Derick Brassard Named Rbk Edge/AHL Rookie of the Month
Syracuse, NY, (Tuesday, April 15, 2008)
Syracuse, NY (April 15, 2008) – The Syracuse Crunch announced today that the American Hockey League has named center Derick Brassard as the Rbk Edge/AHL Rookie of the Month for April.
Brassard appeared in all seven games during the month of April for the Crunch, recording 14 points (4g, 10a). Brassard had a nine-game point-scoring streak from March 22 to April 11 and finished off the regular season with 22 points (8g, 14a), in his last 11 games. He recorded three (3) assists on April 2 vs. Binghamton and a season-high 5 points (1g, 4a) at Rochester on April 6, helping the Crunch finish off their regular season with a franchise-record and AHL season-high 15-game winning streak.
In recognition of his achievement, Brassard will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Crunch home game.
A native of Hull, Quebec, the 20-year old Brassard was drafted by Columbus in the first round, sixth overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
Brassard became the third player in team history to win the AHL Rookie of the Month award (Jarkko Ruutu, January, 2000; Steve Kariya, February, 2000), when the AHL named him the Rbk/AHL Rookie of the Month for October earlier this season. He is the first player in Crunch history to win the award twice.
Other nominees for Rbk Edge/AHL Rookie of the Month include Albany center
Nicolas Blanchard, Chicago defenseman Arturs Kulda, Grand Rapids center
Darren Helm, Hamilton goaltender Cedrick Desjardins, Hartford center Artem
Anisimov, Houston left wing Colton Gillies, Lowell right wing Brad Mills,
Manchester center Brady Murray, Manitoba goaltender Cory Schneider, Peoria
center Nicholas Drazenovic, Philadelphia left wing Kyle Greentree,
Providence center Zach Hamill, Quad City goaltender Matt Keetley, Rochester
right wing Brady Calla, Rockford center Jake Dowell, San Antonio defenseman
Sean Sullivan, Toronto left wing Jiri Tlusty, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
defenseman Alex Goligoski and Worcester forward Steven Zalewski.
The Crunch’s best-of-seven first round series vs. Manitoba will begin Friday, April 18 at the War Memorial at Oncenter at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the first two home games (Round 1-Game A; Round 1-Ticket B) are available by calling the Crunch’s sales office at (315) 473-4444, stopping by the Oncenter Box Office, located on the State Street side of the War Memorial or by calling TicketMaster at (315) 472-0700.