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Quick Strikes: Syracuse Crunch head to Grand Rapids for Game 6

After winning two games at home, the Crunch will finish out the Calder Cup series in Griffins territory.

The Bolts

Which NHL Team Could Land Darren Raddysh? Hi, we're raising our hands over here in Tampa. "The major connecting point between Darren and the Tampa Bay Lightning is his younger brother. The Lightning drafted Taylor Raddysh, Darren’s junior by almost exactly two years, in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft." [THW]

Bay Bolts of The Puck Network have a two-part review of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season for us to read today.

Part 1: “This Crunch team draws many similarities with the 2012 Norfolk Admirals team that won the Calder Cup and supplied many good players to the Lightning, such as Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, and Ondrej Palat. So what can we learn from these contributions? GM Steve Yzerman and Director of Amateur Scouting Al Murray have done an excellent job of putting together a deep prospect pool that the Lightning can draw from to fill in the gaps around the core mentioned earlier.” [Bay Bolts]

Part 2: “Going back to what Yzerman said in his exit interview, the team has to find ways to win, and that starts with the players that aren’t injured. There is a common philosophy in the hockey world known as “next man up.” When one player goes down, another has to step up. Some players did just that (Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman), while others didn’t.” [Bay Bolts]

In case you missed it, yesterday Geo wrote the Red Wings portion of our season series breakdowns. "The Lightning absolutely destroyed the Detroit Red Wings, winning all five games. It was sweet, sweet revenge in helping to end the Detroit Red Wings’ long string of consecutive playoff appearances. It also felt especially good after the bad blood that had been generated between the two teams in the two previous playoffs." [Raw Charge]

Also, the team sat around discussing Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan in another Round Table. "This seems like terrible asset management. Asking Callahan to waive his NMC is no risk to anyone and lets them protect another forward. If they lose Vladdy [Vladislav Namestnikov] because they didn't want to hurt Callahan's feelings, that's a pretty bad look for all involved. This of course assumes that they wouldn't expose Killorn instead of Vladdy. But based on Cooper's comments today, that seems unlikely." [Raw Charge]

The Crunch

Before leaving for Grand Rapids, members of the Syracuse Crunch organization - including Mike McKenna, Yanni Gourde, and head coach Ben Groulx - took some time to recognize the fan support they’ve had all season from their community. [Syracuse.com]

McKenna also took to Twitter to personally thank the fans:

Speaking of fans, the Crunch was encouraged from afar by a familiar face on Saturday:

The Crunch revealed that half the team was battling the flu during the first part of their Finals series with Grand Rapids. They now head back to Michigan with one task: Bring home the cup. [Syracuse.com]

The Crunch continues to slide their name up next to some of the AHL’s most successful teams:

The Game

Penguins won the Stanley Cup again. Congrats, and love to our friends in Nashville. [Pensburgh]

Boston Bruins prospect Jake DeBrusk is closest to making their roster of their three first-round draft picks. [The Boston Herald]

Remember Craig Cunningham, the Roadrunners player who had a heart attack on the ice last season? Here’s his story. (Warning: I needed the entire box of tissues.)

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