[ad_1]
The American Hockey League Syracuse Crunch took a look back at their city’s hockey past over the weekend.
The Crunch took the ice Saturday, March 30 to face the Providence Bruins, as the Syracuse Canalmules. This was the first beer league team to skate along the Erie Canal, in the early 20s.
The Canal Mules’ jerseys were cream in color with blue stripes running across the shoulders. The front of the Jersey featured a braying Mule Logo with “SYRACUSE canal MULES” written all around it.
Mules are a cross between donkeys and horses. They are intelligent and hardworking animals that have become the key to spreading people, goods and ideas in New York State.
The sleeves had blue stripes with cream numbers and blue outlines. The collars were white with cream laces. The Crunch’s logo was on the right shoulder, while the logo of the Lightning, their NHL parent team, appeared on left shoulder.
The backs of the jerseys featured white names in a blue stripe across each shoulder and blue numbers on the cream portion.
The original Canal Mules was made up by workers from the Greenway Brewery, Syracuse. They would bring home-brewed drinks with them to play pick-up games along the Erie Canal. This artificial waterway ran through Syracuse as it traveled from Albany to Buffalo. The team is named after the mules which would pull barges between cities along the canal’s towpaths.
The original Canal Mules were disbanded when the Erie Canal portion that ran through downtown Syracuse, Syracuse, was filled in.
After the game, 14 of the Canal Mules Jerseys worn by Crunch were auctioned on the ice. Online auctions of a second jersey, along custom Canal Mules plate, raised money for the Erie Canal Museum.
The Crunch wore the jerseys well, as they defeated Providence by a score of 4-0.
[ad_2]
