Around The AHL: Tampa Bay, Syracuse, and Groulx are a match

Benoît Groulx and the Syracuse Crunch go together like development and winning.

Syracuse has done a lot of developing, done a lot of winning, and that is why Groulx will be back for a sixth season behind that Crunch bench. Groulx and the parent Tampa Bay Lightning agreed to a new contract this past weekend, sending the 53-year-old head coach into the offseason after another strong season in Syracuse.

Groulx owns a 180-100-21-21 mark through 322 regular-season games with Syracuse, including a 19-10-3-0 record this season despite losing a significant amount of top talent on recall to Tampa Bay for long stretches. Syracuse had back-to-back 100-plus point seasons in Groulx’s second and third campaigns in Syracuse, including a franchise-record 47-win effort in 2018-19. 

The Crunch also went to Game 6 of the 2017 Calder Cup Final against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Groulx has sent 28 Crunch players to Tampa Bay during his time in Syracuse in all.