Western Conference teams. The Crunch will be visiting Rochester and then Hamilton that weekend.
Of note is the Crunch’s new weekend game start time of 7 PM for all home games. I’m not sure why they changed it from 7:30. Weekend games were routinely at 7:30, while weekday games used to start at 7. Th new start time is definitely more family-friendly.
According to the Post Standard,
Syracuse will play 33 of its 38 home games on either a Friday (15) or Saturday (18). Additionally, the Crunch will play three home games on Sundays and two on Wednesdays…the 2013-14 Crunch schedule features three four-game homestands, one from January 11-24, another from March 8-15 and the last from April 4-12. The team’s longest road trip spans five games (December 31- January 10).
Here is the full 2013-14 schedule for the Syracuse Crunch:
OCTOBER (8 games – 4 home, 4 road)
5 Saturday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
12 Saturday ROCHESTER 7:00 p.m.
13 Sunday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 5:00 p.m.
18 Friday BINGHAMTON 7:00 p.m.
19 Saturday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
25 Friday @ Utica 7:00 p.m.
26 Saturday BRIDGEPORT 7:00 p.m.
30 Wednesday @ Albany 7:00 p.m.
NOVEMBER (12 games – 5 home, 7 road)
1 Friday ROCHESTER 7:00 p.m.
2 Saturday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
6 Wednesday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:05 p.m.
8 Friday @ Norfolk 7:30 p.m.
9 Saturday @ Norfolk 7:15 p.m.
15 Friday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 7:00 p.m.
16 Saturday ALBANY 7:00 p.m.
22 Friday @ Hamilton (Bell Centre, Montreal) 7:30 p.m.
23 Saturday HAMILTON 7:00 p.m.
27 Wednesday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
29 Friday ST. JOHN’S 7:00 p.m.
30 Saturday @ Adirondack 7:00 p.m.
DECEMBER (11 games – 5 home, 6 road)
6 Friday NORFOLK 7:00 p.m.
7 Saturday NORFOLK 7:00 p.m.
10 Tuesday @ St. John’s 6:00 p.m.
11 Wednesday @ St. John’s 6:00 p.m.
14 Saturday ROCHESTER 7:00 p.m.
18 Wednesday @ Hershey 7:00 p.m.
20 Friday BINGHAMTON 7:00 p.m.
21 Saturday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:05 p.m.
27 Friday @ Hershey 7:00 p.m.
28 Saturday NORFOLK 7:00 p.m.
31 Tuesday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5:05 p.m.
JANUARY (12 games – 4 home, 8 road)
3 Friday @ Toronto 7:00 p.m.
4 Saturday @ Binghamton 7:05 p.m.
8 Wednesday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:05 p.m.
10 Friday @ Providence 7:05 p.m.
11 Saturday PROVIDENCE 7:00 p.m.
17 Friday HERSHEY 7:00 p.m.
18 Saturday BINGHAMTON 7:00 p.m.
24 Friday HERSHEY 7:00 p.m.
25 Saturday @ Hershey 7:00 p.m.
26 Sunday @ Bridgeport 5:00 p.m.
29 Wednesday @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7:05 p.m.
31 Friday @ Utica 7:00 p.m.
FEBRUARY (10 games – 5 home, 5 road)
1 Saturday NORFOLK 3:00 p.m.
5 Wednesday @ Rochester 7:05 p.m.
7 Friday @ Springfield 7:00 p.m.
8 Saturday SPRINGFIELD 7:00 p.m.
14 Friday @ Norfolk 7:30 p.m.
15 Saturday @ Norfolk 7:15 p.m.
21 Friday UTICA 7:00 p.m.
22 Saturday @ Hershey 7:00 p.m.
23 Sunday HERSHEY (Verizon Center, Wash. DC) 5:00 p.m.
28 Friday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 7:00 p.m.
MARCH (14 games – 10 home, 4 road)
1 Saturday ADIRONDACK 7:00 p.m.
2 Sunday @ Adirondack 5:00 p.m.
7 Friday @ Rochester 7:05 p.m.
8 Saturday ROCHESTER 7:00 p.m.
9 Sunday BINGHAMTON 3:00 p.m.
14 Friday HERSHEY 7:00 p.m.
15 Saturday HAMILTON 7:00 p.m.
16 Sunday @ Albany 5:00 p.m.
21 Friday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 7:00 p.m.
22 Saturday ALBANY 7:00 p.m.
23 Sunday @ Adirondack 5:00 p.m.
26 Wednesday ST. JOHN’S 7:00 p.m.
28 Friday ADIRONDACK 7:00 p.m.
29 Saturday BINGHAMTON 7:00 p.m.
APRIL (9 games – 5 home, 4 road)
2 Wednesday @ Rochester 7:05 p.m.
4 Friday ALBANY 7:00 p.m.
5 Saturday UTICA 7:00 p.m.
11 Friday WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 7:00 p.m.
12 Saturday TORONTO 7:00 p.m.
13 Sunday @ Albany 5:00 p.m.
16 Wednesday ADIRONDACK 7:00 p.m.
18 Friday @ Rochester 7:05 p.m.
19 Saturday @ Hamilton 7:00 p.m.
HOME GAMES IN CAPS
All times listed are Eastern Time
Game times subject to change – check local listings
