THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (4-0-0-0), 8 points, first place, East Division
Saturday, Oct. 22 vs. Rochester (3-1-0-0), 6 points, tied-first place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
Wednesday, Oct. 12 TORONTO 5, Crunch 2
Saturday, Oct. 15 CRUNCH 4, Toronto 3
HOME TEAM IN CAPS

NICE COMEBACK: Syracuse overcame a three-goal deficit to win on Saturday night against Toronto for the first time since Nov. 28, 2003, when they defeated the Houston Aeros, 5-4, after trailing 4-0 in the game.

IT’S IN THE NUMBERS: Four Crunch players returned to the ice this season with a different look on their back. Defenseman Jamie Pushor switched to No. 25 after wearing No. 2 for parts of two seasons. Third-year pro Aaron Johnson made a change to No. 44 from No. 23. Sophomore players that changed were Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (from No. 7 to No. 27) and Greg Mauldin (from No. 32 to No. 41).

Other number notes include: Mauldin is the first player in club history to wear No. 41. Defenseman Andy Delmore is the first player to wear No. 55 since Scott Walker during the 1995-96 season. Johnson is just the fifth player in team history to wear No. 44 (Brent Tully, Jason Rushton, Brett Harkins and Trent Cull).

The number worn by the most players in team history is No. 24, with 18 different players donning that uniform (Dane Jackson, Yuri Kuznetsov, L.P. Charbonneau, Jason Clark, Doug Wood, Robert Dome, Brandon Convery, Paul Ferone, Bobby Stewart, Jarkko Ruutu, Brian Cummings, Darrel Scoville, Jean-Luc Grand –Pierre, Chris Leinweber, Greg Koehler, Brendan Buckley, Francois Beauchemin and Jeff MacMillan). The number worn by the least amount of players in club history is No. 40 (Stewart Bodtker), No. 41 (Greg Mauldin) and No. 43 (Andy Powers).

DELMORE’S DEBUT: Veteran defenseman Andy Delmore made an immediate impact in his Crunch debut, recording one assist and finishing with a +3 rating Saturday night vs. Toronto. Delmore, 28, has appeared in 277 career National Hockey League games, tallying 43 goals, 58 assists and 103 penalty minutes.

In 2002-03, he registered 18 goals and 15 assists in 71 games with Nashville, leading all NHL defensemen in goals (tied) and power play goals (14). In 2001-02, he notched a career-high 16 goals and 22 assists in 73 games with the Predators to give him 34 goals and 38 assists in 144 games between 2001-03, which ranked second among NHL defensemen.

Last year, he played for Mannheim in Germany and notched 7 goals, 16 assists and 59 penalty minutes in 50 games. Delmore, who was claimed by the Blue Jackets off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings on October 4, has appeared in one game with Columbus this season. He logged 7:12 of ice time and fired off two shots against the Calgary Flames on October 7.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON (PITTSBURGH PENGUINS): The Crunch face Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the first of eight regular season meetings on Friday, Oct. 21. Ryan Whitney leads the Penguins with eight points (2g, 6a). Dany Sabourin has appeared in net twice for the Penguins with a 2-0-0 record, a 2.40 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Lifetime, the Crunch are 29-18-7 against the Penguins.

ROCHESTER (BUFFALO SABRES): Rochester visits Syracuse on Saturday, Oct. 22 for the first of 12 regular season meetings. Derek Roy (5g, 4a) leads the Amerks with nine points. Michael Leighton (1-1-0) and Jean-Marc Pelletier (2-0-0) have split time in net for Rochester. Lifetime, the Crunch are 48-62-14 against the Amerks.

CRUNCHABLES: Rookie Center Geoff Platt is the only Crunch player to score a goal in the teams’ first three games this season… Defenseman Andy Delmore recorded an assist in his Crunch debut on Saturday night… Center Mark Hartigan has tallied a point (2g, 3a) in Syracuse’s first three games of the season… Defenseman Jamie Pushor is two games shy of 300 career AHL games… Defenseman Mark Flood made his professional debut on Saturday night vs. Toronto.