White-Out Night on St. Patty’s? Dollar Hot Dogs? Playoff atmosphere? Gift shop getting low on hats? Getting emails about something called “playoff strips?”
It’s a crazy time. Read on to get ready for tonight’s rematch with Hershey.
About Wednesday Night
We wrote in Wednesday’s column about the “measuring stick” that this recently struggling Hershey team would provide in the run-up to the playoffs. But you can’t predict hockey and this Phantoms team is good–but not good enough to play a “casual” game against another playoff team (or anyone, really) and expect good results. Ersson did indeed return for the game and there might be one of the six goals that he wants back, but overall we felt like the Bears were getting free, open looks at the net and capitalizing–all that despite the penalty kill for the Phantoms shutting down the Hershey power play.
Here’s how they lined up Wednesday, with Desnoyers and Connauton getting the night off:
28 Lycksell 51 Anisimov 23 Brink
17 Wilson 24 Brooks 25 Marody
20 Willman 9 O’Reilly 42 Hodgson
15 Bellerive 18 J Cates 14 Wisdom
4 Zamula 47 Belpedio
37 Ginning 12 Attard
29 Wylie 3 Karashik
30 Ersson (73 Maier)
Discussion: The return of the Brooks/Marody line, and Wilson taking advantage. I think that fourth line needs to make more noise–not necessarily on the score sheet although that would be nice–and make noticeable plays on the ice. I don’t know how much ice time they’re getting, but if they make some plays, they’ll earn it. That top line could play with a little more energy, too. Maybe “less casual?” They were the ones with the big negative numbers on the night, but sometimes that can be misleading with the empty nets and such.
Welcome Emil Andrae! Lefty shooting blue liner Andrae joins the Phantoms from HV71 Jonkoping in Sweden where he tallied 2/20 in 51 games. He actually had a better season last year, but it appears that team was better then, too, so perhaps he was trying to do too much. He was a second-round pick of the Flyers in 2000, and just turned 21. He’s 5’9″ and will wear #6–and maybe it’s another guy with a jersey size I can bid on! From what I can tell, he’s on a “try out” right now but may sign his entry level deal at any time. He’s known for his skating and puck handling and has been described as “fiesty.” We’ll see how soon they start getting him into games, but if they want to have him play a role in the playoffs I say giddyup let’s get him in there and get his skates wet.
F Tyson Foerster remains with the Flyers for now. I asked a couple people close to the team who the most important player is, headed to the post-season. Without hesitation, most said Ersson. I don’t know how injured Grosenick is, but include him with his lack of playing this season and the other choices, and probably the only reliable netminder we have is Ersson.
“Ticket Strips”
It’s one of those old-time things we say but can’t take literally, right? Like “watching film” and “tin foil.”
Anyway, playoff tickets are starting to roll out and I’m too superstitious to play games with playoff wins at stake. I’ll sit where I belong and hope for the best. As we discussed on Wednesday, the first round will be best-of-three for the teams in third to sixth place with the top two getting a bye and the bottom two playing golf. We continue to be tied with Springfield for fourth place. They have two extra games to play. Based on last season, close-by teams play 1-1-1 Friday, Sunday, Monday or similar–but Springfield is about 240 miles away and I bet they’d do something like Wednesday in Allentown then Friday/Saturday or Friday/Sunday in Springfield. If we want the two home games on the weekend? We gotta win it. It’s something to play for down the stretch here. Including tonight, there are 12 remaining regular season games; seven of them are at home at the PPL Center.
GAME DAY!
Wear green for St. Patrick! Wear white for White-Out! Plan on hot dogs (dollar dogs until first intermission, while supplies last) for dinner as is traditional on 3/17.
Hershey is back with Snively “whiplash” returning from Washington on Wednesday. But they lost D Michael Kim to call-up so we’ll see how that impacts things. Fucale played in net for them Wednesday, and he usually plays the Phantoms pretty tough. But backup Hunter Shepherd has had great stats this season and might not be any kind of advantage if we see him tonight instead. We’ll see. Hershey has been excellent versus the Phantoms this season, including that win Wednesday night.
Parking: If you have been reading the local news, you know that the Allentown Parking Authority overlords are getting some heat from citizens and local government alike. In fact, the articles were notable because there was no “other side” to the story; there was no one saying, “Well, actually the parking authority does a good job because…” Nope. Not one person with a good thing to say. I’ll continue to subvert them from the shadows, until reform comes to fruition.
Tickets: Good seats are widely available on both the primary (pplcenter.com) and secondary markets.
Broadcast: As per usual, the game will be on Service Electric as well as AHL.tv. Audio broadcast available from the usual sources.
OFFICIALS
Referee: Riley Brace (#90)
Referee: Jack Young (#24)
Linesperson: Colin Gates (#3)
Linesperson: J.P. Waleski (#14)
MEDIA KIT
What To Watch
- I’m expecting Sam Ersson back in net tonight. Watch to see if I’m right.
- Watch to see if the Phantoms get out-classed by the Bears twice in one week
- Watch to see if any Phantoms players are taking a “casual” approach to playing hockey tonight
- Watch to see if the Wilson/Brooks/Marody line stays together with the expected return of Desnoyers
- Watch to see if the top line with the veteran Artie and the kids Olle and Brinker, can generate any juice tonight. Ditto the bottom line at least making them selves noticeable.
- Watch to see how many folks wear green jerseys tonight (I think a lot) and how many wear white jerseys (probably a lot less).
- Watch for when they announce how many hot dogs. Can we keep upping the record? Should I get involved?
Up Next
A rare Saturday off tomorrow (taxes and FAFSA for me, oh boy!) then back at it on Sunday with another 4PM matinee, this time with Wilkes. That will close out this home-dominated section of the schedule. “Hockey Night” will be on hiatus for this Sunday game. I’ll probably sit out the college games as well next weekend and return full force on Friday 3/31 with Wilkes Barre.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207
PS: “Kill The Bear”
Be First to Comment