It might be the All Star Break but it’s not the half-way point. We passed that already having played 44 of 72 games already, leaving 28 remaining opportunities to gather much-needed standings points. It starts this weekend and this weekend starts tonight with a visit from the Cleveland Monsters. It’s a Dollar Dog Night!
Records:
Overall: 21-17-5-1 (5th Place in Division)
Home: 11-7-2-1
Away: 10-10-3
White Jerseys: 11-7-1
White-Out Jerseys: 1-1
Orange Jerseys: 5-4-1
Black Alternate Jerseys: 3-2-2-1
Black-Out Jerseys: 0-1-1
Black On Charcoal Gray: 1-2
Fridays: 5-5-2
Saturdays: 9-5-2
Sundays: 0-3-0-1
Wednesdays: 6-1-1
Tuesday/Thursday: 1-3
Sunday 3/3: 0-2-0-1
Post-Game Player Event Day: 2-0
October: 2-3-1-1
November: 7-3-2
December: 4-7-1
January: 8-4-1
February: 0-0
More Phantoms By The Numbers:
Streak: 1-0
Last 10: 5-4-1
Power Play: 11th (of 32)
Power Play as a Home Team: 7th
Penalty Kill: 23rd
PK as a Home Team: 25th
Flyers Out Here Moving Players
Just before the All Star Break, G Kolosov, F Gaucher and D Andrae were called up to the Flyers. Frost and Farabee, both former Phantoms, were traded to Calgary for wingers Jakob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko. From what I understand, Pelletier adn Kuzmenko are both stuck in Toronto and unable to join the Flyers due to Visa issues. Meanwhile, Abols, Richard, Andrae and Ginning all remain with the Flyers, along with Kolosov. Gaucher was returned to the Phantoms this week and G Petruzzelli and D Cassaro rejoin from Reading.
Lycksell showed well at the All Star Festivities in Coachella. Cool to see Phantoms guys look good on the national stage.
Hello Cleveland!
It’s the first visit from the Columbus affiliate this season. We’ve had our two out there, which we split, and they’ll be back at 7th and Hamilton to open the final weekend of the regular season, on April 18.
There are a lot of familiar names on this Cleveland roster, but no old friends that I could identify. 2021 first round pick D #4 Carson Ceulemans, 2023 Round 2 RW #45 Gavin Brindley are some prospects to watch.
Cleveland is currently in 4th place in the AHL North with a record of 24-13-3-3. They come in on a 1-0 point streak and have have posted 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.
Cleveland has a good power play–among the best in the league as an away team. Their Penalty Kill is rather middling both overall as well as on the road.
HOCKEY NIGHT!
Bring your hunger as you can score some dollar hot dogs prior to the game and through the first period. Tonight is also ‘Women in Sports’ Night so search out some special tickets for the pre-game seminar opportunity if that interests you. Tickets for tonight’s game are widely available on both the primary and secondary markets. As of this writing you can get in for as little as $10, and sit three rows in front of me at center ice for $26 buy searching out secondary market tickets.
Pre-purchase parking via Park Mobile for any lot or deck, but especially for the Orange Arena Deck, if that’s your jam. The Parking Overlords have been less aggressive lately in their conquest to get my $5. Please let me know if there have been any problems.
Post-game hit up Chickies for puck, stick and jersey raffles. I haven’t been to that, this season–how has it been? Are they getting a good crowd?
MEDIA KIT
OFFICIALS
Referee Tyler Spott (#38)
Referee Morgan MacPhee (#43)
Linesperson Ryan Jackson (#84)
Linesperson Josh Cleary (#45)
Scouting the refs: Spott was involved in a game early this season where some obvious calls were missed by both the refs and the linespersons.
What To Watch
- I’m looking for Gahagen tonight and probably Petruzzelli tomorrow as Peterson is likely still injured and Kolosov is in Philadelphia.
- I thought we’d see the Black on Charcoal Gray (“Steel Gray”) jerseys again for a game or two, but they’ve already started raffling them off. Head to your Phantoms app to get involved. They were OK–makes me think of pre-season jerseys that didn’t come in on time for the start of this season. Look for orange jerseys on the ice tonight.
- Watch for both teams to score on the power play. If the Phantoms are to win, they’ll need to be the better PK team.
- If penalties are not being called due to ref inadequateness then that probably favors the home team. We’ll see.
- Watch to see what the lines and pairs look like with so many players missing. Will the Phantoms be able to generate any offense?
Up Next
Right back here tomorrow during some sloppy weather for a tilt with the Hartford Wolf Pack. Then, off for the week.
Next weekend is 3/3 with At Wilkes on Valentines followed by home for Syracuse and Wilkes for meLVin’s birthday.
See you at the arena:
@kram207
Bonus:
