SYRACUSE IN TOWN SUNDAY AT 5:00 P.M.

January 17, 2010

HERSHEY plays its final game before the four-day all-star break on Sunday, welcoming the Syracuse Crunch to town. Face-off is at 5:00 p.m. On the heels of scoring 10 goals Friday night in Albany against the River Rats, HERSHEY again went high-octane offense Saturday night in wiping up the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 7-2 at Giant Center. Alexandre Giroux scored two more goals, giving him five in his last two games, and Patrick McNeill enjoyed the best night of his professional career, scoring a goal and assisting on three others. The win over the Penguins was HERSHEY�S fifth in six games this season against their I-81 rivals. HERSHEY�S all-stars will be leaving immediately after the game Sunday to travel overnight to Portland, Maine for the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic. Five players were selected from the BEARS to participate, the most in the AHL this season. Goaltender Michal Neuvirth was selected to play for Planet USA, was replaced because of his NHL recall. Keith Aucoin and John Carlson are expected to play for Planet USA, while Alexandre Giroux and Andrew Gordon are slated to take part for the Canadian AHL All-Stars. The Canadian squad will be coached by Mark French and Troy Mann, with HERSHEY head trainer Dan �Beaker� Stuck and equipment manager Justin Kullman working for Canada as well. Former BEARS defenseman Darren Rumble was relieved of his coaching duties late Saturday night, dismissed by the Norfolk Admirals. Rumble, who was in the midst of his second season at the helm in Hampton Roads, leaves the Admirals with a 50-61-6-5 record. Ironically, his last win as coach came against the AHL�s top team and his former team this past Wednesday night. Norfolk snapped HERSHEY�S 12-game winning streak at Norfolk Scope 4-3. It was a largely forgettable first half of the season for Syracuse, as the top developmental affiliate for Columbus was mired in the East Division basement. But the Crunch enter play Sunday having taken points in eight of its last 10 games. The Crunch begin the night in sixth place in the East Division, two points ahead of last place Norfolk. Syracuse is 26 points behind front-running HERSHEY in the division race. Seven other games make up the slate in the American Hockey League Sunday on this final day before the All-Star Break. Worcester skates at Bridgeport, while Hartford travels to Manchester and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton takes on Springfield at Mass Mutual Center in western Massachusetts. Peoria is at Chicago, Rockford plays at Grand Rapids, Toronto finishes up the weekend in San Antonio against the Rampage and the Albany River Rats are in Providence to play the Bruins at Dunkin Donuts Center. Sunday�s game can be heard via the BEARS Radio Network (100.1 FM and www.Sportsjuice.com) beginning at 4:40 p.m. John Walton, Ed Coffey and Jim Jones have the call of the action from Giant Center.