A few years ago (okay, well, more like a decade, but it seems like it was just a few years), the rock group Lit had a song entitled "My Own Worst Enemy." The song was a plea for clarity about a drunken, wild night that, thanks to the copious amounts of alcohol, could not be remembered by the narrator. Said narrator explained a few times about how he feels he is his own worst enemy, because at the end of the day, he does all these things to himself by drinking too much. As we leave the third weekend of the Yanwey Era, I'm really beginning to think the Crunch is its own worst enemy.

You watch these guys play now, and you can see sparks of potential again. The energy is there. The drive appears to be brought back (unless your name is Dan Sexton). But then Yawney lets Bryan Rodney onto the ice, and everything falls apart. When the Crunch as a whole has a few moments of lapsed concentration, the other team takes advantage of it every single time. Saturday night, the Crunch was ahead by two goals at two different moments, but yet would go on to lose in a shootout because of two major concentration lapses. With less than four minutes left in a 4-2 game, they had a defensive breakdown that led to the Sound Tigers pulling within one goal. The same thing happened with thirty seconds left, which allowed the tying goal to be scored. The Crunch would go on to miss every shootout chance, with the Sound Tigers scoring on poor Iiro Tarkki twice.

It just seems like it only takes a small puff of air for our dominoes to start falling. Unfortunately, we're running out of time to build ourselves back up again. The Crunch has yet to be in a playoff position this season. We've been hovering around 11th-12th-13th-14th place all season, and unfortunately we can't get a good run going to work on that. They did manage to score two power play goals last night, something that hasn't happened in ages, but one good night for our special teams may not be indicative of real improvement.

Honestly, it's really up to the players now. The Ducks have given them all the help that can be expected at this point. The coaching staff has been changed and the roster was pretty loaded this weekend despite several players reportedly being out with the flu. The Crunch has to learn now how to create and hold onto leads, or golfing season is going to come early again this year.

If it does come early, they'll really only have themselves to blame.

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Halleluiah!

As many of you know, the coaching situation down in Syracuse became a a problem mid-season last year. The Crunch wasn't doing very well, and the fans were responding in the way the fans always - and I mean always have - by raining loud boos down to the players, both during and after the games. We didn't do crazy things like fling garbage onto the ice. There were no reports of fans approaching players and being jerks after the games. Yet, there was one or two reports of fans having rough words with Coach Holick after a game, but beyond that the fans were just making themselves heard in a way team after team has had to deal with.

Holick, for some reason, took issue with the booing and apparently the potential it had to...hurt the players' feelings. I kid you not. He then vented his spleen to the local media about it, causing an uproar amongst fans who felt he should be worrying about the cause of the jeers, as opposed to the jeers themselves.

All this doesn't even take into account his growing ineffectual coaching style. Anyone watching this year's team could tell there was something off. The same plays were being run, to the same failed results. The players were running into each other so much they were starting to look like a circus act. The team didn't seem to know what to do when a play went wrong.

Holick's unemotional bench stance during games wasn't helping any. It was painful to watch the guys mill around during time outs and watch Holick just stand there, chomping on a stick of gum like it was the last piece of Juicy Fruit he'd ever see. The fans wanted some kind of reaction to reassure us that leadership was present, and we certainly weren't getting it.

Needless to say, it was a relief this past week when news came down that Holick was, in effect, being shoved laterally to the side and, what's more, slightly behind a new, hopefully more effectual coach. The results, we think, have been very positive and a great indicator of things to come!

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Much to our surprise, the Crunch managed to end 2011 with a bang. The picked up five out of a possible six points this past week, breaking a post-Christmas slump for the team that dated all the way back to 2005 - the last time the Crunch won the game coming back after the holiday. Although the wins Wednesday and Saturday, and the OT loss Friday, were not pretty by any means, they were welcome nonetheless. We finally had players speaking up that hadn't managed to yet this season, and Kyle Palmieri was his usual fabulous self.

This probably won't last long, but I guess we'll enjoy it while we can.

Record (W-L-OTL-SOL): 14-13-3-1

Divisional standing: 4th

Conference standing: 11th (same as two weeks ago, top 8 make playoffs)

Top producer: Patrick Maroon, 36 pts. (14-22), 7th in the league

Top goal scorer: Kyle Palmieri (19 goals), 15th in the league

Roster moves during the past two weeks:

• Kyle Palmieri (RW) was returned from ANA (thank the Lord)
• Mark Fraser (D) was assigned to SYR on a conditioning assignment
  
• John Kurtz (LW) was recalled to SYR from Elmira of the ECHL, where he had been on a conditioning assignment
  
• Jean-Francois Jacques (LW) was recalled by ANA and remains there
• Trevor Ludwig (D) was released from a PTO and returned to the ECHL
• Nate Guenin (D) was returned from ANA to SYR

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Well, Duck fans, I'm sorry to report I don't really have anything new to say. I've gone around and around in my head for something to write about in this post, but everything I've been saying in my last five or so reports still holds true. The same players I wasn't liking still haven't found improvement in their game: Bryan Rodney, John Mitchell, Dan Sexton, Josh Brittain -- it reads like a dirty laundry list of suckage.

The same system that fans have hated since last year--plays that aren't effective, clean up jobs after those plays that just make situations worse--is still going full force. The players aren't responding to Coach Holick's screaming and yelling during practice, nor are they responding to his stoic statue impression during games. Optimism is fading quickly and a post season is looking less and less like a reality.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

So, really, I guess this is all I can leave you with:

Record (W-L-OTL-SOL): 12-12-2-1

Divisional standing: 4th

Conference standing: 11th (down 1 slot from two weeks ago, top 8 make playoffs)

Top producer: Patrick Maroon, 29 pts. (11-18)

Top goal scorer: Kyle Palmieri (17 goals)

Roster moves during the past two weeks:

• Nick Bonino (C) was recalled, sent back, and recalled again by ANA
• Kyle Palmieri (RW) was recalled by ANA
• Brandon McMillan (C) was recalled by ANA and then sent back to SYR
• ECHL'er Trevor Ludwig (D) was signed to a PTO
• AHL'er/ECHL'er Kevin King (LW) was recalled from Elmira. A day later after being a healthy scratch the night before, he quit hockey and went back to school.
• Jean Francois Jacques (LW) was returned to the Crunch from ANA and would net a hat trick Saturday night.
  
• Timo Pielmeier (G) was returned to the ECHL. Later on that same week, he would be traded.
• John Kurtz (LW) was signed to an AHL contract and then loaned to Elmira of the ECHL, presumably to work on getting his game back after a pre-season injury.
• Maxime Macenauer (C) was sent down to SYR from ANA
• Nate Guenin (D) returned to SYR after being put on waivers by ANA

The AHL season is about a third of the way through. The Crunch still appears to be struggling for an identity other than "inconsistent," which still is about the only label that can be applied to our homely group of misfits right now. We know there's talent there. We know they can score goals, be physical, hustle. We know Iiro Tarkki kicks ass in net. We're not really sure they can defend, to be honest, but most of the pieces of a hockey team are actually in place this season. It can be very exciting to watch, but it can also be extremely frustrating when they don't play to their potential, which is what we see pretty much every other game. [Ed. Note: Sound familiar, yet again?]

The nitty-gritty stuff after the jump.

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ALEX:

Hey, y'all!

Boy, there's a whole heap of discontent going around this organization, isn't there?

Unfortunately, I'm not bringing much good news here. While I don't exactly have the time or stamina to outline 99 problems, there are a few bones I would like to pick with the way the Crunch is performing. As our Excellent Editor pointed out last entry, it seems like there's a rather eerie pattern emerging on both sides of the country. From what I've read around the web, both teams are struggling in the same ways. Although the two teams are clearly learning the same system, it still seems strange that their problems mirror each other so directly.

Just how directly?

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ALEX:

What an unfortunate difference two weeks can make, eh? I'm going to try to keep my worrying to a minimum, as I'm well aware the Ducks are having a tough time. Unfortunately, organizational troubles tend to affect both sides. It's hard to find viable AHL call ups when your farm team is struggling. It's also hard for your farm team to find stable footing when your parent club is struggling and (understandably) looking for a combination of NHL'ers and players from the A to spark their scoring lines.

So, how is the Crunch doing and where might help come from? Take a look!

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ALEX:

The ride known as the 2011-2012 season has finally started, and the Crunch six games into the season. We are in a much better position than we were last year at this time, that's for sure! Although there are some kinks becoming evident, things are definitely looking up for your beloved Ducklings.

Here's a look at some numbers, areas of awesomeness, and areas of concern:

Current Record: 3-1-1-1

Power play unit: Kyle Palmieri (F), Patrick Maroon (F), Nick Bonino (F), Bryan Rodney (D), Mathieu Carle (D). Troy Bodie (F), Peter Holland (F), Nick Schaus (D) and Dan Sexton (F) have spent time on our PP the last two weekends. The Crunch is clearly trying to find a combination that works.

Penalty kill unit: Nathan Smith (F), Jean-Francois Jacques (F), Mat Clark (D), Sean Zimmerman (D). In absence of Zimmerman (injury) Saturday night, Carle spent time on the PK, as did Rodney. Rick Schofield (F) and Nate Guenin (D) also showed up on the unit this past weekend.

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