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The Syracuse Crunch said an early goodbye to their fans this season after missing the playoffs for the second time in three years.

(Stephen D. Cannerelli | Scannerelli@Syracuse.com)

Syracuse — The Syracuse Crunch and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be hockey partners at least into the early part of the next decade.

Tampa Bay and Syracuse have jointly announced a six-year affiliation extension, ensuring Tampa Bay's top prospects will develop in Syracuse through the 2021-22 season.



"Under the ownership of Jeff Vinik, the hockey leadership of Steve Yzerman and Julien BriseBois and the tremendous business staff led by chief executive officer Steve Griggs, the Tampa Bay Lightning have clearly established themselves as one of the premier franchises in the National Hockey League," Crunch owner Howard Dolgon said in a statement. "We at the Syracuse Crunch are proud to extend this long-term affiliation and are confident that we will continue to see talented young players hone their skills in our backyard before making their mark with the Lightning. Our organizations share a philosophy that touches on all aspects of our sport. We are committed to being competitive both on and off the ice and strive to bring the best product to the best fans in the American Hockey League."



Since the start of the affiliation in 2012, 36 players have appeared with both the Crunch and the Bolts. Fourteen former Crunch players are currently on the Lightning's 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs roster.

The pipeline of prospects coming through Syracuse has been outstanding, including potential standout forwards Nikita Kucherov, Cedric Paquette, Vladdy Namestnikov and Jonathan Drouin, defenseman Slater Koekkoek and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.



"We are pleased to be extending our affiliation with the Syracuse Crunch," Lightning vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman said in a statement. "The Crunch and Howard Dolgon, along with the city of Syracuse and Onondaga County, have been, and continue to be, an excellent place to develop our prospects. We look forward to what will hopefully be many successful years to come on and off the ice."

The teams have recently completed their fourth year of the affiliation. In that time, the Crunch own a 147-108-31-18 record and have made two postseason appearances, including the team's most successful season to date with its first trip to the Calder Cup Finals in 2013.

However, that landmark team was mostly built on the back of talented players who were brought in during the team's prior affiliation with Norfolk. The last three seasons have been mainly pocked by inconsistent, underachieving hockey and less support from the parent club than many fans would have liked. The team missed the postseason two of the past three seasons, and even when it made the playoffs last year it was swept in the first round.

Fan discontent grew more palpable this season as the team was often left short-handed and obvious holes went unplugged. Still, Dolgon has consistently maintained the Lightning are the right partners for Syracuse.



"It's a wonderful relationship,'' he said at a fan forum this season. "They are wonderful people to work with. I personally speak with them at least four or five days a week, whether it's with our point man Julien BriseBois...I sat with Steve (GM Steve Yzerman) the entire game (Friday). You couldn't ask for a better person than Steve Yzerman. They care, they are not afraid to spend money. They've proven that in the past.''

"I'm disappointed in the record. Don't get me wrong...Every team has injuries. Every team has callups. I don't want to use that as a crutch. But we've been hit. Then when the parent club gets hit, it's a double-whammy.''

BriseBois, the Crunch's general manager, also expressed tremendous satisfaction in the partnership.

"We are extremely pleased with the fact that our prospects will continue to play for the Syracuse Crunch for the foreseeable future," BriseBois said in a statement. "Syracuse has proven to be a great environment to develop players. We couldn't ask for a better partner than Howard Dolgon or work with better people than the Crunch staff led by Jim Sarosy and Vance Lederman. The support of the community since our arrival in Syracuse has been nothing short of tremendous and we look forward to the privilege of playing in front of the loud and passionate fans of the Crunch for many years to come."



The Crunch will begin its 23rd year of operation in the 2016-17 season and boast the longest independent ownership group, led by Dolgon, and have the sixth-longest tenure of any AHL team.

The Lightning is the fourth primary NHL affiliate of the Crunch, who previously partnered with Vancouver (1994-2000), Columbus (2000-2010) and Anaheim (2010-2012). Syracuse had a dual affiliation with Vancouver and Pittsburgh from 1997 to 1999.

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