“Yeah, you go back, Jack, do it again
Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round
You go back, Jack, do it again”
–Steely Dan
Checking The Boxes
There were a couple “things to watch” and a couple mild suggestions from Wednesday’s “Playoff Hockey” column, which came to fruition. Let’s re-visit:
√ Watch to see if Coach Lappy returns to a standard 12/6 and/or juggles the lineup some more to try to generate some offense and some better looks at the net. Indeed it happened. Lines are below, and the team was able to get a couple early goals by….
√ …taking advantage of power plays or 4-on-4 when there’s more room on the ice to get better looks at the net and avoid Hershey’s packed-in defense. Yup, two early power play chances and conversions set the tone for the evening. And…
√ …try to get an early lead because the Bears might look like a different team if they have to play from behind. I’m not sure how different they looked, but the Phantoms gained confidence and did everything necessary to preserve the win–and the playoff shutout for Cal Petersen.
Lineup
28 Lycksell 9 Laczynski 24 Brooks
13 Furry 22 Gardner 23 Brink
17 Wilson 56 Gaucher 20 Marody
10 Polei 91 Desnoyers 25 Miller
37 Ginning 12 Attard
6 Andrae 7 Belpedio
19 McDonald 5 Samson
40 Petersen (Backup: 35 Kolosov)
Notes: I think they all played hard and played well. I thought Desnoyers was active and won pucks and created some chances for himself and others.
GAME DAY!
And we get to do it all again! It’s the best situation we could have hoped for following the two losses in Hershey–a chance to even things up and send it to a deciding fifth game.
Orange Out: Please continue to wear your orange. Pick up (another) rally towel at the gates and lit it rip.
Tickets: This is the first “playoff strip” game of the post-season, as it is not one that was included with season packages. Good seats are still available at PPLCenter.com, but not so much on the secondary market because all the folks who have tickets at this point plan to use them (for the most part).
Parking: I can’t believe it, but the Parking Overlords have blessed us with Free Parking for this game, according to an email I received. Perhaps the Phantoms or the PPL Center or City Center Power Brokers or others got involved to thwart the evil and money-hungry parking hench-people. Details: Parking Press Release 5.10.24
I’m not complaining here, but just an idea to maybe collect parking fees from anyone wearing a Bears jersey? Just a thought.
Broadcast: The usual sources. I think Service Electric will also have tomorrow’s away game if that comes to fruition. I believe this is the only AHL game today, so it may pop up elsewhere on your dial. Check that out.
New Restaurant: “Max and Butter’s” has opened in the former Bell Hall. I believe they are still in some degree of a soft opening, so if you check it out keep that in mind. It sounds promising as a place to be open from 8AM to 10PM most days for food and for drinks and for anytime-brunch. Hijinx brewery may open some operations in the back with beers available at the bar at Max and Butter’s. That is still pending.
Also: 90s night at BrewWorks I believe. Some playoff specials at Bru Daddy. Post-game Chickie’s specials?
Happy-Hour-Gate: Indeed the 16oz drafts available for happy hour turned out to be 12oz cups filled to about 10oz. Of course I blame whatever arm of Comcast runs the arena concessions. But it turns out the Phantoms have a deal in place with their beer distribution partners to pour 16oz so this should get corrected by next season–or the contract will get re-written for 10oz beers, which is probably more likely. Still, it was good to get some answers.
OFFICIALS
Referee Justin Kea (#44)
Referee Jordan Samuels-Thomas (#42)
Linesperson Jeremy Faucher (#85)
Linesperson Ryan Jackson (#84)
Note: I found out after publishing on Wednesday that one of the referees has/had some problematic traits that might be exploited. That referee is not listed above. I do not have ref scouting on this group.
MEDIA KIT
What To Watch
- It’s still a ‘do or die’ for the Hamilton Street Heroes, so expect Cal Petersen to return to the net. For the Bears though, although they have the excellent Hunter Shepard who has started all three playoff games thus far, they also have an excellent reserve: Clay Stevenson won 24 games this season and sports a 2.06 GAA and a .922 Sv Pct. If I’m the Bears, I think about giving Stevenson this game and then having a fresh Shepard for tomorrow in Hershey, if it even comes to that–a possible advantage over the Phantoms who would have to ask Petersen to go back-to-back or drop the young Russian Kolosov in there.
- Watch to see if the Phantoms stick to the 12/6 which brought them success Wednesday night. Is the personnel the same?
- Look for the Phantoms to try to take advantage of any open-ice situations like they did early on Wednesday–and to try to get on top early as well.
- Watch to see what the crowd looks like in a game that had to be sold and wasn’t part of packages. It will be interesting to see the attendance vs the IronPigs “City Connect” game tonight across the river. If the late der Eishockeyzuschauer were still with us, we’d probably have a small wager on that.
- I feel like Attard is due for a goal. And Wilson.
Up Next
Win or go home. Nobody believes in us.
Should we be so fortunate, one more shot at Hershey tomorrow in their place. Win that one and…
…play Hartford in a 5-game series. They are a bit further away, so a 2-3 format might be more likely, with the first two games here at PPL Center.
And believe me, I’m not counting my wins–just wanna survive tonight. But the North Division comes down to Syracuse and Cleveland, two very difficult opponents, with the winner to face Hartford, Hershey or the Phantoms for the Eastern Conference. As of this writing, we’re down to the final five here in the East.
See you at the arena–hopefully sooner rather than later,
@Kram207
Not gonna roll credits on this season yet, but:
One more time, unedited and NSFW (language)
