Crunch open Calder Cup playoffs against Cleveland in best-of-five series

The Crunch have another familiar postseason test in front of them, and the margin for error is thin from the start. Syracuse opens the North Division semifinals against the Cleveland Monsters in a best-of-five series beginning Friday, April 24, with games 1 and 2 in Cleveland before the matchup shifts back to Syracuse for game 3 on Friday, May 1.

That format gives Cleveland the first swing, but it also gives Onondaga County fans a date to circle. If the series lasts longer, Syracuse would host game 4 on Sunday, May 3, and game 5 on Saturday, May 9, making the home rink a potential difference-maker in a playoff round where momentum can flip on one save, one power play or one late goal.

Syracuse earned its spot by closing the regular season with a 3-2 overtime win over Hershey, a result that clinched the Crunch’s seventh consecutive Calder Cup Playoffs berth. Conor Sheary scored the overtime winner, and the club finished 35-22-8-4 after a season that included a season-high six-game winning streak. The Crunch also entered the final week in third place in the North Division and held that position through the end of the regular season.

The American Hockey League’s postseason field includes 23 teams, and the division semifinals are best-of-five series, which leaves little room for a slow start. That matters here because Cleveland has already knocked Syracuse out of the playoffs recently. The Monsters eliminated the Crunch in 2024 with a Game 4 shutout to complete the sweep, and Cleveland also swept Syracuse in a 2019 playoff series. For Syracuse, this is not just a first-round matchup. It is a chance to change a pattern that has gone against the club twice in the last decade.

Joel Bouchard enters the series with a strong regular-season record behind him. Named Syracuse’s 10th head coach on June 26, 2023, Bouchard led the Crunch to a 76-47-12-9 mark over his first two seasons, and the team’s run to the playoffs gives him another chance to show that consistency can translate into short-series hockey. Syracuse later added him as general manager on July 7, 2025, underscoring the organization’s confidence in his approach.

Now the question is whether the Crunch can bring discipline, timely scoring and steady defensive play to Cleveland, then survive the opening road push long enough to make the series about Syracuse’s home ice. In a familiar matchup with recent scars, the Crunch have to prove their regular season was the beginning, not the ceiling.