Last season destroyed a year’s worth of momentum for the Syracuse Crunch. In 2012-13, the Crunch fell just short of raising the Calder Cup, but Syracuse gave up more goals than all but two teams in the Eastern Conference last year.

The Crunch enters this season with a new crop of players, the country’s top goalie prospect and new opponents courtesy of a change in divisions.

Here’s a breakdown of different areas of head coach Rob Zettler’s squad heading into Saturday’s opener against Springfield.

Offense

The Crunch returns veteran captain Mike Angelidis (12 goals, 21 assists) while adding wingers in Mike Blunden from the Montreal Canadiens and Jerome Samson from the Winnipeg Jets AHL affiliate, the St. John’s IceCaps.

But the team is also losing major pieces to the NHL. Last season’s leading scorer Brett Connolly (21 goals, 36 assists) and center Vladislav Namestnikov (19 goals, 29 assists) will open the year with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Those kinds of losses are part of life in the league, said defender Luke Witkowski. He was the only player to see action in every Crunch contest last year and said the team’s ability to move forward will come down to players rising to the occasion.

“I don’t really think about guys coming or leaving too much because it’s a business and it’s going to happen whether you like it or not — whether you’re getting benefited by guys coming down (from the NHL) or you’re getting hurt by losing your top line,” Witkowski said.

Blunden and Samson have already made a difference, scoring during the team’s three-game preseason trip to Lyon, France.

Defense

The Crunch let in 232 goals last winter, which tied for the third highest in the Eastern Conference. The team will have to improve if it hopes to move up four places into a playoff spot.

Witkowski is likely to be a mainstay again in 2014-15. He’ll be looking for help from returning veteran J.P. Cote, who only played in 33 games for the Crunch last year due to injury and call-ups. Matt Corrente, a 26-year-old who signed in June, will add another veteran presence to the back.

And while Witkowski said there wasn’t a particular young player who stood out, he is expecting a lot of competition.

“Looking at it right now, we have nine or 10 (defenders) competing for however many spots in Syracuse,” Witkowski said. “It’ll be a tough lineup to crack.”

Goalkeepers

In between the pipes, the Crunch has a rare luxury with Kristers Gudlevskis, 22, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, 20.

Gudlevskis returns for his second season with the team and is the only player to ever see action in the ECHL, AHL, NHL, the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and Olympics during one season. He posted five shutouts with a 2.68 goals-against average and a 90.1 save percentage for the Crunch last year.

Vasilevskiy is rated the No. 1 goalie prospect in the country, according to ESPN’s rankings released this summer.

Both will have the opportunity to start for the Crunch, though a genuine competition could develop.

Said Witkowski: “It definitely gives you a little more confidence that if you do make a mistake, which is going to happen, you have somebody behind you that’s going to make the first save.”

Published on October 9, 2014 at 12:15 am