Welcome to Syracuse Speaks, a podcast for The Sin Bin!

Now in its third season, Syracuse Speaks aims to cover the Syracuse Crunch, its organization, and the AHL from the stands. Host Alexandra Ackerman has been covering Syracuse on the internet since 2008, and desires to share her passion for the team and the league with her listeners.

In this episode, recorded May 6th and May 12th, 2021, Alex welcomes photographer Scott Thomas to the podcast. Scott has been shooting the Crunch since 2012, but has a long history of taking photos at various sporting events. Since starting with the organization, Scott has been all around the AHL, shooting Crunch games at multiple arenas. He’s also been to several big events with the team, including games in Washington D.C. and Ottawa, and has also made a few trips to Tampa to shoot the Lightning. Scott clearly brings his fandom, passion, and expertise to every shot he takes. 

Throughout this episode, Alex and Scott cover the photographer’s decade-long experience taking pictures of Crunch games. They discuss how things have changed over the years for sports photographers, and how the advent of Ephesus Sports Lighting has changed the game when it comes to taking and editing photos. Alex enthuses over her favorite series of photos Scott has taken, a set of pictures during and after former Crunch forward Gabriel Dumont‘s overtime goal during game four of the first round of the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs. Some of the photos discussed can be seen in a gallery over at Raw Charge, including the moment the puck went into the net behind goalie Charlie Lindgren. In a conversation not to be missed, Scott takes the listeners through the process of getting shots during such an adrenaline-filled situation.

Other topics covered include stories about Crunch captain Luke Witkowski, and talk of organizational players Ross Colton, Yanni Gourde, and Daniel Walcott. Alex and Scott discuss the importance of the AHL when it comes to developing talent, both on the ice and in the broadcasting booth/front office, and how the current circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how it all works.

Syracuse Speaks is hosted on Anchor, but is distributed to many of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify, and Stitcher. The royalty-free music featured in this episode was by Purple Planet Music and Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

Thanks for listening!

Follow Alex on Twitter for all the latest news and notes regarding the Syracuse Crunch! Don’t forget to also follow The Sin Bin on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest AHL, ECHL, and SPHL minor league hockey news and analysis!