Dan Smith Named Tenth Captain in Syracuse Crunch History

Syracuse, NY (October 16, 2008) - The Syracuse Crunch announced today that they have named defenseman Dan Smith as their team captain for the 2008-09 season. The club also announced that center Derek MacKenzie and left wing Mike York will serve as alternate captains during home games and left wing Steve Kelly and center Craig MacDonald will wear the ‘A’ during road games.

Smith, who turns 32 years old on Sunday, becomes the tenth full-time team captain in franchise history (Dane Jackson, 1994-95, Mark Wotton, 1995-99, Brian Bonin, 1999-00, Mike Gaul, 2000-01, Sean Pronger, 2001-02, David Ling 2002-03, Darrell Scoville, 2003-04, Jamie Pushor, 2004-07 and Zenon Konopka 2007-08).

Smith appeared in 77 games with the Crunch last season, posting one goal, six assists and 73 penalty minutes. He also skated in 10 playoff games for Syracuse, notching one assist. Smith, who served as an alternate captain with the club last season, has appeared in 654 career American Hockey League games with Hershey, Springfield, Toronto (Roadrunners), Edmonton (Roadrunners), Hamilton, Grand Rapids and Syracuse, tallying 27 goals, 102 assists and 614 penalty minutes.

He has also appeared in 22 combined National Hockey League games with Colorado and Edmonton, recording 16 penalty minutes. A native of Fernie, British Columbia, he was drafted by Colorado in the seventh round, 181st overall, in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. Smith signed as a free agent with Columbus on July 11, 2007. He signed an AHL contract with Syracuse on July 8, 2008.

The Crunch continue their 15th AHL season by traveling to Binghamton on Friday, October 17 and Hershey on Saturday, October 18. The Crunch return home on Friday, October 24 for a match-up against Binghamton. Tickets for all Crunch home games are available by calling the Crunch Box Office, (315) 473-4444, or by visiting the Crunch office in the War Memorial at Oncenter in downtown Syracuse.
Visit us online at http://www.syracusecrunch.com