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AHL Eastern Conference Finals
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Where: Onondaga County War Memorial Arena, Syracuse, New York
When: 7:00 PM EDT
Media: 1260 AM (radio)
So where were we? I mean, it’s been eight days since the Syracuse Crunch last took to the ice at War Memorial and took a broom to the Springfield Falcons. Since then, the Crunch have lost players to cuts atnd to injuries, but they’ve also had time to heal, to rest, to reflect… and to wait.
…and to wait.
…and to wait.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins did the improbable impossible in terms of the AHL Calder Cup playoff: They came back from the dead. Down 3-0 to the Providence Bruins, WBS won four games in a row to advance to the conference finals.
The question now becomes what they have left in the tank after a bruising series with Providence. Actually, that might not be the question, it might be more pertinent to ask if the Syracuse Crunch can solve WBS goalie Brad Thiessen. Where the Crunch had to deal with Curtis McElhinny playing like a pushover backstop in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Theissen isn’t simply playing lights-out; he’s playing insurmountable. Playing in 7 of 11 WBS games in the playoffs so far, Theissen has an unbelievable 0.89 GAA and a .970 save percentage.
In a word, he’s been awesome. He’s given up 6 goals total in the playoffs. The Crunch put up 5 goals three times last round.
Something’s gotta give is the point… This could be a long series…. That is, if the Providence series didn’t tap all that WBS had left.
