3/6/09: WBS Penguins vs Syracuse Crunch

Yet again, Wilkes Berre/Scranton comes to town. A couple days prior to this game, Miroslav Satan was sent down from the NHL. Most of us assumed he would be in attendance or at least thought there was a good possibility. Nope, no sign of him. Chris Minard made his first appearance in Syracuse, this year, though. At least that was a little consolation prize.

Cards:

Chris Minard - 1

Overall Different Autographed Hockey Cards This Year: 170

Pucks:

Chris Minard - WBS
Bill Thomas - WBS

Photos:

Jonathan Sigalet - Syracuse Crunch Photo ($5 Donation to MS)

WBS Penguins Logo Sheet (3 Players Today, 31 Players and 2 Coaches Overall)
#30 - David Brown
#14 - Chris Minard
#8 - Andy Wozniewski

2/28/09: Albany River Rats vs Syracuse Crunch

This was one of the first games played by Albany after the unfortunate bus accident. This meant a few extra PTOers and such, while a few of the guys I really wanted were injured and obviously not there. And again Bobby Hughes misses another game in Syracuse. One good thing is that Brandon Sutter (1st round pick from 2007 draft, 11th overall) was on a conditioning assignment. Not the most congenial guy though.

Cards:

Jeff Daniels (Coach) - 2

Overall Cards 169

Pucks:

Brandon Sutter - Albany River Rats/Carolina Hurricanes

Albany River Rats Logo Sheet
#2 - Noah Babin
#3 - Benn Olson
#6 - Ryan McGinnis (2nd #6 to sign sheet, his is on Rat's head)
#7 - Brett Carson
#9 - Ryan Cruthers (2nd #9 to sign sheet, his is on left side)
#12 - Aaron Clarke
#16 - Jakub Petruzalek
#23 - Brandon Sutter
#34 - Mitch Ganzak
#36 - Brad Herauf
Asst Coach - Geordie Kinnear
#24 - Pat Dwyer (Repeat autograph on same sheet...oops!)

2/27/09: Grand Rapids Griffins vs Syracuse Crunch

Grand Rapids made their final visit of the year (though it is a possibility if Syracuse makes the playoffs, that they could face them in the 1st round). Darren McCarty was down on a conditioning assignment, and I have to say that he was very good to the many fans who showed up for him. Overall, a pretty good night.

Cards:
Darren McCarty - 2
Jonathan Ericsson - 1
Jim Paek (Asst Coach) - 8

Cards Today 11, Overall Cards 167

Pucks:

Justin Abdelkader - Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids Griffins Logo Sheet (5 Players Today, 21 Players Overall)
#44 - Aaron Downey (Bottom of Logo)
#4 - Jonathan Ericsson
#25 - Darren McCarty (Middle of Logo, no #)
#16 - Ryan Oulahen
#23 - Jamie Tardif

2/20/09: WBS Penguins vs Syracuse Crunch

Third trip by the Wilkes Berre/Scranton Penguins. Didn't need too much at all, but I was able to get everything I needed.

Cards:

Alex Goligoski - 1

Overall Cards = 156

WBS Penguins Logo Sheet (4 Players Today, 28 Players and 2 Coaches Overall)
#20 - Paul Bissonnette
#13 - Alex Goligoski
#15 - Dave Gove
#25 - Janne Pesonen

2/16/09: Hershey Bears vs Syracuse Crunch

Another one and done team here. My guess is, with Hershey's location (AHL affiliate of Washington Capitals) is that we will see this team probably as soon as next year. A very strong and skilled team, unfortunately a few ducked out that I wanted to get to sign, which sucked. Not too bad, though.

Cards:

Oskar Osala - 1
Sami Lepisto - 2

Overall 155 Cards

Hershey Bears Logo Sheet (17 Overall, 15 Players and 2 Coaches)
#2 - Patrick McNeill
#36 - Oskar Osala (Number is lower right of it)
#5 - Tyler Sloan
#1 - Daren Machesney
#10 - Andrew Gordon (Number is tough to read)
#23 - Andrew Joudrey
Head Coach - Bob Woods (Right of logo)
#35 - Kris Mayotte
#20 - Bryan Helmer (# is in logo)
#21 - Graham Mink
Asst Coach - Mark French (Lower Left)
#6 - Sean Collins
#19 - Darren Reid
#33 - Patrick Wellar
#11 - Keith Aucoin
#39 - Kip Brennan (looks like #7)
#37 - Sami Lepisto

2/14/09: Springfield Falcons vs Syracuse Crunch

The one and only time we get to see Springfield (AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers). Knowing AHL scheduling, we probably won't even see this franchise again for a few years. Quite busy with hometown area guys Rob Schremp and Tim Sestito, as well as ex-Syracuse player Gilbert Brule, all being on the team. Add to that ex-NHL goaltender Dany Sabourin and the main areas were mobbed. Overall, great night except for Brule being his normal stuck on himself. It was nice to see a conditioning assignment, too...although J-F Jacques isn't a huge name or anything.

Cards:

Gilbert Brule - 4
Shane Willis - 2
Sebastien Bisaillon - 1
Jean-Francois Jacques - 1
Mathieu Roy - 1
Rob Schremp - 3

Cards Today = 12, Overall = 152

Pucks:

Dany Sabourin - Springfield Falcons

Springfield Falcons Logo Sheet (19 Overall: 18 Players, 1 Coach)
#15 - Tyler Spurgeon
#20 - Geoff Paukovich
#17 - Ryan Potulny
#39 - Hans Benson
#10 - Mike Gabinet
#26 - Sebastien Bisaillon
#11 - Tim Sestito
#18 - Colin McDonald
#21 - Shane Willis
#44 -Rob Schremp
Assistant Coach - Gerry Fleming
#13 - Viacheslav Trukhno
#40 - Devan Dubnyk
#27 - Jean-Francois Jacques
#6 - Jake Taylor
#36 - Mathieu Roy
#37 - Cody Wild
#22 - Ryan O'Marra
#30 -Dany Sabourin (looks like #20 on right of logo)

2/13/08: Grand Rapids Griffins vs Syracuse Crunch

A bit of a bummer when a division opponent only comes to the area twice and the dates are only 2 weeks apart. Grand Rapids (Detroit Red Wings AHL affiliate) was relatively alright. This was the start of 3 straight games where it was the first time we saw them. The only person who avoided at all was Jim Paek, the assistant coach, which surprised me.

Cards:

Jim Howard - 5
Justin Abdelkader - 1
Cory Emmerton - 1
Mattias Ritola - 3

Autographs Today = 10, Overall = 140

Grand Rapids Logo Sheet: (16 Players)
#3 - Logan Pyett
#5 - Jakub Kindl
#6 - Brett Peterson
#7 - Garrett Stafford
#8 - Cory Emmerton
#10 - Jason Jozsa
#13 - Jan Mursak
#17 - Francis Pare (#17 is at beginning of sig)
#18 - Mattias Ritola
#19 - Justin Abdelkader
#20 - Darren Haydar
#22 - Mike Walsh
#27 - Aaron Gagnon
#28 - Sergei Kolosov (#28 well under his sig)
#31 - Daniel Larsson
#33 - Jimmy Howard