The 2022-2023 Lehigh Valley Phantoms begin their home-preseason at PPL Center in Allentown tonight versus the Hershey Bears. Here’s what you need to know about the game:
About Last Night
The Phantoms took somewhat of a “tryout team” up to Wilkes-Barre last night to skate around with the Penguins affiliate. The 2-0 Phantoms loss was notable for a couple reasons:
- Rookie Goaltender Nolan Maier had a nice showing, keeping the home team off the scoreboard until late in the game, and yielding only one goal.
- With many veteran players scratched for the game, there was still the line of Isaac Ratcliffe, Elliot Desnoyers, and Zayde Wisdom. That young talent all on the same line immediately piqued my interest. Indeed, they ended up starting the game on the ice.
Lines and Pairs:
53 Kirkup – 56 Gaucher – 39 Gerard
19 Ratcliffe – 91 Desnoyers -14 Wisdom
21 Sandin – 48 Kile – 57 McSorley
46 Bradley – 51 Franklin – 54 Newton
7 Zech – 26 Felix
52 Cormier – 29 Wylie
41 McFadden – 8 Millman
73 Maier (31 Lemiuex)
Kirkup, Cormier, Franklin, Newton and McSorely can all be thought of as “tryout” players
Scratches:
3 Karashik, 6 Hogberg, 9 O’Reilly, 13 Fitzgerald, 15 Bellerive, 17 Wilson, 20 Willman, 24 Brooks, 28 Lycksell, 37 Ginning, 40 MacKinnon, 44 York, 47 Belpedio, 71 Foerster, 35 Nagle, 31 Wall
Roster: Oct7-Roster
GAME DAY!
Parking is $10. The “Orange” or arena deck is available for pre-purchase through ParkMobile for $6.90 if you don’t have a pre-paid pass. Season Ticket Holders can purchase passes in the arena deck for $6/game for the season, which may make sense if you come to almost every game and prefer the arena deck. I predict the Allentown Parking Authority, who sprung this 67% increase on us with no warning or announcement, will eventually put the ParkMobile overlords in charge of every aspect of the downtown parking experience–event night or not. This is why they need us parking head-in so that the robots can easily check our plates against the ParkMobile status. For now, there’s still a few ways around this…
Good seats are still available for tonight’s contest which will be broadcast locally by Service Electric TV2. Listen via stream on the app, or over the air at AM-1470. Event time tonight is 7:05PM. I would assume 6:00PM doors with early STH access at 5:45PM via FMZ or Air Products gates? Will confirm.
Tickets are again mostly digital, and available via a link within the Phantoms app. They look to be all QR Code this season rather than some “emitter” versions. It is advisable to pre-load them into your digital wallet where they can be called upon quickly, when needed. Season tickets have a special stripe to signify the membership status–this is handy for the early access, store discount, soda discount, etc.
The Phantoms were wearing a nice, simple, orange pre-season sweater last night in Wilkes-Barre. In the photos, I thought it looked kind of sharp. Let’s see what they look like live, on the ice, though.
Just as the Phantoms didn’t send a lot of veterans or high prospects north last night, I would expect maybe some of Hershey’s veteran core will wait for tomorrow at home versus the Penguins, to get involved.
MEDIA KIT: Bears Preseason
What To Watch Tonight
- There was a lot of hand-wringing from Flyers folks this week when D Cam York and F Tyson Foerster were sent to the Phantoms. Watch to see if those cats make it on the ice tonight, and how they look hockey-wise and jump-wise.
- Watch to see if veterans like O’Reilly, Bellerive and Wilson play tonight at home.
- Watch to see if the Ratcliffe/Desnoyers/Wisdom line stays together.
- Watch to see if Nagle returns to his net at home.
- Watch to see if Ian has the guys organized and ready to play
- Watch to see if the arena has their act together, or if they’re still in pre-season form as well.
- Watch to see if they get the TVs on for the Phillies playoff game later on.
Up Next
The Phantoms stay home, and will face the Penguins affiliate once again on Wednesday night. They’ll open the season on the road next weekend in Wilkes-Barre and Hershey on Saturday and Sunday. The home opening weekend is October 22 and 23 vs Cleveland.
Schedule: 2022-23_Schedule_PaperSize-1-1 (1)
See you at the arena,
@Kram207
“KramTwoOhNine”