2014-11-22-kr-CRUNCH5.JPG
As the president/CEO/governor of the Syracuse Crunch, he's the unquestioned Big H of professional hockey in this town. So why wouldn't Howard Dolgon be honored with a big head, too?
(Kevin Rivoli | krivoli@syracuse.com)
Syracuse, N.Y. — Howard Dolgon, all but sitting on a throne and nodding at much of what he sees, would likely agree with Mel Brooks that it's good to be the king. Even if, you know, his highness was a bit chilly on Tuesday.
"We're having a little bit of a cold spell," Howard reported from his Boca Raton compound down there in Florida. "It was 72 today, but a little windy."
Let's see. His Syracuse Crunch is second in wins (26), third in points (57), and seventh in average attendance (6,449) in the 30-team American Hockey League. It's coming off a Friday-Saturday home stand that produced two victories and attracted 11,650 fans. It will play 19 of its remaining 34 regular-season games in its own barn (a.k.a., the War Memorial).
So, yes, The Big H — who continues to beam at the thought of those 30,715 rubber-neckers lured by his club into the Carrier Dome tent 66 days ago — is rather pleased.
"The state of the union is good," he declared. "No question."
Dolgon, the owner/president/CEO/governor/largest-of-all-cheeses of the Crunch through its entire 201/2-season run in our town, has received recent confirmation of this bliss. Indeed, at the AHL All-Star Game's festivities in Utica over the weekend, there was more than a touch of Howard envy here and there.
"I got the chance to hang around with some of the other owners and general managers," Dolgon said. "And their comments to me were all really the same: 'You have, probably, the hardest-working team we've seen in the league this year.' To me, that's probably the greatest compliment you can give an athlete.
"Athletes have certain God-given abilities. But when you mix in a work ethic, I think that's the ultimate compliment. We have a tremendous group of guys. We have a very intense attitude. You can see it. We're hard to play against."
Well, they are skilled. And they can be ornery out there on the ice. And they have a coach, Rob Zettler, who knows which end of the stick to hold. And, importantly, there are a bunch of them who matter.
Eight Syracuse skaters have recorded double-figure assists. Four of them have scored double-figure goals. The two goalies, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Kristers Gudlevskis, not only have a combined 13 vowels in their names, but 13 wins apiece.
This outfit, then, is basically Whac-A-Mole on blades.
"We had that stretch where we won 10 games in a row and there was a different guy who scored the game-winning goal each night," recalled Dolgon of the Crunch's 10-0 charge from the end of one month (November) to the end of another (December). "There was a different star in each of the 10 games.
"Normally, you have four or five guys who are going to dominate the score sheet or are going to be difference-makers. But this year, it's really been spread out. This is not a star-driven team. Each night another guy is stepping up. We've learned that it's a long season and a lot can happen between now and April, but we're optimistic."
We have, certainly, seen something like this before. It was only two years ago, remember, that the Crunch put up 97 points in its 76-game campaign on the way through the 2013 AHL playoffs and into the Calder Cup finals. So winning hockey has become kind of de rigueur around here.
And that, like being the king, is good. But this is the Crunch — which will be home in its downtown barrel on Friday evening to take on Rochester beginning at 7 — and there's always more than slappers in the mix.
"Hey," said Dolgon, "you heard that Ric Flair is coming, haven't you?"
Of course. Ric Flair. The Nature Boy. The "Wooooooo!" call and all of that. Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Get your tickets. Mark your calendars for Feb. 7. Last one to belly up to the window gets a knife-edge chop coming off the ropes.
"As a guy who grew up watching wrestling, I'd tell you there are three right there at the top," Dolgon insisted. "There's Bruno Sammartino. There's Hulk Hogan. And there's Ric Flair. That's the trio. That's them.
"I said, 'Let's do this big.' So we looked up Flair, found his manager and made a call. And he said, 'Let's do it.' There will be photos and autographs and I'm sure he'll drop the puck. But there may be more to the night than just that. You never know."
Sure, you do. That is, after all, Howard Dolgon sitting up there on that throne, running the show. And the show never ends.
Contact Bud Poliquin anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-416-2021
(Bud also can be heard weekday mornings between 10-12 on the "Bud & the Manchild" sports-talk radio show on The Score-1260.)