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1/13/2023 - French Night at the Syracuse Crunch

1/13/2023 - French Night at the Syracuse Crunch

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French students, teachers and their families from all over Central New York enjoyed the annual soirée de hockey on January 13. The Syracuse Crunch took on the Laval Rocket, a Québec team playing in the same league as the Crunch and the team associated with the Montréal Canadiens. French Night at the Crunch has become an annual event that French teachers across upstate New York look forward to every winter. This year, fourteen school districts attended the game – over 400 tickets were sold! This was our largest attendance since starting this event in 2013.

This year’s French Night was an exciting game as 10 goals were scored. The teams were evenly matched during the first period and it ended with a tie score of 2-2. The second period was all about the Syracuse Crunch as they scored three goals. Two more goals were scored by the Crunch in the third period and two by Laval, making the final score 7-3, Syracuse. 

In order to create a true soirée de hockey, hockey vocabulary words and phrases were presented on the screens around the arena in French. French pop songs such as “C’est la Vie” by Khaled and “Papaoutai” by Stromae were played during breaks. French students also participated in a trivia contest on the ice between the second and third periods. A student from each school district was chosen to answer multiple-choice questions about Francophone culture – Matt Brinck represented Whitesboro. Questions were asked about the colors of the French flag, the French capital and the Canadian province with the largest French-speaking population.

The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) of CNY appreciates the incredible participation this year and is committed to continuing this hockey night tradition. There were about 35 Whitesboro French students in grades 7-12 who attended.  Chaperones included: Jennifer Kostolecki (with her husband Mark), Rose Cidzik and Bridget Kuhn (with her husband Glenn). We look forward to organizing another French Night at the Crunch next hockey season.