text:
Hartford Wolf Pack

The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the XL Center. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. After a series of relocations, the team moved to Hartford in 1997 as the Hartford Wolf Pack. It is one of the oldest professional hockey franchises in existence, and the oldest continuously operating minor league hockey franchise in North America.

The franchise was renamed the Connecticut Whale in October 2010, in honor of the former Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League (NHL), but reverted to their current name after the 2012–13 AHL season. The Wolf Pack is the top affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and is one of the three professional hockey teams in Connecticut.

History
The franchise that became the Wolf Pack was founded in 1926 in Providence, Rhode Island as the Providence Reds, one of the five charter members of the Canadian-American Hockey League. In 1936, the Northeast-based CAHL merged with the Midwest-based International Hockey League to form the International-American Hockey League, which dropped the "International" from its name in 1940.

The Reds — known as the Rhode Island Reds in their later years — folded after the 1976–77 season. Shortly afterward, the owners of the Broome Dusters of the North American Hockey League bought the Reds franchise and moved it to Binghamton, New York as the Binghamton Dusters. After securing an affiliation with the Hartford Whalers in 1980, the team changed its name to the Binghamton Whalers. An affiliation change to the Rangers in 1990 — one that continues to this day — brought another new name, the Binghamton Rangers.

After the 1996–97 NHL season, the Whalers moved to Raleigh, North Carolina as the Carolina Hurricanes. Soon after the Whalers' departure, the Binghamton Rangers relocated to Hartford and began to play at the vacated Hartford Civic Center (today known as the XL Center).

Following a "name-the-team" contest, the franchise became the Hartford Wolf Pack, a reference to a submarine class as well as the tactic known as "wolfpacking". With Connecticut being home to both the main builder of submarines (General Dynamics Electric Boat) and the US Navy's primary submarine base, honoring the state's naval tradition was the paramount goal. The name Seawolf, a reference to the Seawolf-class submarines was considered to have been the ideal name for the team. However, it had already been taken by the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the East Coast Hockey League. Following the submarine theme, the mascot was named "Sonar".

The Wolf Pack's first coach was E.J. McGuire, and their first home game was played in front of a crowd of 12,934 fans on October 4, 1997. P.J. Stock scored the first home goal in Wolf Pack history. The first franchise goal was scored the night prior in Providence, R.I., by Pierre Sevigny. The team reached the playoffs during the first 12 years of their existence and won the Calder Cup in 2000, defeating the Rochester Americans in the Cup finals. Derek Armstrong won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as AHL playoff MVP.

In the summer of 2010, the Rangers entered into a business relationship which gave former Whalers owner Howard Baldwin and his company, Hartford Hockey LLC (doing business as Whalers Sports & Entertainment), control of the team's business operations. On September 20, 2010, Baldwin announced the Wolf Pack would change their name to the Connecticut Whale in honor of the Whalers. The name change took place on November 27, 2010; the final game with the "Wolf Pack" name came on November 26, 2010. The opponent was Connecticut's other AHL team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Sound Tigers won 4–3, in a shootout. On November 27, 2010, the team played their first game under the new "Whale" name. The opponent was, again, the Sound Tigers. The Whale won 3–2, in a shootout. The attendance for the debut game was 13,089, which is the third-largest crowd in franchise history. On January 1, 2011, the Whale debuted new home jerseys featuring light blue instead of green, however, the color was shelved for the 2011–12 season. The Whale were hosts and participants in the 2011 AHL Outdoor Classic, the Whale Bowl, held at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. Connecticut fell to the Providence Bruins, 5–4, in a shootout.

In June 2012, after just 21 months, the New York Rangers terminated their business relationship with Baldwin after he and his company ran up a debt of almost $3 million and had about 15 court cases against him.

In April 2013, just two and a half seasons after rebranding as the Whale, the team decided it would revert to the nickname "Wolf Pack" for the following season. Global Spectrum, the group now marketing the team and managers of the XL Center arena, announced in May 2013 that the franchise had officially returned to the Hartford Wolf Pack identity.

Although the Wolf Pack does not officially acknowledge its past in Providence and Binghamton (or claim the Reds' four Calder Cups), it is the only AHL franchise to have never missed a season since the league's founding in 1936. In one form or another, the franchise has iced a team every year since 1926. The Wolf Pack and Abbotsford Canucks — the descendants of another charter AHL member, the Springfield Indians — are the oldest minor-league hockey franchises in North America. However, the Indians were inactive for three seasons in the 1930s, making the Wolf Pack the oldest continuously operating minor-league hockey franchise in North America. The only professional hockey franchises older than the Wolf Pack and the Canucks are the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.

Mascots
The Wolf Pack started in 1997 with one mascot, a wolf named Sonar. The name was chosen to keep with the submarine theme that the team had used in their naming and logo. Following the folding of their sister team, the Arena Football League's New England Sea Wolves, the Wolf Pack added the Sea Wolves' mascot, named Torpedo; this mascot has since been retired. In 2010, with the renaming of the team to the Connecticut Whale, Sonar was joined as a mascot by former Whalers mascot Pucky the Whale. Sonar took the 2012–13 season off while Pucky was the sole mascot. When the naming arrangement ended, Sonar came back while Pucky was retired.

Current roster
Updated July 19, 2024.

 * }

Team captains

 * Ken Gernander, 1997–05
 * Craig Weller, 2005–07
 * Andrew Hutchinson, 2007–08
 * Greg Moore, 2008–09
 * Dane Byers, 2009–10
 * Wade Redden, 2011–12
 * Aaron Johnson, 2013–14
 * Ryan Bourque, 2015–16
 * Mat Bodie, 2016–17
 * Joe Whitney, 2017–18
 * Cole Schneider, 2018
 * Steven Fogarty, 2019–20
 * Vincent LoVerde, 2021
 * Jonny Brodzinski, 2021–present

Retired numbers
The Wolf Pack have honored a number of former Hartford Whalers players by hanging their jerseys in the rafters, without formally retiring their numbers. In 2006, Ulf Samuelsson (#5), Ron Francis (#10) and Kevin Dineen (#11) were honored by the team in this way, joining Rick Ley (#2), Gordie Howe (#9) and John Mckenzie (#19) whose numbers had been previously retired by the Whalers.

Notable alumni
The following players have played both 100 games in Hartford and 100 games in the National Hockey League: • Artem Anisimov

• Derek Armstrong

• Drew Bannister

• Matt Beleskey

• Jonny Brodzinski

• Jason Dawe

• Nigel Dawes

• Dan Girardi

• Ryan Graves

• Micheal Haley

• Chad Johnson

• Jason LaBarbera

• Tomas Kloucek

• Lauri Korpikoski

• Oscar Lindberg

• Jamie Lundmark

• J. T. Miller

• Al Montoya

• Dominic Moore

• Mike Mottau

• Garth Murray

• P. A. Parenteau

• Corey Potter

• Dale Purinton

• Tom Pyatt

• Wade Redden

• Michael Sauer

• P.J. Stock

• Cam Talbot

• Brent Thompson

• Dale Weise

• Craig Weller

Team records

 * Single season
 * Goals: 50, Brad Smyth (2000–01)
 * Assists: 69, Derek Armstrong (2000–01)
 * Points: 101, Derek Armstrong (2000–01)
 * Penalty Minutes: 415, Dale Purinton (1999–2000)
 * GAA: 1.59, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)
 * SV%: .936, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)
 * Shutouts: 13, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)
 * Goaltending Wins: 34, Jason LaBarbera (2003–04)

 * Career
 * Goals: 184, Brad Smyth
 * Assists: 204, Derek Armstrong
 * Points: 365, Brad Smyth
 * Penalty Minutes: 1240, Dale Purinton
 * Shutouts: 21, Jason LaBarbera
 * Goaltending Wins: 91, Jason LaBarbera
 * Games: 599, Ken Gernander

title: Hartford Wolf Pack


text:
Providence Bruins

The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island.

History
The Providence Bruins began operation for the start of the 1992–93 AHL season after Providence mayor Buddy Cianci negotiated a deal with the owners of the Maine Mariners franchise, Frank DuRoss and Ed Anderson, to relocate their club. The move saw AHL hockey return to Providence for the first time since the Providence Reds, a founding member of the AHL, left town in 1977.

The Bruins captured their first AHL Calder Cup in the 1999 playoffs, after a regular season in which they dominated the league with 56 regular season wins. Led by rookie head coach Peter Laviolette and paced by Les Cunningham Award winner Randy Robitaille, the Bruins went from only 19 victories the previous season, to dropping the Rochester Americans four games to one to skate away with the league championship.

In the 2001–02 season, the Providence Bruins contracted with then-13-year-old musician Ben Schwartz to work as the official organist at all home games. As a result, Schwartz, who provided music for seven years until the conclusion of the 2007–08 season, is the youngest organist to ever work for a professional North American sports franchise.

In August 2006, DuRoss sold his majority interest in the club to Massachusetts businessman H. Larue Renfroe.

After the 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bruins moved to a temporary home in the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts, as the Dunkin' Donuts Center was being used by the state of Rhode Island for pandemic-related operations. The New England Sport Center is also owned by team owner H. Larue Renfroe. The Bruins returned to the Dunkin' Donuts Center for the 2021–22 AHL season.

In September 2022, the home arena was renamed to Amica Mutual Pavilion.

 * This market was previously served by:
 * Providence Reds (1926–1977)

Team mascot
"Samboni" the anthropomorphic bear serves as the Bruins' team mascot similar to the Boston Bruins' "Blades the Bruin".

Season-by-season results
Records as of the 2023–24 AHL season.

Current roster
Updated July 10, 2024.

 * }

Team captains

 * Peter Laviolette, 1992–1993
 * Bill Armstrong, 1993–1994
 * Guy Larose, 1994–1995
 * Martin Simard, 1995–1997
 * Bill Armstrong, 1997–1998
 * Dennis Vaske, 1998–1999
 * Sean Pronger, 1999–2000
 * Brandon Smith, 2000–2001
 * Keith McCambridge, 2001–2002
 * Rich Brennan, 2002–2004
 * Jay Henderson, 2004–2005
 * Sean Curry, 2005–2006
 * Nate Thompson, 2006–2008
 * Jeremy Reich, 2008–2009
 * Trent Whitfield, 2009–2010
 * Jeremy Reich, 2010–2011
 * Trent Whitfield, 2011–2013
 * Mike Moore, 2013–2014
 * Craig Cunningham, 2014–2015
 * Tommy Cross, 2015–2018
 * Jordan Szwarz, 2018–2019
 * Paul Carey, 2019–2021
 * Josiah Didier, 2022–2023

Head coaches

 * Mike O'Connell, 1992–1994
 * Steve Kasper, 1994–1995
 * Bob Francis, 1995–1997
 * Tom McVie, 1997–1998
 * Peter Laviolette, 1998–2000
 * Bill Armstrong, 2000–2002
 * Mike Sullivan, 2002
 * Scott Gordon, 2003–2008
 * Rob Murray, 2008–2011
 * Bruce Cassidy, 2011–2016
 * Kevin Dean, 2016–2017
 * Jay Leach, 2017–2021
 * Ryan Mougenel, 2021–present

Notable alumni
List of Providence Bruins alumni who played more than 100 games in Providence and 100 or more games in the National Hockey League: • Keith Aucoin

• Matt Bartkowski

• Nick Boynton

• Wade Brookbank

• Paul Carey

• Jordan Caron

• Connor Clifton

• Austin Czarnik

• Kevin Dallman

• Aaron Downey

• Peter Ferraro

• Trent Frederic

• Jonathan Girard

• John Grahame

• Ben Guite

• Andy Hilbert

• Jamie Huscroft

• Milan Jurcina

• Antti Laaksonen

• Jeremy Lauzon

• Cameron Mann

• Brad Marchand

• Adam McQuaid

• Kevan Miller

• Eric Nickulas

• Colton Orr

• Chris Porter

• Tuukka Rask

• Andrew Raycroft

• Jeremy Reich

• Randy Robitaille

• Jon Rohloff

• Andre Roy

• Ryan Spooner

• Cam Stewart

• Mark Stuart

• Tim Sweeney

• Tim Thomas

• Nate Thompson

• Mattias Timander

• Chris Wagner

• Trent Whitfield

• Landon Wilson

• Sergei Zholtok

Franchise records and leaders

 * Single season
 * Goals: Tim Sweeney, 41, (1992–93)
 * Assists: Randy Robitaille, 74, (1998–99)
 * Points: Randy Robitaille, 102, (1998–99)
 * Penalty minutes: Aaron Downey, 407, (1997–98)
 * GAA: Tim Thomas, 1.84, (2003–04)
 * SV%: Tim Thomas, .941, (2003–04)

 * Career
 * Career goals: Andy Hilbert, 101, (2001–2005)
 * Career assists: Alexander Khokhlachev, 110, (2012-2016)
 * Career points: Andy Hilbert, 210, (2001–2005)
 * Career penalty minutes: Aaron Downey, 1059, (1997–2000, 2007)
 * Career goaltending wins: Zane McIntyre, 86, (2015–2019)
 * Career shutouts: Zane McIntyre, 11, (2015–2019)
 * Career games: Tommy Cross, 380, (2011-2021)

Scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers for the Providence Bruins in the AHL. Figures are updated after each completed season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; = current Providence player

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Providence Bruins


text:
Lowell Devils

The Lowell Devils were a minor league ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center. As their name implied, they were the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. The team was founded in 1998 as the Lowell Lock Monsters and was purchased by the Devils in 2006.

After the 2009–10 season, the Devils agreed to move the Lowell franchise to Albany, New York, where their previous AHL affiliate, the Albany River Rats, had played. The new team then became the Albany Devils.

History
Founded as the Lowell Lock Monsters in 1998, the team served as the top AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders for three seasons, the last of which was shared with the Los Angeles Kings. In 2001, the team became the AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes, serving in that capacity for five seasons, portions of which the affiliation was shared with the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche.

The team was purchased by the New Jersey Devils in 2006 and took the Devils' name for the start of the 2006–07 season. In effect, the Devils' move was an affiliate swap as the Hurricanes contracted with the Devils' former affiliate in Albany. In Lowell, the Devils averaged 2,293 fans per game during the 2008–09 season while receiving the AHL Excellence Award for the Eastern Conference for group sales.

In February 2010, the University of Massachusetts Lowell took ownership of the Tsongas Center from the City of Lowell. Negotiations began between the University and the Devils for a lease extension, with the current lease set to expire at the end of the 2009–10 season. They could not come to an agreement and the Devils explored other options. They eventually struck an agreement with Albany, who was to lose the River Rats after the Hurricanes elected to move their top minor league affiliate to Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Charlotte Checkers. Following the season, the Lowell Devils ceased to exist.

Team records

 * Single season
 * Goals: Chuck Kobasew (38) - 2004–05
 * Assists: Keith Aucoin (56) - 2005–06
 * Points: Keith Aucoin (85) - 2005–06
 * Penalty Minutes: Louis Robitaille (250) - 2009–10
 * GAA: Cam Ward (1.99) - 2004–05
 * SV%: Cam Ward (.937) - 2004–05

 * Career
 * Career Goals: Mike Zigomanis (77)
 * Career Assists: Mike Zigomanis (114)
 * Career Points: Mike Zigomanis (191)
 * Career Penalty Minutes: Mark Fraser (321)
 * Career Goaltending Wins: Jeff Frazee (42)
 * Career Shutouts: Brent Krahn, Cam Ward (6)
 * Career Games: Mike Zigomanis (254)

Affiliates
 * New York Islanders (1998–2001)
 * Los Angeles Kings (1999–2001)
 * Carolina Hurricanes (2001–2006)
 * Calgary Flames (2003–2005)
 * Colorado Avalanche (2005–2006)
 * New Jersey Devils (2006–2010)

title: Lowell Devils


text:
Springfield Falcons

The Springfield Falcons were a former ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center.

In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Arizona Coyotes and relocated to Tucson, Arizona, before the start of the 2016–17 AHL season.

Beginning
In 1994, the longtime AHL Springfield Indians team was sold to interests that moved the franchise to Worcester, Massachusetts, to become the Worcester IceCats (now the Abbotsford Canucks). Ex-Indian players Bruce Landon, then the general manager of the Indians, and Wayne LaChance, a local rink owner and former member of the Springfield Kings, secured an expansion franchise for Springfield for the 1994–95 season. The Indians name was still under trademark, so the new owners named the team after Andy and Amelia, a pair of nesting peregrine falcons that was a popular local civic symbol. The AHL, which was headquartered in nearby West Springfield, was keen to maintain a presence in a city that had hosted a team in the AHL or its predecessors for all but nine years since 1926, and readily granted an expansion franchise to Landon and LaChance.

The Falcons secured affiliation with both the Hartford Whalers and the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL. Since the Indians had been the Whalers' top affiliate in their last few years, this allowed the Falcons to secure most of the players who had played for the Indians the previous season. Veteran defenseman John Stevens (the last captain of the Indians, who shared the co-captaincy that first year with Rob Murray) scored the franchise's first goal.

Among the Falcons' early notable players were Jean-Guy Trudel, the franchise's leading career goal and point scorer; Daniel Briere of the Colorado Avalanche; Manny Legace, the franchise's all-time leading goaltender and former St. Louis Blues starter; Nikolai Khabibulin, former Stanley Cup winning goalie; and Rob Murray, the franchise's long-time captain and inspirational leader. During the 2004 season, Springfield fans voted on the Web for the club's 10th Anniversary Team, and selected Briere at center, Trudel at left wing, Tavis Hansen at right wing, Brad Tiley and Dan Focht on defense and Legace in goal.

Individual honors won by Falcons players during their first thirteen seasons included the Baz Bastien Award given to the league's best goaltender (to Legace in 1996 and Scott Langkow in 1998), Briere winning the Red Garrett Award emblematic of rookie of the year and a nod as First Team All-Star center in 1998, Tiley winning the Eddie Shore Award for the league's outstanding defenseman in 2000 and Trudel winning a Second Team All-Star award in 1999–00.

After the Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes, the Falcons were subsequently affiliated exclusively with the Jets, an affiliation that continued when that team became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996. The team was then affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning between 2004 and 2007.

The team had finished in first place in its division twice and made the playoffs six times in its first nine seasons. However, after three seasons affiliated with Tampa Bay and nine straight losing seasons, the team announced that it was exercising its option to sever relations with the Lightning. On March 19, 2007, they announced an affiliation with the Edmonton Oilers beginning in the 2007–08 season until the conclusion of the 2009–10 season.

Edmonton Oilers affiliation
On August 3, 2007, the team hired former Edmonton Oilers player Kelly Buchberger to be the head coach. After posting a .500 record, the Oilers promoted Buchberger to be an assistant coach on the Oilers staff. On June 17, 2008, assistant coach Jeff Truitt was named the team's tenth head coach. He was fired in February 2009, after 50 games, and replaced by former Houston Aeros coach Rob Daum. The Falcons finished the 2008–09 season with the worst record in the AHL.

On June 23, 2009, Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini announced that Daum would remain the head coach of the Springfield Falcons through the 2009–10 season. From November 25 to January 1, the Falcons went on a franchise record 17-game losing streak, recording only five points in that span. The Falcons finished the 2009–10 season as the worst team in the AHL once again, and was the only team that did not win at least 30 games. The lone bright spot from the season was Charles Linglet being named a Second Team All-Star.

On February 9, 2010, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they were severing ties with the Springfield Falcons to move their affiliation to Oklahoma City, a decision that had been expected for months.

Columbus Blue Jackets affiliation
On March 25, 2010, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced a one-year affiliation agreement with a one-year option. Also introduced was a new jersey and logo. The new logo still had a falcon holding a hockey stick, but the background was changed to grey, the word Falcons to red, and the word Springfield to navy blue. The new ECHL affiliation was with the Evansville IceMen.

Rob Riley, the former head coach at the United States Military Academy, was named the new head coach of the Falcons on August 3, 2010, replacing Daum. The Falcons opened the 2010–11 AHL season with a home-and-home matchup against the Providence Bruins. To honor the 75th anniversary of the AHL, each team wore throwback jerseys from 1936. The Bruins wore the jerseys of the Providence Reds while the Falcons wore the jerseys of the Springfield Indians. The Falcons won the first game in Providence 5–1, while the Bruins took the following game in Springfield 6–5.

On December 21, 2010, it was announced that the Falcons had been sold to Charlie Pompea, while Bruce Landon remained the minority owner, and continued to be the president/general manager.

During the 2011–12 season, the Falcons honored the Springfield hockey teams that had won the Calder Cup, wearing commemorative jerseys for those games, and honoring former coaches and players in pre-game festivities. Following the season, Rob Riley was fired as head coach after two seasons of missing the playoffs. Assistant coach Brad Larsen was named head coach for the 2012–13 season.

The 2012–13 season, beginning with the 2012–13 NHL lockout, saw the Falcons make the playoffs for the first time since 2003. With help of NHL players Matt Calvert, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Johansen, John Moore and Tim Erixon, the Falcons were able to take an early lead in both the Northeast Division and the Eastern Conference. When the NHL lockout ended and these players were called up to Columbus, the Falcons continued to stay at the top of the standings. All-Star play from goaltender Curtis McElhinney and forward Jonathan Marchessault, as well as veteran leadership from team captain Ryan Craig, helped guide the team to a first-place finish in the Northeast Division. On April 6, 2013, the Falcons qualified for the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs, ending a nine-year playoff drought, the longest in AHL history. The Falcons defeated the Manchester Monarchs in the first round three games to one, with all of their wins coming in overtime. The Falcons playoff run came to an end at the hands of the Syracuse Crunch, as the Crunch swept the Falcons out of the playoffs in their second round matchup. Winger Jonathan Marchessault was named to the First All-Star team, while goaltender Curtis McElhinney was named a Second Team All-Star.

The 2013–14 Falcons set a team record for wins (47) and points (100). They suffered a first round defeat in the playoffs at the hands of the Providence Bruins in five games.

On February 4, 2014, the Springfield Falcons announced that Bruce Landon would be retiring. Landon had served as president, general manager and co-owner since 1994. He remained with the team as director of hockey operations. Sarah Pompea, the daughter of owner Charlie Pompea, was named the new team president.

While it was initially announced that the entire coaching staff would return to Springfield for the 2014–15 season, head coach Brad Larsen was promoted to an assistant coach in Columbus. On June 16, 2014, Columbus announced that Jared Bednar would become head coach and he continued to be joined by assistant coach Nolan Pratt, in addition to first year assistant Toby Petersen. In the 2014–15 season, the team set a franchise record with 11 consecutive wins. The streak lasted from November 14 through December 6, and propelled the Falcons back into first place in the Northeast Division. However, a poor March cost the team as they missed the playoffs, finishing in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

Arizona Coyotes affiliation
On April 17, 2015, the Springfield Falcons and Arizona Coyotes announced that they had reached a three-year affiliation agreement. This was part of change of affiliations for the 2015–16 season where Columbus would have their AHL team in Cleveland, the Colorado Avalanche in San Antonio and the Florida Panthers would be tied to the Portland Pirates.

The Coyotes hired Ron Rolston as the team's head coach, with Doug Janik and Mike Bavis as his assistants for the 2015–16 season. Dustin Jeffrey was named a Second Team All-Star, although he finished the season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after being traded at the trade deadline. The season was one of the worst in franchise history and marked the 11th time in 13 seasons that the club missed the playoffs, finishing with the second lowest points percentage in the AHL and the most regulation losses.

On April 19, 2016, the Arizona Coyotes signed an agreement to purchase the team. The Coyotes had been in negotiations to relocate the franchise to Tucson, Arizona, for the 2016–17 season and join the other AHL Pacific Division teams created in the previous season.

On May 4, 2016, the Portland Pirates announced that it had signed a letter of intent with an outside buyer to sell and relocate the franchise for the 2016–17 season. It was reported that the team would be relocated to Springfield following the pending sale and relocation of the Falcons franchise.

The AHL Board of Governors conditionally approved of the sale and relocation of the Falcons on May 10, pending approval of a deal through Tucson's city council. On May 17, the Coyotes and the Tucson city council came to terms on a lease agreement for the 2016–17 season to meet the conditions of the AHL approval. The team became the Tucson Roadrunners. The Pirates' sale and relocation to Springfield was approved on May 23, to subsequently become the Springfield Thunderbirds.

This market was previously home to:
 * Springfield Indians (1926–1994)

Retired numbers

 * No. 2: Eddie Shore
 * No. 23: Rob Murray

Note: Former AHL President Jack Butterfield and Vice-President Gordie Anziano, longtime Springfield residents, were honored with banners raised with the retired numbers.

Team awards
At the end of each season, the team awarded individual players with:
 * The Jim Denver "Good Guy" Award
 * The Al Lawrence Best Defensive Player Award
 * The Florence Kurdziel "Unsung Hero" Award
 * The Muriel Strauss Good Sportsmanship Award
 * The Dick Casey True Grit Award
 * The Ross Lowe Award as team MVP

Team captains
• John Stevens, Rob Murray (co-captains) 1994–1996

• Rob Murray 1996–99

• Tavis Hansen 1999–01

• Jean-Guy Trudel 2001–02

• Rob Murray 2002-03

• Shane Willis 2004-05

• Ryan Craig 2005–06

• Norm Milley 2006–07

• Rick Berry 2007–08

• Tim Sestito 2008–09

• Dean Arsene 2009–10

• Ben Guite 2010–11

• Dane Byers 2011–12

• Ryan Craig 2012–15

• Craig Cunningham 2015–2016

Notable NHL alumni
List of Springfield Falcons alumni who played at least 100 games in Springfield and played 100 or more games in the National Hockey League: • Ramzi Abid

• Nikita Alexeev

• Frank Banham

• Goran Bezina

• Daniel Briere

• Matt Calvert

• Michael Chaput

• Taylor Chorney

• Martin Cibak

• Sean Collins

• Ryan Craig

• Jeff Daniels

• Devan Dubnyk

• Robert Esche

• Cody Goloubef

• Martin Grenier

• Ravil Gusmanov

• Nick Holden

• Jean-Francois Jacques

• Tomas Kubalik

• Scott Langkow

• Manny Legace

• Francois Leroux

• Trevor Letowski

• Scott Levins

• Marek Malik

• Jonathan Marchessault

• Steve Martins

• Maxim Mayorov

• Colin McDonald

• John Moore

• Rob Murray

• Theo Peckham

• Nolan Pratt

• Dalton Prout

• Liam Reddox

• Jay Rosehill

• Kirill Safronov

• David Savard

• Lukas Sedlak

• Robert Schnabel

• Rob Schremp

• Tim Sestito

• Wyatt Smith

• John Stevens

• Radoslav Suchy

• Nick Tarnasky

• Brent Thompson

• Shane Willis

AHL Hall of Fame members
List of Springfield Falcons alumni later inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame. • Bryan Helmer

• Rob Murray

• Brad Smyth

• John Stevens

In addition, team owner Bruce Landon was also inducted into the AHOF.

Single season

 * Goals: John LeBlanc, 39 (1994–95)
 * Goals by a rookie: Daniel Briere, 36 (1997–98)
 * Assists: Jean-Guy Trudel, 65 (2000–01)
 * Points: Jean-Guy Trudel, 99 (2000–01)
 * Penalty minutes: Rob Murray, 373 (1994–95)
 * Appearances by a goalie: Devan Dubnyk, 62 (2008–09)
 * GAA: Manny Legace 2.27 (1995–96)
 * SV%: Curtis McElhinney, .923 (2012–13)
 * Shutouts: Curtis McElhinney, 9 (2012–13)

Career
These are the top ten scorers in Falcons' history. ''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

 * Career penalty minutes: 1529 Rob Murray
 * Career goaltending wins: 64 Manny Legace
 * Career shutouts: 9 Curtis McElhinney
 * Career games: 501 Rob Murray
 * Career goals: 94 Ryan Craig
 * Career shorthanded goals: 5 Andrew Joudrey

Single game

 * Goals: 4 Jean-Guy Trudel, Daniel Briere, Grant Potulny, Chad Wiseman, Jack Skille
 * Points: 6 Chad Wiseman

List of NHL affiliates

 * Hartford Whalers 1994–1997
 * Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes/Arizona Coyotes 1994–2004, 2015–2016
 * Tampa Bay Lightning 2001–2003, 2004–2007
 * Edmonton Oilers 2007–2010
 * Columbus Blue Jackets 2010–2015

title: Springfield Falcons


text:
Manchester Monarchs (AHL)

The Manchester Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They played in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the Verizon Wireless Arena. They were the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL) Los Angeles Kings during the team's entire existence. The Monarchs won their only Calder Cup in their final AHL season.

For the 2015–16 season, the Monarchs traded places with the Kings' affiliate in the ECHL, the Ontario Reign. The AHL franchise moved to Ontario, California, and play at Citizens Business Bank Arena where they became the new Ontario Reign; the ECHL team moved to New Hampshire retaining the Manchester Monarchs name.

History
In 1999, Howard Baldwin founded Manchester Hockey Group LLC, while in the process of moving a dormant AHL franchise to New Hampshire to start play in 2001. On June 14, 2000, the Los Angeles Kings bought the team from Baldwin's group. Three months later, the Kings hired Jeff Eisenberg as team president. The team, to play in the still under construction Verizon Wireless Arena, was baptized Manchester Monarchs on November 13.

Prior to the first game, two members of the Kings organization, Garnet Bailey and Mark Bavis, were killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as they were going home back to Los Angeles after a scouting trip. The Monarchs played their first game on October 6, 2001, against the Lowell Lock Monsters, losing 6–3. Their first win was a week later, on October 13, against the Norfolk Admirals. The team has been competitive within the division every year of its existence. They won their first Atlantic Division title in 2004–05, but lost in the first round to the Providence Bruins. This continued the streak of first round playoff exits, which the team had experienced in every year of existence, and would come to include the 2005–06 season.

The 2006–07 campaign was the team's best season prior to 2014–15, the season in which the team won its only Calder Cup championship. With rookie head coach Mark Morris, leading scorers Matt Moulson and Noah Clarke, and former League MVP Jason LaBarbera in goal, the team had their best-ever finish, winning the Atlantic Division title with the second-best points total in the League.

Heading into the playoffs, there were doubts within the team, as goaltender LaBarbera had ended the season injured. The team faced the Worcester Sharks in the first round. With LaBarbera coming back by Game 2, the Monarchs defeated the Sharks in six games, including double-overtime thrillers in Games 2 and 6. The second round brought the Providence Bruins, who put up as much, if not more, of a fight. The Monarchs found a way, however, and defeated the Bruins in six games. This brought the Monarchs to their first ever Eastern Conference Finals, but they were swept by the defending champions, the Hershey Bears, in four games.

Following their run in 2007, the Monarchs looked to have holes to fill, as Jason LaBarbera was called up to the Kings, along with several other players. The 2007–08 season was an up-and-down one, which ended following a sweep by the Providence Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. The 2008–09 season was a landmark year for the franchise, but not in the way they would hope. Despite a late surge, the team finished fifth, five points out of the playoffs, for the first time in franchise history.

The first half of the 2009–10 season proved to be successful for the Monarchs squad. Several players were promoted to Los Angeles, including Richard Clune and Alec Martinez. The Monarchs won their home opener of the 2010–11 season, as David Meckler scored the game-winning goal in front of 9,035 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena on October 16, 2010. The game was also noteworthy as left wing Brandon Kozun and center Justin Azevedo were awarded penalty shots, the first time in franchise history that two players were awarded penalty shots in the same game.

The Manchester Monarchs have made it to the playoffs all but one season since coming into existence, winning their first Calder Cup following the 2014–15 season.

For the 2014–15 season, the Monarchs ditched their purple and gold (the former Los Angeles Kings' colors) that had been with the team since its inception, and adopted the same black and silver color scheme that the Kings have used since 2011.

On January 29, 2015, it was confirmed by the AHL via press conference that the Monarchs would relocate from Manchester, New Hampshire, to Ontario, California. In return, the Ontario Reign of the ECHL would move to Manchester to become the new ECHL Manchester Monarchs, the first ECHL team to play in New England. The Monarchs finished the regular season winning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy with the best regular season record of the AHL and Brian O'Neill receiving the Les Cunningham Award as Most Valuable Player. The playoffs saw the Monarchs losing only three games among the Eastern teams, leading to the team's first Richard F. Canning Trophy as conference champions to qualify for the Calder Cup Final. The Monarchs beat the Utica Comets 4–1 to win the Calder Cup in their final season in New Hampshire. They became the first team since the New Brunswick Hawks in 1982 to win the Calder Cup in their last game of existence, and fourth overall (along with the Pittsburgh Hornets in 1967 and the Buffalo Bisons in 1970).

Team captains

 * Dane Jackson, 2001–2003
 * Richard Seeley, 2003–2004
 * Chris Schmidt, 2004–2005
 * Richard Seeley, 2005–2006
 * Brendan Buckley, 2006–2007
 * Jon Klemm, 2007–2008
 * Gabe Gauthier, 2007–2008
 * Marty Murray, 2008–2009
 * Drew Bagnall, 2009–2010
 * Marc-Andre Cliche, 2010–2013
 * Andrew Campbell, 2013–2014
 * Vincent LoVerde, 2014–15

Notable Monarchs
• Jonathan Quick

• Justin Azevedo

• Jonathan Bernier

• Paul Bissonnette

• Brian Boyle

• Dustin Brown

• Mike Cammalleri

• Andrew Campbell

• Marc-Andre Cliche

• Kyle Clifford

• Joe Corvo

• Alexandre Daigle

• Ted Donato

• Davis Drewiske

• Mathieu Garon

• Tim Gleason

• Denis Grebeshkov

• Steve Heinze

• Cristobal Huet

• Tim Jackman

• Dwight King

• Tom Kostopoulos

• Jason LaBarbera

• Andrei Loktionov

• Alec Martinez

• Oscar Moller

• Matt Moulson

• Jake Muzzin

• Jordan Nolan

• George Parros

• Teddy Purcell

• Brayden Schenn

• Slava Voynov

• Kevin Westgarth

• Tyler Toffoli

• Tanner Pearson

Single-season records

 * Goals: Mike Cammalleri, 46, (2004–05)
 * Assists: Mike Cammalleri, 63, (2004–05)
 * Points: Mike Cammalleri, 109, (2004–05)
 * Penalty minutes: Joe Rullier, 322, (2004–05)
 * GAA: Adam Hauser, 1.93, (2004–05)
 * SV%: Adam Hauser, .933, (2004–05)

Career records

 * Career goals: Noah Clarke, 85, (2003–07)
 * Career assists: Gabe Gauthier, 122, (2007–10)
 * Career points: Noah Clarke, 199, (2003–07)
 * Career penalty minutes: Joe Rullier, 844, (2001–05)
 * Career goaltending wins: Martin Jones, 84, (2010–14)
 * Career shutouts: Adam Hauser, 15, (2003–06)
 * Career games: Andrew Campbell, 414, (2009–14)

title: Manchester Monarchs (AHL)


text:
Plesiosaurus

Plesiosaurus (Greek: πλησίος (plesios), near to + σαῦρος (sauros), lizard) is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the Early Jurassic. It is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England. It is distinguishable by its small head, long and slender neck, broad turtle-like body, a short tail, and two pairs of large, elongated paddles. It lends its name to the order Plesiosauria, of which it is an early, but fairly typical member. It contains only one species, the type, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus. Other species once assigned to this genus, including P. brachypterygius, P. guilielmiimperatoris, and P. tournemirensis have been reassigned to new genera, such as Hydrorion, Seeleyosaurus and Occitanosaurus.

Discovery
The first complete skeleton of Plesiosaurus was discovered by early paleontologist and fossil hunter Mary Anning in Sinemurian (Early Jurassic)-age rocks of the lower Lias Group in December 1823. Additional fossils of Plesiosaurus were found in rocks of the Lias Group of Dorset for many years,  "until the cessation of quarrying activities in the Lias Group, early in this [20th] century." although less complete remains were used by Henry De la Beche and William Conybeare to name the species two years earlier in 1821, and despite being discovered first, Conybeare's remains were not the holotype; Anning's were.

Plesiosaurus was one of the first of the "antediluvian reptiles" to be discovered and excited great interest in 19th-century England. It was so-named ("near lizard") by William Conybeare and Henry De la Beche, to indicate that it was more like a normal reptile than Ichthyosaurus, which had been found in the same rock strata just a few years earlier. Plesiosaurus is the archetypical genus of Plesiosauria and the first to be described, hence lending its name to the order. Conybeare and De la Beche coined the name for scattered finds from the Bristol region, Dorset, and Lyme Regis in 1821. The type species of Plesiosaurus, P. dolichodeirus, was named and described by Conybeare in 1824 on the basis of Anning's original finds.

Skull and dentition
Compared to other plesiosaur genera, Plesiosaurus has a small head. The skull is much narrower than long, reaching its greatest width just behind the eyes (the postorbital bar). The anterior portion is "bluntly triangular". In lateral view, the skull reaches its highest point at the rear of the skull table. "The external nostrils overlie the internal nares". They are not positioned at the tip of the snout, but farther back, nearer the eyes than the tip of the skull. Unlike the nostrils of Rhomaleosaurus, they do not appear to be adapted for underwater olfaction. The orbits (eye sockets) are roughly circular and are positioned about halfway along the length of the skull. They face up and to the sides. Just posterior to the orbits are the supratemporal fenestrae, which are about the same size as the orbits and also roughly circular. Between the four openings is the pineal foramen, and between the temporal fenestrae is a narrow sagittal ridge. As in other plesiosaurs, the pterygoids of the palate are fused to the basioccipital of the braincase, although the union is not as robust as in the pliosaurs Rhomaleosaurus and Pliosaurus. "The palatal bones are thin, but there is no suborbital fenestra."

The two rami of the lower jaw make a "V" shape with an angle of about 45°. The specialized region where they meet, the symphysis, is robust. The two rami are fused at the symphysis, making a pointed, shallow scoop-like shape.

The teeth of Plesiosaurus are "simple, needle-like cones" that are "slightly curved and circular in transverse section". They are sharply pointed with fine striations running from tip to base, and point forward (procumbent). This procumbency becomes more pronounced near the leading end of the skull, where they may be only 10–15° above horizontal. There are 20 to 25 teeth per upper jaw tooth row, and 24 per low jaw tooth row. Up to four teeth of a lower jaw's tooth row are found in the symphyseal region.

Vertebral column
Plesiosaurus was a moderately sized plesiosaur that grew to 2.87 - 3.5 m in length. There are approximately 40 cervical vertebrae (neck vertebrae), with different specimens preserving 38 to 42 cervical vertebrae. Of the rest of the vertebral column, there are a handful (four or five in the holotype specimen) of "pectoral" vertebrae from the neck-torso transition, approximately 21 dorsal or back vertebrae, three or more sacral vertebrae, and at least 28 caudal vertebrae. Generally, the centra of the cervical vertebrae are relatively elongated, being slightly longer than tall. The width, however, is usually greater than or equal to the length. The articular surfaces of the cervical centra are "slightly concave and kidney-shaped, with rounded, slightly rugose edges." Small holes called foramina subcentralia are found on the ventral surface of the centra. Some of the dorsals have rugose articular edges, like the cervicals; this feature is typically absent from the caudals.

Ribs are found from the neck to the tail. Cervical ribs are hatchet-shaped and have two articular heads. Dorsal ribs are thick and have only one head. Sacral ribs are "short, robust, and blunt or knob-like on both ends." Caudal ribs have different morphologies depending on their location along the tail, with anterior examples being pointed and more distal examples being "broad and blunt." Plesiosaurus also has gastralia, also known as "belly ribs." Nine or more sets of gastralia are present between the shoulder and pelvis. Each set is composed of seven elements: a bone on the midline flanked by three lateral elements.

Limbs
The shoulder girdle is only partly known but appears to be typical for plesiosaurs. It includes fused clavicles at the anterior end, scapulae (shoulder blades), and large coracoids. The scapulae and coracoids both contribute to the glenoids (arm sockets). A pair of oval holes called pectoral fenestrae are found midway along the scapular/coracoid contacts. The forelimbs are elongate and relatively narrow compared to those of most plesiosaurs. The humerus (upper arm bone) has distinctive curvature, which appears to be a retained primitive feature among sauropterygians. Mature Plesiosaurus also have a distinctive groove along the ventral surface of the humerus. The forearm includes a flat, broad, crescent-shaped ulna and a "robust and pillar-like" radius. The wrist includes six bones. The hand paddle has five digits; the phalangeal formula is uncertain, but the count for one large individual, from "thumb" to fifth "finger", is 4-8-9-8-6.

The pelvis includes equant pubic bones, ischia, and blade-shaped ilia connecting the pelvis to the vertebral column. The acetabulum is formed by surfaces on the pubic bones and ischia. Similar to the pectoral girdle, there is a pair of holes between the ischia and pubic bones. The hindlimbs are long and narrow, and in adults, they are much smaller than the forelimbs. The thigh bones are straight. The lower hindlimb includes two roughly equal-sized bones, the robust tibia and the semilunate-shaped fibula. There are six bones in the ankle. The foot paddle includes five digits. Like the hand, the phalangeal formula is uncertain, but is at least 3-7-9-8-7 from innermost to outer "toe".

Classifications
Plesiosaurus has historically been a wastebasket taxon. This is due in part to few anatomical or taxonomic studies of the relevant fossils. Uncritical taxonomic work resulted in hundreds of species representing most of the world and most of the Mesozoic being assigned to Plesiosaurus. None of the younger Jurassic or Cretaceous species belong to Plesiosaurus. Review of the Early Jurassic species indicates that the only English species properly assigned to Plesiosaurus is P. dolichodeirus. Several other European Early Jurassic species have been assigned to new genera. P. brachypterygius, P. guilielmiimperatoris and P. tournemirensis, for example, were assigned to the new genera Hydrorion, Seeleyosaurus and Occitanosaurus.

The following cladogram follows an analysis by Benson et al., 2012, and shows the placement of Plesiosaurus within Plesiosauria.

Palaeobiology
Plesiosaurus fed mainly on clams and snails, and is thought to have eaten belemnites, fish and other prey as well. Its U-shaped jaw and sharp teeth would have been like a fish trap. It propelled itself by the paddles, the tail being too short to be of much use. Its neck could have been used as a rudder when navigating during a chase. Plesiosaurus gave live birth to live young in the water like sea snakes. The young might have lived in estuaries before moving out into the open ocean. It has been postulated that the long neck of Plesiosaurus would have been a hindrance when trying to speed up, any bend in the neck creating turbulences. If that is the case then Plesiosaurus would have had to keep its neck straight to achieve good acceleration, something that would make hunting difficult. For this reason it may be possible that these animals would actually lie in wait for prey to come close instead of trying to pursue them.

Palaeoenvironment
Unequivocal specimens of Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus are limited to the Lyme Regis area of Dorset. It appears to be the most common species of plesiosaur in the Lias Group of England. Plesiosaurus is best represented from the "upper part of the Blue Lias, the 'Shales with Beef,' and the lower Black Ven Marls" the latter of which form part of the Charmouth Mudstone; using the Lias Group ammonite fossil zones, these rocks date to the early Sinemurian stage. Some other Plesiosaurus fossils are from later Sinemurian rocks. The oldest specimen may be a skull thought to come from late Rhaetian or early Hettangian rocks.

title: Plesiosaurus


text:
Christmas with the Kranks

Christmas with the Kranks is a 2004 American Christmas comedy film directed by Joe Roth from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. It stars Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis in the leading roles. The film also stars Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, and M. Emmet Walsh.

The film follows a couple who decide to skip Christmas one year since their daughter is away, much to the chagrin of their neighbors, until their daughter decides to come home at the last minute.

Christmas with the Kranks was released in the United States on November 24, 2004 by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was Tom Poston's final film before his death in 2007, and received negative reviews from critics.

Plot
After Riverside, Illinois couple Luther and Nora Krank see their daughter, Blair, depart for a Peace Corps assignment in Peru on the Sunday following Thanksgiving, empty nest syndrome sets in. Luther calculates that they spent $6,132 during the previous year's holiday season, and, not looking forward to celebrating Christmas without their daughter, he suggests they invest the money usually spent on decorations, gifts, and entertainment and treat themselves to a ten-day Caribbean cruise instead. Luther insists that they completely boycott the holidays, and eventually Nora agrees.

The Kranks discover they are considered pariahs due to their decision to skip the holidays. Most vocal in their objections are neighbors Vic Frohmeyer and Walt Scheel. Vic, who is the self-proclaimed leader of the street, organizes a campaign to force the Kranks to decorate their home. Walt does not seem to like Luther, so his efforts are primarily personal. However, it is revealed that Walt's wife Bev is suffering from cancer, perhaps dampening his holiday spirits.

Children, led by Vic's son Spike, constantly push them to put up a Frosty the Snowman decoration, and Christmas carolers try to revive the Kranks' holiday spirit by singing on their lawn, which Luther stops by icing it. The newspaper prints a front-page story complete with a photograph of the unlit Krank house, and Luther's office colleagues, scout tree salesmen, and police fund collectors are also annoyed. However, Luther and Nora continue to stand their ground.

The couple are packing for the cruise on Christmas Eve morning when they receive a call from Blair, who announces that she is at Miami International Airport, en route home with her Peruvian fiancé Enrique as a surprise for her parents. When Blair asks if they are having their usual party that night, a panicked Nora says yes. Luther and Nora try to decorate the house and coordinate a party with only twelve hours before their daughter and future son-in-law arrive.

While Nora scrambles to find food, Luther goes to buy a tree, but is unable to get anything but a small, dried-up tree. Luther attempts to borrow the indoor tree of neighbor Wes Trogdon, who is going away for a week, with the warning that he is not to damage it. Luther enlists Spike's help to transport the tree across the street, but the neighbors spot him and, assuming he is stealing it, call the police. Spike shows that Luther has Trogdon's keys, and thus was given permission to borrow the tree. Nora comes home, having only been able to obtain smoked trout, and tells Luther to put up Frosty on their roof, which fails when he and Frosty fall off, drawing the neighborhood's attention. Once it is established why Luther is trying frantically to decorate his home, the neighbors, led by Vic, come out in full force to help them ready it for Blair.

The party starts off strong, with Blair having no idea of the earlier drama. Enrique thanks everyone for the warm welcome, and Nora thanks her neighbors for being a strong community. Luther, to everyone's disappointment, offers only a half-hearted toast. When Nora confronts her husband, he tries to convince her to still go on the cruise, but Nora refuses, disgusted that he is not happy that Blair is home.

Having a change of heart, Luther slips out of the house, going across the street to the Scheel's. Bev's cancer, once in remission, has returned and, knowing this may be their last holiday together, Luther insists they take the cruise instead, even offering to look after their cat, to allow them to go. At first Walt and Bev decline, but ultimately decide to accept his generosity. Luther, whose holiday spirit has been renewed, finally admits to Nora that skipping Christmas was not a good idea, until she suggests that they should do it next year.

Development
Joe Roth knew about John Grisham's Skipping Christmas before it was published in 2001. He was asked by Grisham to read the book in galley form, assuming he could direct a movie based on it. Roth recalls: "It turns out he was right. Even while I was reading it, all I could think was that this would make a great Christmas movie. It had humor, it had wonderful characters and it had heart." With the rights of the book received and the May 2000 founding of Revolution Studios, he stated that "as a start-up company, there was a great deal of work to do in order to get up and running."

Later, filmmaker Chris Columbus, who also bought the rights to Skipping Christmas and had written a screenplay, called Roth about directing the adaptation. As Roth explains: "Naturally, I thought he was going to direct it. But he said, 'No, you should direct it.' It turns out I was getting ready to direct another project. But when I read Chris's script, I knew I had to at least try to direct it. I promised myself that if I could get the right cast in place, I would do it." Producer Michael Barnathan said, "Joe read the script on a Sunday, bought it on Monday, decided he wanted to direct it on Tuesday and by Friday had cast Tim [Allen] and Jamie Lee [Curtis]. The following Monday morning we started pre-production."

Setting
Christmas with the Kranks takes place mostly in the Kranks' neighborhood of Hemlock Street in Riverside, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, over the course of four weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. Production designer Garreth Stover originally looked for locations with the right weather conditions and suburban ambience for Hemlock Street, as described specifically in Columbus's script of the film. He was scouting from the metropolitan area of Chicago to Minnesota, but due to the extreme conditions of this part of the United States at the time, the filmmakers felt it was better to set up the neighborhood in an empty location instead of finding one.

When looking for a place to build the set 15 weeks before filming began, Stover chose a parking lot of a former Boeing aircraft factory in Downey, California, about 15 miles away from downtown Los Angeles and in the midst of Downey Studios. The rest of the first three weeks were spent on designing the houses with assistance from construction coordinator David Elliott. In the next 12 weeks, hundreds of carpenters, plasterers and painters had built what would become the largest exterior set ever for a movie, being more than 700 feet long and including 16 houses. What Stover called "the core five" were the houses of the Kranks, the Frohmeyers, the Scheels, the Beckers and the Trogdons, which he claimed had "full ground floors that are dressed and you can see into." He also said that the second floor of the Kranks' was built on a soundstage. Producer Michael Barnathan claimed that the set would later be available for other movies, TV series and commercials to use. However, due to both health complaints from the locals over toxic residues and a lack of profit, the studio closed in 2012 and was razed to build a mall.

The scenes involving Nora Krank's excursion to the supermarket to procure a "Mel's Hickory Honey Ham" were filmed at Cordons Ranch Market, located at 2931 Honolulu Ave, Glendale, California.

Costumes
Susie DeSanto handled the costume design of Christmas with the Kranks. According to DeSanto, "I was looking for a project that was really textural, and maybe a bit nostalgic. I saw Christmas with the Kranks like a Christmas card, a beautiful Christmas memory of how we wish the holiday to be. So a lot of the fabrics I chose were not so much high-tech bright colors, but wools, plaids and mixing patterns. Joe [Roth] was specific about what he wanted, but within that, he allowed me a great deal of freedom to express myself. However he did not have any impute on the tan segment of the movie where Luthor and Nora Krank were wearing colourful underwear to look their best for the cruise"

DeSanto viewed that all the characters in Christmas with the Kranks would wear dresses that are supposed to serve as their "accents" rather than overtly defining them. Luther Krank is seen wearing the same-colored shirt and suit at work all the time, and according to DeSanto, this "tells that Luther's a punch-the-clock kind of guy, so the whole idea of skipping Christmas and going off on a tropical vacation is completely averse to anything he's ever done." She described Nora as "tasteful and kind of folksy, a middle-American woman approaching middle age. In our first meeting, Jamie Lee Curtis was totally prepared. She wanted to look like a real Midwestern woman who lives in the suburbs of Chicago and is as obsessed with Christmas as everyone around her. Nora dresses for the seasons and I found out by speaking to people at Marshall Field's in Chicago that the Christmas sweater is a big deal. And Jamie wears it so well." As for Vic Frohmeyer, she saw him as "a sort of commander-in-chief of the neighborhood, so I wanted something with a bit of a military flair. Since he's also a college professor, we cut the pattern from a general's jacket and made it professorial by using a vintage tweed mixed with corduroy."

Music
The soundtrack was produced and supervised by American musician Steven Van Zandt, who arranged and produced 6 of the tracks. It features many holiday standards, including "Jingle Bell Rock" by Brenda Lee; "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Billy May & His Orchestra with vocal by Alvin Stoller; "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Eddie Dunstedter; "White Christmas" by Dean Martin; "Frosty the Snowman" by Steve Van Zandt; "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley; and "The Christmas Song" by Ella Fitzgerald.

It received generally favorable reviews, with many critics appreciating the use of garage rock as a "fresh take" on Christmas music. Houston Press featured it on their list of top 10 Christmas movie soundtracks.

Box office
On its opening weekend, it earned $21.6 million on 3,393 screens, ranking #3 behind National Treasure and The Incredibles. It eventually grossed $96.6 million worldwide.

Critical response
It is the second-worst reviewed Christmas movie on the site, behind The Nutcracker in 3D. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 22 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film 1/4 stars, calling it "a holiday movie of stunning awfulness that gets even worse when it turns gooey at the end." Nell Minow of Common Sense Media gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "The characters are unpleasant, the jokes are unfunny, and the sentiment is hypocritical -- so this movie is about as unappetizing as last year's figgy pudding." Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post wrote: "Christmas With the Kranks is a leaden whimsy so heavy it threatens to crash through the multiplex floor." Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote: "You will not want to spend Christmas, or any other day of the year, with the Kranks. Or, for that matter, in the company of their uncommonly nosy, self-righteous and meddling friends and neighbors."

Scott Foundas of Variety was more positive, calling it "an agreeable, if snowflake-thin stocking stuffer faithfully adapted from John Grisham's 2001 bestseller Skipping Christmas."

Home media
Christmas with the Kranks was released on DVD and VHS on March 8, 2005, and on UMD Video for PSP on November 8, 2005. It was released on November 14, 2005, in the UK. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment later released the film on Blu-ray on November 16, 2021.

title: Christmas with the Kranks


text:
Passagen Verlag

The publishing house Passagen Verlag was founded in 1985 in Vienna by Peter Engelmann. The primary intention of the publisher was the translation of Jacques Derrida's work into German. Around the author Derrida, Peter Engelmann developed a program, which gathers relevant authors of all disciplines, who identified themselves with the program deconstruction ("Dekonstruktivismus") and "postmodernism" (Postmoderne). Peter Engelmann was honoured by the French State in February 2004 with the title "Commandeur dans l´ordre des Arts et des Lettres" for his work as a publisher.

The Passagen Verlag, the name Passagen being an allusion to Walter Benjamin's most important text Passagenwerk, publishes besides Derrida authors such as Jean-François Lyotard, Gianni Vattimo, Jean Baudrillard, Paul Feyerabend, Peter Eisenman, Jacques Lacan, Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Sarah Kofman, Gerhard Anna Concic-Kaucic, Slavoj Žižek, Emmanuel Levinas, Clifford Geertz, Ginka Steinwachs, Dennis Cooper, Wolfgang Schirmacher, etc.

title: Passagen Verlag


text:
Michael Bridges

Michael Bridges (born 5 August 1978) is an English professional football manager and retired former player.

As a player, he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Sunderland, Leeds United and Newcastle United, as well as a brief spell in the top flight for Bolton Wanderers that yielded no appearances. He also played in the Football League for Bristol City, Carlisle United, Hull City and Milton Keynes Dons as well as playing in Australia with Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets and Lambton Jaffas. He was capped 11 times by England U21, scoring three goals. He also represented England U21s at international level.

Sunderland
Bridges emerged as one of the Premier League's most promising young strikers during the 1996–97 season at Sunderland, but was unable to save them from relegation. Two years later he helped them return to the Premiership and joined Leeds United for £5 million soon afterwards. He made a total of 79 Appearances at Sunderland, and scored 16 Goals.

In the summer of 1999, Sunderland agreed a fee to sell him to his boyhood club Tottenham Hotspur. Bridges who travelled down to sign a contract with manager George Graham and many years later in a 2021 podcast he recalled the reason he didn't make the move was the treatment he got from owner Alan Sugar as he was about to sign his contract. Bridges mentioned on the podcast: "Then all of a sudden this blue Rolls-Royce pulled up outside and he said, 'Oh, here's Lord Sugar, he's come to say hi and welcome to the club', and I kid you not, I'll give you the thirty seconds I got off Alan Sugar while I was sat there with my agent, in London, scared stiff by the way. He said: 'Young man, nice to meet you I've never heard of you before, I've heard you're a Sunderland reserve player, I'm putting all my faith in these two lads [Graham and Pleat] here who say I've got to pay this kind of money for you. I think it's ridiculous because you don't get much for your money, because you don't look like you could lift a paperweight. And by the way, you're not getting the money your agent thinks he's getting, you've got to earn that - take care, good luck. I looked at my agent as [if] to say: 'Get me the hell out of here, that's it done'. As Sugar left, George Graham apologised.

Leeds United
Bridges was signed for Leeds United by David O'Leary for £5 million from Sunderland as a replacement for Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink who weeks later left to join Atlético Madrid. In his first season at Elland Road, Bridges scored 19 Premiership goals including a hat-trick in his second game against Southampton – the first Leeds player to score a hat-trick in a competitive game since Gary McAllister in October 1995.

Bridges also helped his side finish third in the Premiership, qualify for the Champions League and reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Bridges was seriously injured in the 0–0 draw in a Champions League match with Beşiktaş and was plagued with injuries over the next four seasons of his Leeds United career, only making a further ten appearances due to his injuries and not scoring any goals. He was released by Leeds in May 2004.

Newcastle United
As a result of his injuries he was loaned out to Newcastle United in a loan swap with Steven Caldwell in January 2004 to help alleviate their striker crisis. After only making a single start for Newcastle, on the right wing as opposed to in his favoured striking role, Bridges was out of contract in the summer of 2004 with his contract not being renewed due to his injury problems. He made only six appearances for Newcastle, and failed to score in any of those matches.

Unsettled
He was quickly snapped up by Bolton Wanderers but made no first team appearances. Released by Bolton he spent the rest of the season back at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland, scoring once against Stoke, before joining Bristol City, where he scored once in the League Cup against Barnet.

Carlisle United
In November 2005 Bridges joined Carlisle United, becoming perhaps their most influential player in their successful promotion charge into League One. Bridges' 15 goals made him very popular in Carlisle and thanks to them he reestablished his football career, but the fans were sad when he decided to leave Brunton Park on transfer deadline day, 31 August 2006. It was reported that Hull City had a £250,000 bid for Bridges turned down, and that because of this, Bridges handed in a transfer request. Hull returned with an improved bid of £350,000, and this was accepted.

Hull City
His first season at Hull was largely disappointing. However, he did earn the Tigers their first league win of the season with a spectacular goal against Leicester City, but through a combination of injuries (back and ankle), suspension (following a sending off in a reserve game) and simply not being selected, he made only eight starts and seven substitute appearances for the Tigers, scoring further goals against Cardiff in the league and Crewe Alexandra in the League Cup.

Due to lack of first team opportunity at Hull, Bridges was allowed to leave on loan for a short term deal at Australian side Sydney FC on 15 October 2007.

In the same season he rejected a loan move to League One side Crewe Alexandra. On 2 June 2009, he was released from his contract along with seven other players.

Sydney FC
He scored his first league goal for the club on 3 November in the 1–0 win over Newcastle Jets. A viral infection forced him to miss two matches away at Adelaide United and Wellington Phoenix and following this found it hard to regain favour of coach John Kosmina. He returned to the Sydney first team in January as a substitute against Queensland Roar.

After just nine games and two goals Bridges returned to Hull after the expiration of his six-month loan deal.

Return to Carlisle United
On 24 July 2008, Bridges returned to Carlisle, on a season-long loan deal. The club had first option on signing him permanently, at the end of the loan, as his Hull City contract where to expire. After the now departed manager John Ward had left him out of every starting line-up since the start of the season, Bridges finally got a starting place in the League One fixture against top of the table Leicester City at Brunton Park. Although Carlisle lost the game 2–1, Bridges and his strike partner Danny Graham looked to be forming an impressive partnership and this was later proved so in a 3–0 boxing day victory over Huddersfield Town with Michael Bridges on the scoresheet. He then started the following game, a 0–0 draw away at promotion chasing Oldham Athletic.

In July 2009, Bridges was taken on pre-season tour by Norwich City, as a trialist.

Milton Keynes Dons
On 8 August 2009, Bridges was signed by Milton Keynes Dons on a non-contract basis. He came on as a substitute towards the end of the match on the opening day of the season against Hartlepool United and started in a League Cup defeat against Swindon Town, being replaced in the second half. He left the club after three weeks and making two appearances, and decided to return to Australia to continue his career.

Newcastle Jets
On 25 September 2009, it was confirmed that Bridges was trialling with the Newcastle Jets with a view to earn a six-month contract at the club. He announced on Fox Sports' Matchday Saturday program that, if all went well, he and Jets coach, Branko Čulina would sit down and discuss a contract. Bridges signed a contract to play for the Jets for the remainder of the 2009–10 season on 30 September.

In his first game for the Jets, a 1–1 draw with Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on 5 October, Bridges set up Korean midfielder Song Jin-Hyung for the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute. He managed to last for around 80 minutes before being replaced by Sasho Petrovski. Branko Čulina expressed his surprise that Bridges had lasted so long and suggested that he would only improve as he continued to increase his match-fitness. On 23 October, Bridges scored his first goal for the Jets, netting the opener in the team's 2–1 home win over their derby rivals, the Central Coast Mariners. It was the Jets' first victory after a six-game winless streak.

He scored again in the 50th minute after finishing a precise through-ball from Matt Thompson, and in turn set up Thompson for the decisive goal of the match in the 58th minute before being substituted a minute later in light of a recent hamstring injury. Following the Sydney match, which saw the Jets notch up their first ever win against their big-city rivals at the Sydney Football Stadium, Bridges pledged his commitment to the club by signing a two-year extension to his contract on 2 December which would see him play with the Jets until the end of the 2011–12 A-League season.

On 22 July 2010, Bridges was named captain of the Newcastle Jets alongside defender Ljubo Miličević who was named the vice-captain thereby becoming the first international captain in the club's history. On 29 April 2011, Bridges announced his retirement from his playing career following a knee injury, taking on a new role with owners of the Newcastle Jets, Tinkler Sports Group.

Return from retirement
On 7 November 2011, Bridges returned from retirement, signing a contract with the Jets until the end of the 2011–12 season. Bridges then played his first game back against Melbourne Victory which the Jets won 3–0. Bridges scored his first goal after his return to football in a 3–0 win over Melbourne Heart. Since then he has been a starter in the attacking midfield role. On 14 March 2013, Bridges extended his contract with the Jets for another season. Bridges' agreement included involvement with the Emerging Jets program in the off-season. Bridges followed up this extension by scoring a goal in 1–1 draw with Adelaide United the following day.

Lambton Jaffas FC
In February 2015, Bridges signed a one-year contract with the Lambton Jaffas FC in the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW.

Post-playing career
After retiring from playing in 2015, Bridges took his coaches badges and, in April 2018, lodged an interest in managing Football League 2 side Carlisle United. As of 2021, he is a pundit for Optus Sport in Australia. He was the manager of National Premier Leagues Northern NSW team Edgeworth FC from 2020 to 2021.

Honours
Sunderland
 * Football League First Division, Championship (II): 1995–96, 1998–99, 2004–05

Carlisle United
 * Football League Two (IV): 2006

title: Michael Bridges


text:
Norfolk Admirals (AHL)

The Norfolk Admirals were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League. They were the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Anaheim Ducks. The Admirals played in Norfolk, Virginia at the Norfolk Scope.

For the 2015–16 season, the Admirals moved to San Diego, California to become the newest version of the San Diego Gulls as part of the AHL's efforts to create a Pacific Division. The Bakersfield Condors from the ECHL moved to Norfolk for the 2015–16 season and also use the name Norfolk Admirals.

History
The market was previously home to:
 * Tidewater Wings (1971–1972 AHL)
 * Virginia Wings (1972–1975 AHL)
 * Hampton Gulls (1974–1977 SHL, 1977–1978 AHL)
 * Hampton Aces (1978–1981 NEHL)
 * Hampton Roads Gulls (1982–1983 ACHL)
 * Hampton Roads Admirals (1989–2000 ECHL)

The original team ownership, Mark Garcea and Page Johnson (owners of the Hampton Roads Admirals franchise in the East Coast Hockey League), sought and gained admission to the American Hockey League as an expansion franchise for the 2000–01 season with an affiliation agreement with the Chicago Blackhawks. On May 26, 2004, the franchise was purchased by Ken Young after the original owners had put it up for sale. The team name pays homage to the area's long naval history.

Norfolk was one of two franchises in the AHL named the Admirals, sharing the nickname with the Milwaukee Admirals. The Milwaukee franchise transferred from the defunct International Hockey League, and were allowed to keep their previous moniker. Norfolk's geographically closest rivals were the Hershey Bears, Charlotte Checkers, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Admirals had two mascots, a dog named Salty and a rabbit named Hat Trick.

On March 19, 2007, the Blackhawks announced that their affiliation with the Admirals would end after the 2006–07 season. On March 29, 2007, the Tampa Bay Lightning officially announced the Admirals as their new affiliate. On June 14, 2012 Tampa Bay announced their separation from the 2012 Calder Cup champions in favor of the Syracuse Crunch. Later in that month owner Ken Young announced he had closed a five-year agreement with the Anaheim Ducks.

2011–12 season
During the 2011–12 season, the Norfolk Admirals, coached by Jon Cooper, set a professional hockey record for the longest winning streak, winning their 28th consecutive game on April 15 against the Adirondack Phantoms. The streak far surpassed the previous AHL record of 17 straight wins set by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2004–05, as well as the pro hockey record of 18 games set by the Peoria Rivermen of the original International Hockey League in 1991.

The streak garnered international media attention for the Admirals and the American Hockey League, including highlights on NHL Network and ESPN's SportsCenter.

The 28-game streak included 15 home games and 13 road games. The win streak started on February 10 against Adirondack. Before their 3-2 OT win against Binghamton on April 14, the previous 20 games were all won in regulation. As of October 20, 2012, the Admirals had won 32 regular season games in a row dating back to the 2011–12 season.

The winning streak translated into a deep playoff run for the Admirals, where they would win 15 of 18 playoff games, including back to back four game sweeps in the Eastern Conference and Calder Cup Finals. On June 9, 2012, the Admirals captured their first ever Calder Cup with a 6–1 win over the Toronto Marlies.

Prior to the 2012–13 season, the Admirals and the Syracuse Crunch parent NHL organizations swapped teams. As a result, the Admirals failed to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs while the Crunch made it to the Calder Cup Finals.

Relocation
On January 6, 2015, it was announced that the Admirals would move to an unknown location on the west coast, likely close to their NHL affiliate, after the franchise was purchased by the Anaheim Ducks. On January 29, 2015, the Ducks confirmed the Admirals' relocation to San Diego to become the newest incarnation of the San Diego Gulls. The Admirals were replaced in Norfolk with the relocated Bakersfield Condors franchise of the ECHL. The new team retained the Admirals name and logo but were affiliated with the Edmonton Oilers.

Team Captains

 * Aaron Downey, 2000–2001
 * Ajay Baines, 2002–2006
 * Craig MacDonald, 2006–2007
 * Dan Jancevski, 2007–2008
 * Zenon Konopka, 2008–2009
 * Ryan Craig, 2009–2010
 * Chris Durno, 2010–2011
 * Mike Angelidis, 2011–2012
 * Nate Guenin, 2012–2013
 * Garnet Exelby, 2013–2014
 * Dave Steckel, 2014–2015

Notable alumni
NHL alumni of the Norfolk Admirals include: • Craig Anderson

• Tyler Arnason

• Michal Barinka

• Cam Barker

• Mark Bell

• Brandon Bochenski

• Rene Bourque

• Wade Brookbank

• Troy Brouwer

• Adam Burish

• Dustin Byfuglien

• Kyle Calder

• Cory Conacher

• Ryan Craig

• Corey Crawford

• Aaron Downey

• Steve Downie

• Vernon Fiddler

• Colin Fraser

• Adam Hall

• Tyler Johnson

• Duncan Keith

• Alex Killorn

• David Koci

• Zenon Konopka

• Michael Leighton

• Reed Low

• Mike Lundin

• Craig MacDonald

• Patrick Maroon

• Travis Moen

• Ondrej Palat

• Mark Parrish

• Mike Peluso

• Nathan Perrott

• Martin St. Pierre

• Brent Seabrook

• Matt Smaby

• Paul Szczechura

• Shawn Thornton

• Kris Versteeg

• Ty Wishart

• James Wisniewski

2010 Stanley Cup Finals
In the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, sixteen former Admirals competed for the championship. Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer, Adam Burish, Dustin Byfuglien, Corey Crawford, Jake Dowell, Colin Fraser, Jordan Hendry, Duncan Keith, Danny Richmond, Brent Seabrook, Jack Skille, and Kris Versteeg were on the Chicago Blackhawks active roster. Michael Leighton and Lukas Krajicek played for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Single-season records

 * Goals: Troy Brouwer, 41 (2006–07)
 * Assists: Martin St. Pierre, 72 (2006–07)
 * Points: Martin St. Pierre, 99 (2006–07)
 * Penalty minutes: Zack Stortini, 299 (2013- 2014)
 * Wins: Corey Crawford, 38 (2006–07)
 * GAA: Craig Anderson, 1.94 (2002–03)
 * SV%: Craig Anderson, .923 (2002–03)

Career records

 * Career goals: Brandon Bochenski, 81
 * Career assists: Marty Wilford, 141
 * Career points: Blair Jones, 185
 * Career penalty minutes: Shawn Thornton, 1198
 * Career goaltending wins: Dustin Tokarski, 80
 * Career shutouts: Michael Leighton, 18
 * Career games: Ajay Baines, 409

title: Norfolk Admirals (AHL)


text:
Life with the Lyons

Life with the Lyons was a British radio and television sitcom franchise that ran between 1950 and 1961.

Background
Following a highly publicized trial against their stalker, American actors Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels moved to London in 1935. For several years, the couple commuted between London and Los Angeles, where their children resided with Daniels' mother and Lyon was under contract to 20th Century Fox.

At the advent of World War II, Lyon and Daniels were touring England in vaudeville when Lyon developed the idea for a radio series in an effort to boost morale. In 1940, the couple debuted Hi, Gang!, in which they starred with Vic Oliver with scripts written by Daniels. During the war, Lyon joined the newly formed Special Services unit of the United States military while Daniels served as a war correspondent. Following the war, the Lyons moved to London permanently with their children. Deciding to expand their show into a family effort, Hi, Gang! ended in 1949.

Life With the Lyons was created by Daniels, which she developed with Bob Block and Bill Harding. The trio would often work on scripts late at night in the family's basement. The show featured a fictionalized version of the family, with Barbara Lyon and Richard Lyon starring as their children. Molly Weir was also cast as the family's Scottish maid, Aggie MacDonald. For the fifth to seventh series of the radio show – and the first two series of the television adaption – Richard Bellaers starred as Robin Lyon, the couple's youngest child. Also cast were Horace Percival as their henpecked neighbour, Mr Wimple, and Doris Rogers as Florrie Wainwright, Bebe's nosy friend who frequently spars with Ben.

Radio
Life With the Lyons debuted on BBC Radio on 5 November 1950. It was the first scripted situation comedy show in the United Kingdom. The series ran for 252 episodes over eleven seasons, ending on 19 May 1961.

Daniels and Block served as writers for all eleven seasons. Harding departed the series after seasons three, and was replaced by Ronnie Hanbury. Other writers for the series used on occasion included Jill Allgood, Brad Ashton, Robert Hounsome, and Ray Sonin.

Many radio episodes were not kept by the BBC and only three episodes are in the archives; these were on BBC Radio 7 in early 2011. Following this broadcast, the BBC were alerted to a private collection of around 200 episodes owned by Graeme Stevenson in Scotland, and a selection of 14 episodes were rebroadcast on Radio 7's successor BBC Radio 4 Extra between July and December 2011 and rebroadcast at later dates.

Cast

 * Bebe Daniels Lyon as Bebe Lyon
 * Ben Lyon as Ben Lyon
 * Barbara Lyon as Barbara Lyon
 * Richard Lyon as Richard Lyon
 * Molly Weir as Aggie MacDonald
 * Richard Bellaers as Robin Lyon (series 5–7, radio; series 1–2, television)
 * Horace Percival as Mr Wimple
 * Doris Rogers as Florrie Wainwright

Following Barbara's marriage to Russell Turner, he began a recurring role as her husband Russell. Hugh Morton recurred throughout the series as Ben's boss.

Films
Two feature films both directed by Val Guest were made with the cast of the series between the radio and television versions. The Lyons' contract called for them to receive a percentage of the film's profits.

 * Life with the Lyons (1954)
 * The Lyons in Paris (1955)

Television
In 1954, the family appeared in a special on BBC Television. Following its success and that of the first feature film, the network approved a television adaption of Life With the Lyons. BBC aired the first two series, consisting of four episodes each, in the summers of 1955 and 1956 respectively. In 1957, ITV picked up the series for a full fall series of 10 episodes. The show remained on ITV for another three seasons until it ended in 1960.

Only six episodes survive in television archives. One from the first series, two each from the third and fourth, and one from the final series. The surviving first-season episode was shown on BBC Four on 27 March 2005 as part of the "TV on Trial" season. The episode was not shown "in the clear" – viewers had the choice of a version without commentary but with on-screen logos, or with commentary by Roy Hattersley and Kathryn Flett.

Other versions
Life With the Lyons also appeared as a play, and in seven Royal Command Performances.

In popular culture

 * John Lennon was a fan of the radio show, and paid tribute to the show in his second album with Yoko Ono, Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions.
 * In his song "Post World War Two Blues", on the album Past, Present & Future (1973), Al Stewart sings, "We were locked up safe and warm from the snow / With 'Life with the Lyons' on the radio...".

title: Life with the Lyons


text:
Syracuse Crunch

The Syracuse Crunch are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Syracuse, New York, at the Upstate Medical University Arena. They are the primary development affiliate of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning.

Vancouver and Pittsburgh affiliations (1994–2000)
The franchise originated in 1992 as the Hamilton Canucks, which was an affiliate of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks played in Hamilton, Ontario, for two seasons, before relocating to upstate New York in 1994. They were then renamed the "Crunch" from a public vote that included five names. The Crunch played their first game in Syracuse on September 30, 1994, against the Albany River Rats to a 7–7 tie with Lonny Bohonos scoring the first Crunch goal. The Crunch recorded their first win in Syracuse on October 2, 1994, as they defeated the Hershey Bears 4–1. The Crunch finished their first season 29–42–9–0, fifth place in the division, and outside the playoffs. The Crunch made the playoffs in the following season after finishing 31–37–5–7 and made it to the 1996 conference finals before losing to the eventual Calder Cup champion Rochester Americans. The team led the league in sellouts in 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons. In 1997, the Crunch added a second NHL affiliate with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 1998–99 season was the Crunch's worst season in franchise history. The Crunch would finish the season with a league-worst record of 18–50–9–3. On November 25, 1998, the Crunch suffered their worst loss in team history to the Providence Bruins, with a 14–2 final score. They allowed an AHL record of 10 goals in the first period. Goalie Craig Hillier allowed seven goals before being pulled for Mike Valley, who also allowed seven. The Penguins' affiliation ended after this season when they launched the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

On October 30, 1999, while playing against Rochester, goaltender Christian Bronsard scored the first and only Crunch goalie goal. Bronsard became the fourth goaltender in AHL history to score a goal.

The Crunch qualified for the playoffs following the 1999–2000 season, their last season as Vancouver's AHL affiliate, but lost in the first round to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Columbus affiliation (2000–2010)
The Crunch became the affiliate of the newly formed Columbus Blue Jackets following the 1999–2000 season. They made the playoffs in their first season under the Jackets, but lost in five games to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the first round. In the following 2001–02 season, the Crunch won their first division title in franchise history behind goaltender Jean-Francois Labbe. In addition to the division title, they also were regular season Western Conference champions, with a conference-leading 96 points. However, they were two points shy of tying the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the AHL lead, and three points shy of winning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for top team in the regular season. After receiving a bye in the Conference Qualifiers round, the Crunch swept the Philadelphia Phantoms in three games, but lost to the eventual Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves in the next round in seven games.

On March 17, 2002, the Crunch played against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. This game was infamously named the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre". The Crunch accumulated 124 penalty minutes, 80 of which were fighting-related, while the Penguins had 162 penalty minutes with 102 for fighting. The Crunch won the game 4–0. The Crunch would miss the playoffs the following season, their second-worst season in franchise history, finishing 27–41–8–4.

In the 2004 Calder Cup playoffs, the Crunch became the twelfth team to blow a 3–1 series lead when they lost to the Rochester Americans in the first round. The Crunch were on home ice for game seven and forward Kent McDonnell missed an empty net when the Americans' goalie Ryan Miller was caught out of position. Rochester then recovered with an odd-man rush and Norm Milley beat Crunch goalie Karl Goehring to win the game in overtime.

The 2005–06 season was the best season the Crunch had during the 80-game schedule format. They scored a team record of 272 goals, but they also allowed 251 goals, and ended the regular season second in their division, 13 points behind Grand Rapids. They also had 47 wins, which is tied with their 2018–19 season record, albeit in four less games with the 76-game schedule. Andy Delmore won the Eddie Shore Award, scoring 72 points in 66 games, while also making the AHL First All-Star team at the end of the season. Mark Hartigan also scored 75 points in 49 games, averaging over a point and a half per game. They then lost in the first round of the 2006 Calder Cup playoffs to the Manitoba Moose in six games.

During the 2007–08 season, the Crunch went on a 15-game winning streak at the end of the season from March 8 to April 13, 2008, to make the playoffs. The Crunch also went without losing a game in regulation for the final 23 games of the season, spanning from February 22 to April 13, 2008. They defeated the Manitoba Moose in six games, where five of them went to overtime. They advanced to the second round to face the Toronto Marlies, but blew another 3–1 series lead.

The Crunch played the first outdoor game in AHL history on February 20, 2010, against the Binghamton Senators. The Mirabito Outdoor Classic took place at the Grandstand at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. The game set a then AHL attendance record of 21,508. Syracuse won the game 2–1, with goals scored by Alexandre Picard and David Liffiton. Goaltender Kevin Lalande made 36 saves en route to the Syracuse victory.

The Crunch missed the playoffs in their final two seasons as the affiliate of the Blue Jackets, as they switched their affiliation to the Springfield Falcons in 2010.

Anaheim affiliation (2010–2012)
The Anaheim affiliation lasted two seasons, resulting in one playoff appearance in the 2011–12 season. They lost in the first round to the St. John's IceCaps in four games. The affiliation produced future NHL players such as Kyle Palmieri, Nick Bonino and Patrick Maroon.

Tampa Bay affiliation (2012–present)
The Crunch signed a multi-year affiliation deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning beginning with the 2012–13 season. The affiliation bought immediate success, resulting in the team's first division championship in 11 years. At the end of the 2012–13 regular season, Tyler Johnson won the Les Cunningham Award, Willie Marshall Award, and the President's Award. He was the first MVP in Crunch history. He totaled 65 points, scoring 37 goals and assisted on 28 goals. The team reached the 2013 Calder Cup finals, their first ever Calder Cup appearance, but lost to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

On November 22, 2014, the Syracuse Crunch set a new United States indoor professional hockey attendance record with 30,715 fans at the Carrier Dome for the "Toyota Frozen Dome Classic". Syracuse defeated the Utica Comets 2–1.

The Crunch won their second division title under the Tampa affiliation in the 2016–17 season. They advanced to their second Calder Cup appearance, again against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins took the series in six games and won the series 4–2. They also lost an AHL record eight road games during the playoffs.

On May 5, 2018, the Syracuse Crunch played their longest game in team history, which the Crunch lost 2–1 in double overtime to the Toronto Marlies. The game lasted 95 minutes and 10 seconds. The Crunch previously played two double-overtime games, both in the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs. They played a double-overtime game in the first round against the St. John's IceCaps, resulting in a 4–3 double-overtime win. That game lasted 90 minutes and 37 seconds, their previous record. They also played another double-overtime game in the 2017 Calder Cup Finals, a 6–5 loss in double overtime to the Grand Rapids Griffins, lasting 87 minutes and 2 seconds.

The 2018–19 season was the best season the Crunch has had during the 76-game schedule format. The Crunch tied a team record in points with 102, and tied a franchise record in wins with 47. Edward Pasquale won the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award, Carter Verhaeghe won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy and Verhaeghe and Alex Barre-Boulet both won the Willie Marshall Award, as they both tied for the league lead in goals scored. The Crunch also achieved 900 franchise victories with a 6–2 win over the Utica Comets on March 30, 2019. The Crunch won their third division title in the Tampa affiliation, but were upset in four games by the Cleveland Monsters.

The Crunch played their first 62 games of the 2019–20 season, but the season was suspended on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was ultimately cancelled on May 11, 2020. The start of the following season was also pushed back to February 5, 2021. The Crunch also gained a temporary second NHL affiliation in the Florida Panthers as their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, opted out of participating in the abbreviated season.

Prior to the pandemic-related schedule changes, the Crunch were to face the Utica Comets in an outdoor game hosted by Utica at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome, New York, on February 13, 2021, however, the game did not take place as scheduled.

Syracuse hockey history
American Hockey League teams that played in Syracuse: Other hockey teams that played in Syracuse:
 * Syracuse Stars (1930–1936) in the Original IHL
 * Syracuse Stars (1936–1940) in the IAHL – The first team to win the Calder Cup in (1936–37)
 * Syracuse Warriors (1951–1954)
 * Syracuse Eagles (1974–75)
 * Syracuse Firebirds (1979–80)
 * Syracuse Braves (1962–1963) (EPHL)
 * Syracuse Blazers (1967–1973) (EHL)
 * Syracuse Blazers (1973–1977) (NAHL)
 * Syracuse Condors (Granted a franchise by the NAHL for 1977–78 season, but the league folded and the team never played a game)
 * Syracuse Hornets (1980–1981) (EHL) – played only ten games (0-9-1)
 * Syracuse Jr. Crunch/Syracuse Stars (1996–2005) in the Metro Junior A Hockey League and Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League

Logos
Owner Howard Dolgon came up with the superhero mascot Crunchman for the team's debut in 1994. In 2000, as the Crunch became an affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Crunchman was replaced with Al the Ice Gorilla. Al remained until 2012, when Dolgon found the new affiliation with Tampa Bay a good reason to return with Crunchman.

Current roster
Updated July 2, 2024.

 * }

Team captains

 * Dane Jackson, 1994–1995
 * Mark Wotton, 1995–1999
 * Brian Bonin, 1999–2000
 * Mike Gaul, 2000–2001
 * Sean Pronger, 2001–2002
 * David Ling, 2002–2003
 * Darrel Scoville, 2003–2004
 * Jamie Pushor, 2004–2007
 * Zenon Konopka, 2007–2008
 * Dan Smith, 2008–2009
 * Derek MacKenzie, 2009–2010
 * Joe DiPenta, 2010–2011
 * Nate Guenin, 2011–2012
 * Mike Angelidis, 2012–2016
 * Luke Witkowski, 2016–2017, 2019–2021
 * Erik Condra, 2017–2018
 * Gabriel Dumont, 2018–2019, 2021–present

Head coaches

 * Jack McIlhargey: 1994–1999
 * Stan Smyl: 1999–2000
 * Gary Agnew: 2000–2006
 * Ross Yates: 2006–2010
 * Mark Holick: 2010–2012
 * Trent Yawney: 2012
 * Jon Cooper: 2012–2013
 * Rob Zettler: 2013–2016
 * Benoit Groulx: 2016–2023
 * Joel Bouchard: 2023–present

Current coaching staff

 * Joel Bouchard — Head coach
 * J. D. Forrest — Assistant coach
 * A. J. MacLean — Assistant coach
 * Maxime Vaillancourt — Goaltending coach
 * Jacob Wheeler — Video coach

Honored numbers
The Crunch raised a banner following a fan vote during the team's fifth season in honor of fan favorite #14 "Big Bad" John Badduke. It is not retired, as it would later be worn by former United States Olympian Darby Hendrickson, Serge Aubin, Richard Panik, Justin Courtnall, Brandon Alderson, Mike McNamee, Kevin Lynch, Devante Stephens and most recently, Brandon Crawley.

During the 2008–09 season, the team temporarily reserved, but not retired, #7 as a tribute to Paul Newman after his death. This honors Reg Dunlop, the player-coach for the fictional Charlestown Chiefs, which Newman played in the movie Slap Shot. The movie was filmed partially at Onondaga County War Memorial. Coincidentally, other scenes were filmed at Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the home ice of the Crunch's former ECHL affiliate, the Johnstown Chiefs. The banner was raised October 14 and was up for the entire season, but the number was not retired, as it was most recently worn by Crunch player Mathieu Joseph in the 2019–20 season.

On March 26, 2016, the Syracuse Crunch retired Dolph Schayes' number #4. Schayes played for the Syracuse Nationals and their successor, the Philadelphia 76ers. He was the first player in the National Basketball Association to score 15,000 points in his career. This number isn't officially retired, as the number was most recently worn by Trevor Carrick during the 2022–23 season.

Notable Crunch alumni
• Mike Angelidis

• Adrian Aucoin

• Mark Barberio

• Francois Beauchemin

• Matt Beleskey

• Lonny Bohonos

• Nick Bonino

• Derick Brassard

• J. T. Brown

• Anthony Cirelli

• Grant Clitsome

• Ross Colton

• Cory Conacher

• Brett Connolly

• Erik Condra

• Ty Conklin

• Tony DeAngelo

• Derek Dorsett

• Jonathan Drouin

• Ray Emery

• Jason Garrison

• Yanni Gourde

• Radko Gudas

• Tim Jackman

• Tyler Johnson

• Mathieu Joseph

• Alex Killorn

• Slater Koekkoek

• Nikita Kucherov

• Jean-Francois Labbe

• Pascal Leclaire

• Anders Lindback

• Jonathan Marchessault

• Patrick Maroon

• Vladislav Namestnikov

• Riley Nash

• Ondrej Palat

• Kyle Palmieri

• Richard Panik

• Cedric Paquette

• Michael Peca

• Brayden Point

• Dave Scatchard

• Brent Sopel

• Andrej Sustr

• Dustin Tokarski

• Andrei Vasilevskiy

• Carter Verhaeghe

• Scott Walker

• Luke Witkowski

Franchise records and leaders
Records as of the end of the 2023–24 AHL regular season

Single season records

 * Goals: Lonny Bohonos, 40 (1995–96)
 * Assists: Alex Barre-Boulet, 60 (2022–23)
 * Points: Alex Barre-Boulet, 84 (2022–23)
 * Penalty minutes: Jody Shelley, 357 (2000–01)
 * Wins: Corey Hirsch, 30 (1997–98)
 * GAA: Jean-Francois Labbe, 2.18 (2001–02)
 * SV%: Jean-Francois Labbe, .928 (2001–02)

Single playoff records
Minimum 10 Calder Cup playoff games played
 * Goals: Lonny Bohonos, 14 (1996)
 * Assists: Ondrej Palat, 19 (2013)
 * Points: Cory Conacher, 28 (2017)
 * Penalty minutes: Richard Panik, 59 (2013)
 * Wins: Cedrick Desjardins (2013) and Mike McKenna (2017), 13
 * GAA: Jean-Francois Labbe, 1.91 (2002)
 * SV%: Jean-Francois Labbe, .939 (2002)

Career records

 * Career games: Daniel Walcott, 433
 * Career goals: Alex Barre-Boulet, 113
 * Career assists: Alex Barre-Boulet, 189
 * Career points: Alex Barre-Boulet, 302
 * Career penalty minutes: Jeremy Reich, 820
 * Career goaltending wins: Karl Goehring, 78
 * Career shutouts: Jean-Francois Labbe and Karl Goehring, 11

Award winners

 * Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award
 * Alex Barre-Boulet (2018–19)

 * Eddie Shore Award
 * Andy Delmore (2005–06)
 * Matt Taormina (2016–17)

 * Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award
 * Edward Pasquale (2018–19)

 * James C. Hendy Memorial Award
 * Vance Lederman (2014–15)

 * James H. Ellery Memorial Awards
 * Adam Benigni (1994–95)
 * Seth Everett (1995–96)
 * Lindsay Kramer (1996–97)

 * John B. Sollenberger Trophy
 * Carter Verhaeghe (2018–19)

 * Ken McKenzie Award
 * Tim Kuhl (1994–95, 1995–96)
 * Jim Sarosy (2001–02, 2009–10)

 * Les Cunningham Award
 * Tyler Johnson (2012–13)

 * Thomas Ebright Memorial Award
 * Howard Dolgon (2013–14)

 * Willie Marshall Award
 * Tyler Johnson (2012–13)
 * Carter Verhaeghe, Alex Barre-Boulet (2018–19)

 * Yanick Dupre Memorial Award
 * Eric Neilson (2013–14)
 * Brad Chavis (2020–21)
 * Daniel Walcott (2023–24)

title: Syracuse Crunch