In the early days of the Lehigh Valley edition of the Phantoms I was dismayed at the number of mid-week–usually Wednesday–night games there were. The less-attended non-weekend games were drawing our attendance down and I wanted the organization and the fans to be able to brag about support. The thinking at the time, I think, was that the mid-week games would allow the weekend to be free for the arena to book other events. That really didn’t happen–at least not to the level the downtown powers that be wanted–so now they really minimize the mid-week games because the phantoms are more likely to fill the seats than wishing for a musical act to suddenly book. And for me, I miss the Wednesday games because it’s less crowded, is mostly hockey fans, and it breaks the week up. Oh, and I like the opportunity to keep my bar tab under control.
Photo: Jack Mitroka
Wait, What Just Happened?
A point streak to end November turned into a losing streak to start December, but the Hamilton Street Heroes put that to rest on Teddy Bear Night on Saturday, beating Charlotte 4-1. Charlotte then turned around an beat Hershey in Chocolatetown 3-1 on Sunday afternoon, remaining in the Keystone State for tonight’s game. A teddy game can have a special energy, and hopefully that can carry over and the Phantoms can start a new winning streak tonight.
A couple more Teddy notes: It was a record number of bears, if you didn’t see. More than one per person which was always the level I thought we should strive for. Zayde Wisdom got the goal, his first of the season. The look on his face after he scored was absolutely priceless.
By win pct the Phantoms remain in seventh place in the AHL Atlantic. Charlotte is fifth. Every team is .500 or better, other than Bridgeport, whom we haven’t even faced yet–and won’t, until February. By that time they could be better. The schedule is goofy this season.
Player News
D Mason Millman and R Matthew Brown arrived from ECHL Reading in time for the Teddy Game on Saturday. Injuries have been piling up. Down were 2 Helge Grans, 9 Tanner Laczynski, 10 Evan Polei, 22 Rhett Gardner, 24 Adam Brooks, 98 Victor Mete. As far as I’ve been informed, only Brooks is mid to long-term, but information has been slow to come out.
Lines From Saturday:
17 Wilson – 91 Desnoyers – 20 Marody
46 Brown – 13 Furry – 19 Allison
15 Bellerive – 16 Avon – 27 Tuomaala
29 Gendron – 56 Gaucher – 14 Wisdom
6 Andrae – 3 Karashik
37 Ginning – 12 Attard
8 Millman – 5 Samson
40 Petersen (32 Sandström)
Notes From Phantoms Media Department:
Lehigh Valley’s power play is third in the AHL at 23.6% and the team’s 10 total power-play markers is second-most in the league. The Phantoms also had a nine-game streak with a power-play goal going 12-for-30 (40.0%) in that stretch and currently have a power-play goal in 10 of the last 11 games going 13-for-40 (32.5%) since November 12.
Olle Lycksell, currently up with Philadelphia, is tied for the league-lead in power-play points with 12 and had been leading the AHL in power-play goals with six but now is one off the league lead.
Tanner Laczynski (3-5-8), Cooper Marody (2-7-9), Samu Tuomaala (3-5-8), J.R. Avon (2-1-3) and Wade Allison (2-1-3) also have multiple power-play goals.
The Phantoms are:
- 6-1-3 when scoring first
- 9-1-2 when scoring three or more goals
- 9-0-0 when leading after two periods
- 8-2-2 when allowing three goals or fewer
Photo: Jack Mitroka
GAME DAY!
Welcome back Charlotte. It’s the first Wednesday game of the season and the first happy hour of the season. It’s also Military Appreciation night. Glad to salute the men and women who serve and who have served. They had a game right on Veteran’s Day, though. I’m not saying it’s too much, what I’m saying is that they should have done more and made a bigger deal of it had they combined the events.
Some notes about Charlotte from Phantoms Media:
Lehigh Valley and Charlotte (12-10-0) rematch at PPL Center on Wednesday following a Phantoms 4-1 at PPL Center on Saturday in the first game of the season series. The Checkers are 2-1-0 on their current road trip with an impressive 6-1 win at Rochester on Friday and a 3-1 triumph at first-place Hershey on Sunday.
The AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers is led by hard-shooting defenseman Lucas Carlsson (8-11-19) who scored the double-overtime goal in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Playoffs against the Phantoms last year. Carlsson was also second-team All-AHL scoring 20-34-54 in 61 games finishing tied for first among blueliners in goals and second in points.
Rookie first-rounder Mackie Samoskevich (5-7-12) has already scored a gigantic goal at PPL Center with his overtime winner for the University of Michigan against Penn State in the NCAA Regional Final in Allentown last March. He sat out Saturday’s game at PPL Center but bounced back to score two goals on Sunday at Hershey.
Former Phantom Gerry Mayhew (4-9-13) is in his second season with the Checkers after splitting time between the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2021-22. He scored nine goals in 24 games in his time with Lehigh Valley.
Tickets: Good seats are still available. On the secondary market, tickets are as low as $3 each.
Parking: I should be able to elude the watchful eye of the parking overlords tonight. Parking should be relatively easy and plentiful tonight as it won’t be crowded. There could be some traffic on a week night at rush hour if you’re downtown early. Parking in the “orange” attached deck is reasonable; purchase in advance with Park Mobile. It’s even cheaper to park and walk from the Community Deck or the Maple Deck if you are able.
Broadcast: TV on AHL-TV or Service Electric. Radio call on the app or AM-1470.
Promotion: $2 Lights or Lagers. I believe until puck drop, 16 oz drafts where available. They’v tried some different things in the past so we’ll see. Regular counters will take cash while the beer portables are card only.
OFFICIALS
Referee Graedy Hamilton (#41)
Referee Peter Schlittenhardt (#12)
Linesperson Tommy George (#61)
Linesperson Robert Peterkin (#51)
MEDIA KIT (rosters, stats, schedules, etc.)
What To Watch
- Watch for Sandstrom to start in goal. The weekend went just as I expected, with regard to netminder usage. Sandstrom played well on Friday in the loss, as the team didn’t score any goals and the two markers against him were both power play goals.
- Watch for energy. The energy they brought Saturday night was certainly good enough. Down a few important players (see above) to injury, and following a dreadful performance on Friday, the team really brought it. Let’s see if it can carry over.
- Watch special teams. The loss of several good players also disrupts the special teams groups. This was very evident on Friday. On Saturday when Wade scored on the Power Play that really put the Phantoms in a good position. Capitalizing on those opportunities is important.
- Watch for penalties. The Phantoms only gave up 4 power plays on Saturday after 7 the night before. They need to continue to clean it up in order to play winning hockey.
- Watch to see if any of the injured players can go. We’ll likely know for sure if you see any transactions returning the players we stole from Reading.
Up Next
Tonight is game three of the five-game home stand. We’ve got Laval and Springfield coming in Friday and Saturday respectively. I didn’t see a promotion for Friday, but Saturday is the Hockey Fiesta and Los Fantasmas.
Then before Christmas, the team will travel down to Charlotte to get a couple games in.
To close out the calendar year, we’ll have another Wednesday game on 12/27 versus Utica, as well as the New Year Weekend games 12/30 and 12/31 versus Hershey and Charlotte respectively.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207