Crunch name new Captain and look forward to new arena renovations

LAST WEEK
Wed., Oct. 10 - Crunch at Rochester - L, 6-3
Sat., Oct. 13 - Crunch vs. Charlotte - L, 4-1

THIS WEEK
Fri., Oct. 19 - Crunch at Binghamton - 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 20 - Crunch vs. Utica - 7 p.m.
Crunch show off renovations, lose twice
The Crunch lost a pair of games in Week 2, dropping decisions against Rochester and Charlotte. The 0-2-0-0 week leaves the Crunch (1-2-0-0) in seventh place in the North Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Syracuse began the week with its first Wednesday game of the season, a 6-3 loss to the Rochester Americans in a rematch of last season's North Division Semifinals. The Crunch scored a goal in all three periods, but were done in by a three-goal second period by the Amerks. Including the Crunch's season opener in Hershey, Syracuse scored a goal in the first six periods of the regular season for the first time since 2012-13. The Crunch hosted their 25th home opener Saturday against the Checkers, losing 4-1. Syracuse has lost its home opener in each of the last two seasons.
The Crunch have two games in Week 3. They travel to Binghamton to play the first-place Devils Friday and then host the second-place Utica Comets Saturday.
Top Performers
Crunch forward Jonne Tammela was the only Crunch player with more than one point in Week 2. The second-year-pro made his season debut Wednesday in Rochester, striking for his first goal of the season. The Finnish forward followed that with an assist on the Crunch's lone goal Saturday against Charlotte. It's the first time Tammela has recorded a point in back-to-back games in his career.
Tammela, 21, dressed in 28 games for the Crunch as a rookie last season after missing almost two seasons with knee injuries. He logged six points (3g, 3a) over those 28 games. This season, Tammela is one of four Crunch skaters with at least two points after two weeks.
Defenseman Oleg Sosunov became the third Crunch rookie this season to score his first professional goal. The 6-foot-9 Russian netted the only goal in the Crunch's first home game of the season Saturday against the Checkers. He joins forwards Taylor Raddysh and Alex Barré-Boulet, who both scored their first pro goal in the season opener in Hershey Oct. 6.
Sosunov, 20, spent last season with the Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL). He finished with 26 points (7g, 19a) in 71 games in his first season in North America. Boris Katchouk picked up an assist on Sosunov's goal; it was the first point in Katchouk's pro career.
Captain Gabriel Dumont
Gabriel Dumont was named the 21st captain in franchise history Friday. The 28-year-old is in his third season with the Lightning organization after appearing in 18 games for the Crunch last season.
"I have big shoes to fill, but I'm excited to be selected by the coaches and the team as captain going into the Crunch's 25th season," Dumont said. "It's something natural to me, I try to go out there and lead by example."
Dumont follows Erik Condra, who served as captain starting in the middle of the 2016-17 season.
Head coach Ben Groulx also announced his alternate captains for the season. Forwards Kevin Lynch, Andy Andreoff, Michael Bournival and defenseman Cameron Gaunce will shuffle the "A" on their jerseys.
Upcoming: Binghamton, Utica
The Crunch play twice in Week 3, facing a pair of North Division rivals.
The Crunch open their 10-game season series with the Binghamton Devils Friday on the road. The Devils (3-1-0-0) sit tied atop the division with six points after two weeks. Last season, the Crunch posted a 7-2-0-1 record against the Devils; they won seven straight from Dec. 8 to March 28. The Crunch went 4-0-0-1 in Binghamton, outscoring the Devils 23-7 in the five games.
Syracuse returns home Saturday for the first of 12 matches against the Utica Comets. The Crunch won seven of the 12 head-to-head meetings last season to claim the Galaxy Cup. Syracuse won the final four games of the series, including two straight shutouts. Utica (3-2-0-0) swept a two-game series in Toronto last week. The Comets play Rochester and Cleveland leading up to Saturday's match in Syracuse.
12-year lease extension
The Crunch and Onondaga County announced a 12-year lease Friday. The team will play its home games at the War Memorial Arena through the 2029-2030.
The arena's offseason renovations include suites, a new state-of-the-art, center-hung scoreboard, ribbon lights and more.
During the offseason, the Crunch and Tampa Bay Lightning announced a five-year affiliation extension, with an option for two additional years.
Week 2 Results
Wednesday, October 10 | Game 2 at Rochester | L, 6-3
Syracuse 1 1 1 - 3 Shots: 10-7-16-33 PP: 1/8
Rochester 1 3 2 - 6 Shots: 13-10-10-33 PP: 3/4
1st Period-Barré-Boulet 2 (Cernak, Dumont), 19:59 (PP). 2nd Period-Tammela 1 (Brassart), 12:52. 3rd Period-Yan 1 (Volkov, Masin), 19:44. . . . Pasquale 1-1-0 (33 shots-27 saves). A-2,394
Saturday, October 13 | Game 3 vs. Charlotte | L, 4-1
Charlotte 2 2 0 - 4 Shots: 13-13-7-33 PP: 2/4
Syracuse 0 0 1 - 1 Shots: 11-15-9-35 PP: 0/6
3rd Period-Sosunov 1 (Tammela, Katchouk), 4:42. . . . Ingram 0-1-0 (33 shots-29 saves). A-6,376
| Category | Average/Total | AHL Rank (Prev) | | --- | --- | --- | | Power Play | 17.6% (3-for-17) | 17th (1st) | | Penalty Kill | 58.3% (7-for-12) | 31st (T-1st) | | Goals For | 2.33 GFA (7) | 26th (T-16th) | | Goals Against | 4.00 GAA (12) | T-23rd (T-6th) | | Shots For | 33.00 SF/G (99) | T-8th (12th) | | Shots Against | 32.67 SA/G (98) | 23rd (T-19th) | | Penalty Minutes | 10.00 PIM/G (30) | 21st (T-17th) |