“Ain’t nothin’ gonna to break [our] strideNobody gonna slow [us] down, oh no[We] got to keep on moving”
-“Break My Stride” Matthew Wilder, Songwriters Matthew Wilder and Greg Prestopino
State of the Team
Since our last column, the Phantoms swept the Veteran’s Day weekend games with a pair of 1-goal wins on home ice over Springfield and Laval. The Hamilton Street Heroes then took to the road to face the best team in the AHL with a pair of games in Providence. They won the first 4-2 and took the second by shootout. Closing out the 3-in-3 proved too much, though, as the team lost a Sunday afternoon contest 4 to 6 in Springfield, with Pat Nagle in net.
The Phantoms continued to be road warriors with a game in Wilkes-Barre to open last weekend on Black Friday. They lost 3-2 in the shootout, in a game they were leading 2-0 with less than 7 minutes left. Pat Nagle was the goalie. Saturday night they returned home to close out the holiday weekend with a crushing 5-1 victory over Rochester, the #2 team in the AHL North. And frankly, the game wasn’t even that close. I’m not one to quote shots usually, because I think it’s often useless information without context, but the 40-15 shots advantage does give a picture of how dominant a win it was for the Phantoms, who continually won pucks and disrupted everything the ‘erks tried to do in the game. Nolan Maier made his AHL debut in net and got the win.
The Phantoms are currently in sixth place in the AHL Atlantic, with fewer games played than any other team in the division. They are 8-6-1-1 –and in the last 10 games, 6-3-0-1.
Team and Roster Notes
Every AHL team faces a continually changing roster. Over the past three weeks the Phantoms have been no different in that way. What has been impressive is that as players come in (F Tanner Laczynski was on the Providence trip) or get added (veteran F Artem Anisimov joining on a PTO) they contribute and the team keeps chugging along. It’s a very good sign that they never break stride, and I’ll credit coaching and Ian Laperièrre here.
Here are some of the roster moves since veteran’s day weekend:
11/13 G Pat Nagle recalled from Reading Royals (ECHL)
11/13 G Nolan Maier returned to Reading
11/14 F Max Willman called up to Philadelphia
11/14 F Tanner Laczynski loaned to Phantoms from Philadelphia
11/14 C Patrick Brown loaned to Phantoms from Philadelphia
11/15 C Artem Anisimov signed PTO with Phantoms
11/17 C Patrick Brown called up to Philadelphia
11/21 D Egor Zamula loaned to Phantoms from Philadelphia
11/21 F Tanner Laczynski returned to Philadelphia
11/22 G Nolan Maier recalled from ECHL Reading
11/22 F Charlie Gerard recalled from ECHL Reading
11/22 C Jackson Cates called up to Philadelphia
11/28 D Egor Zamula recalled to Philadelphia
11/29 C Jackson Cates returned to Phantoms from Philadelphia
11/29 F Charlie Gerard returned to ECHL Reading
11/29 G Nolan Maier returned to ECHL Reading
Injuries and other notes: As per usual this season, information has been tough to come by regarding some of the players who are on the Phantoms roster, but not getting on the ice. In net, it appears both Troy Grosenick and Sam Ersson were nicked up in some way, hence the presence of Nagle and Maier on the roster last weekend. I thought Maier as kind of shaky the other night, despite the big win. But, sometimes facing so few shots can actually be tougher because it’s hard to find a rhythm and stay in the flow of the game. Word yesterday that Maier is heading back to Reading and that Ersson is ready to go. C Adam Brooks remains sidelined with an unknown injury; he’s played in only two games this season. His presence is expected to solidify one of the top lines when he gets back. Blog-favorite F Cooper Marody has probably had a set-back in his injury-riddled season. He returned only to be sidelined again. He is expected to contribute on the score sheet regularly when he’s fully available. Adam Karashik, Linus Hogberg, Wyatte Wylie and Hayden Hodgeson have also had regular presence on the scratch list. It’s not know if any of them have any injuries or if they are simply not playing as well as our current lines and pairs. It was good to see Fitzgerald back out there on Saturday. He played fourth line and wasn’t terribly noticeable, but he could be working his way back.
2019 second-round pick, F Bobby Brink, has been skating with the Phantoms as he recovers from injury. He’s still “non-contact” I understand, but we may see him with the Phantoms in December some time. The diminutive RW is known as an elite playmaker with super skills and compete-level, but lacks some skating ability.
Here’s how they lined up at home Saturday versus Rochester:
28 Lycksell – 51 Anisimov – 71 Foerster
17 Wilson – 91 Desnoyers – 39 Gerard
48 Kile – 9 O’Reilly – 14 Wisdom
19 Ratcliffe – 15 Bellerive – 13 Fitzgerald
45 York – 47 Belpedio
4 Zamula – 12 Attard
37 Ginning – 44 Connauton
73 Maier (35 Nagle)
Quick Notes (courtesy Phantoms Media Dept.)
GAME DAY!
Tickets: Good seats are still available for this game. On the secondary market, some of them are very inexpensive. It’s Military Appreciation Night.
Parking: I have had difficulty this season defeating the parking overlords. As such, I’ve taken to parking at the “Community Deck” on sixth street, where the fee is only $5 compared with $10 at Spiral, North, ATC and Germania. The other $5 deck is Maple Street. Has anyone used that deck yet? It might be handy for a BrewWorks pre-game. Pre-purchase parking is almost always available at the arena deck (“orange lot”) for $7 (plus fees?) through Park Mobile. Of course, remember to park “head-in” at all of the facilities other than the arena deck, so that the overlords can track your plate.
Doors: As per usual, 7:05PM “show time” with 6:00PM doors and early access for season ticket members at 5:45PM (which I have to admit, I kind of like–walking up at 5:55 and getting in without standing in line.)
Broadcast: Also the usual suspects: AHL.tv, Service Electric TV-2, Phatoms365 App, and via web link, over the air at AM-1470.
Hershey Bears: This will be Hershey’s first regular season visit to the PPL Center this season. The Phantoms are 0-2 thus far this season in Hershey. Hershey is currently in second place in the AHL Atlantic, behind Providence. They are also playing some good hockey, on a 4-0 win streak and 8-2 in their last 10 games. Old friends Mike Vecchione and Matt Strome are on the team, as is Logan Day. Zach Fucale returns as their lead netminder, while they have an experienced and talented backup as well. Mason Morelli and Vecchione lead the Bears in scoring. Hershey features a rather weak Power Play, ranking but 22nd in the league (Phantoms are #16). However, their Penalty Kill is very good, ranking #2 in the entire league (Phantoms #31).
OFFICIALS
Referee Conor O’Donnell (#41)
Referee Laura White (#5)
Linesperson Ryan Knapp (#73)
LinespersonJ.P. Waleski (#14)
MEDIA KIT (Rosters, stats, etc)
What To Watch:
- Watch to confirm Ersson in the goal. He was declared healthy yesterday as Maier returned to Reading.
- Watch to see if Marody or Brooks can return from injury. And, can Fitzgerald continue to play and start to contribute on the score sheet. I think he was one of the keys to a very fun 2021 pandemic-season squad.
- Can the Phantoms master the Bears elite PK unit? Can the Phantoms foundering PK keep the Bears off the board?
- The Bears also play some good defense at 5-on-5. How does the Phantoms attack look tonight? Do the lines make sense? Are they able to adjust if things don’t go well early?
- Hershey won a rare Tuesday contest last night at home versus the Penguins. Do the Phantoms look fresher?
- Watch to see if somebody can throw a hip into Mike Vecchione.
- If there’s an official timeout to check a replay, will the phantoms play the video on the board over and over so that fans can yell stuff? Will we hear of a fine on the Phantoms from the AHL from such behavior last weekend?
- Can the Bears break the Phantoms stride? They seem to have our number thus far early this season, but the Hamilton Street Heroes have proven they can play with anyone in this league.
- Pretty good crowd last Saturday. Watch to see what kind of attendance we can draw for our first mid-week game of the regular season.
Upcoming
The Phantoms will return to the road this weekend with a Charlotte trip and two games versus the Checkers Friday and Saturday. Next Wednesday, they’ll head to Hartford before returning to the PPL Center for the home version of the Charlotte weekend on Friday and Saturday 12/9 and 12/10. After only four regular-season home games in October and November, the Phantoms will have six in December.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207