On Episode 25 of Crunch Chronicles Lukas Favale is joined by Matt Taormina. Taormina, played four seasons with the Crunch over two stints and he is the only player to play for the team in both the 2013 and 2017 Calder Cup Finals.
Taormina's first stint in Syracuse began in 2012-13 when he signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He produced 24 points in 55 regular season games that year for the Crunch and then added 12 more during the playoffs to help lead the Crunch into the Calder Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history.
He returned to Syracuse the following season after re-signing with the Lightning and he clocked in with another 18 points in 41 games before being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets organization in a deal that brought Jonathan Marchessault to Syracuse.
After spending the remainder of the 2013-14 season and the 2014-15 season outside of Syracuse, Taormina was reunited with the Crunch after signing with the Lightning ahead of the 2015-16 season. He notched a then career high 41 points that season. In 2016-17, his final season in Syracuse, Taormina became the second Crunch defenseman to win the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL's top defenseman. He produced 60 points over 70 games en route to being named an AHL All-Star. He added another 20 points in 22 playoff games to help guide the Crunch back to the Calder Cup Finals in 2017.
Taormina finished his Crunch career with 143 points (38g, 105a) in 227 games. He currently ranks 18th in franchise history in scoring and he is third all-time among Crunch defensemen. He is the all-time Crunch leader in playoff scoring with 32 points (7g, 25a) in a franchise record 40 playoff games
On the show, Taormina discusses his time as a player with the Crunch, being traded and then returning the organization, the two runs to the Calder Cup Finals, and much more.
