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Goal is for success to carry over to '08-09- Syracuse.com

Goal is for success to carry over to '08-09

Whether Crunch can be a consistent playoff team depends on Columbus.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 By Lindsay Kramer
Staff writer
Even before the final horn sounded on the Syracuse Crunch with a Game 7 loss to Toronto on Monday night, the final grade on the team's chemistry test was already logged in the books.
It was a solid A-plus.
Nothing short of a brotherhood of pluckers and grinders could have lifted the team from its middling start to a 100-point season and a bounce of the puck away from the Calder Cup semifinals. Parent club Columbus deserves credit for finding the right pieces and jamming them together into a near-seamless fit.
Now that they have a blueprint for what a real minor league team looks like, the Blue Jackets must figure out how to replicate it as closely as possible next season. That's hard enough in the transitional world of minor league hockey. Given Columbus' track record of difficulty in establishing a foothold of success in Syracuse, that challenge grows even larger.
In its eight years as parent club of Syracuse, the Blue Jackets have alternated between exhilarating and disappointing Crunch fans when it comes to the playoffs. Since 2002, the Crunch has reached the postseason in even-numbered years, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. It has missed in the alternating seasons, 2003, 2005 and 2007.


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