“Friday night, they’ll be dressed to killDown at Dino’s Bar ‘n’ GrillThe drink will flow and blood will spillAnd if the boys want to fight, you better let ’em”
-Philip/Parris/Lynott
Long time, no see for the Hamilton Street Heroes (TM der Eishockeyzuschauer, RIP) at the PPL Center. They return from five games on the road to play four of the next five at home. When we last saw them on home ice, they were scoring a last-minute goal to beat the Hershey Bears on 10/24 “Haunt Night.” They went to Hershey to complete the home/home, then up to Canada to face Laval, and on to Hartford last weekend. Then, they finished things up in Bridgeport on Wednesday. Read about the trip, as well as all of the roster churn HERE in this article from last weekend.
The game on Wednesday looked like a thrashing, but Bridgeport is at least a little better this season and the Phantoms did their best to keep things close by giving up 9 power plays. It was Barkey’s night, though, and Bjarnason handled the net duties quite well.
Records and Standings
Record: 7-3-0-1
Standings: 3rd Place (The shine has come off the Penguins a little bit as Providence has taken over the top spot. There’s the top three, then Charlotte and Hershey, then the rest. But it’s early.)
Home: 2-1
Away: 5-2-0-1
Recent: 3-1-0-1 on the road trip–7 of a possible 10 points
Overtime: 2-0
Shootout: 1-1
Friday: 3-0
Saturday: 3-0-0-1
Sunday: 0-1
Sunday 3/3: 0-0
Wednesday: 1-2
October: 5-3-0-1
November: 2-0
White “Home” Jerseys: 2-1
Black/Orange “Alternate” Jerseys: 2-0-0-1
Orange “Away” Jerseys: 3-2
Post-Game Fan Event Game: 0-0
Roster Roulette
If you didn’t click the link above, here it is again. Roster moves through last weekend are in that post. There are quite a few, but alas many of them get undone. Since then:
- F Sawyer Boulton recalled from Reading
- D Emil Andrae recalled to Philadelphia
- F Jacob Gaucher returned from Philadelphia
- G Aleksei Kolosov returned from Philadelphia
- G Yaniv Parets returned to Reading
- F Carl Grundstöm recalled to Philadelphia (announced but not official as of this writing)
Lines
From Wednesday in Bridgeport:
21 Bump 25 Pederson 52 Barkey
91 Grundstrom 23 Dorwart 20 Marody
17 Wilson 74 Wisdom 90 Richard
43 Eklind 22 Robertson 12 Kaplan
19 McDonald 3 Grans
4 Murchison 15 Kyrou
24 Berger 55 Sevigny
64 Carson Bjarnason (Backup: 1 Yaniv Perets)
Hello, Toronto!
The Marlies arrive for their annual visit to 7th and Hamilton. They arrive in the middle of a massive US-based 8-game roadie for the first half of November. This week has been the tour of Pennsylvania as they beat Wilkes in OT on Wednesday, and crushed Hershey last night. The Phantoms will have the rest advantage for this game. Before that, the Marlies split two in Chicago. They’ll head for Grand Rapids next, for two games, before returning to Canada for Belleville on the way home.
Toronto is 6-4-0-1 on the season, and in 4th place in the AHL North. F Marc Johnstone is a name you’ll recognize from the Penguins affiliate. F Vinny Lettieri has been around for years–much of it with Providence and Hartford. Likewise Alex Nylander with the Penguins and Rochester. F #53 Easton Cowan and D #58 Noah Chadwick are top prospects on this squad.
At this early stage of the season, Toronto has a middling power play which suffers on the road, while their penalty kill has been pretty weak overall. On the other side, the Phantoms have a top-10 power play which excels at home, and a pretty poor PK home and away.
Royal Report
Reading finally opens their home schedule tonight. They are in fourth place, 5-1-1, all as road warriors.
GAME DAY!
It’s Saturday Night Hockey Live. The Marlies are here. Bring your skates and get a free cap. Hockey is back in town!
Show Time: 7:05PM; you won’t miss any of the action until 7:15PM or so.
Gates: All doors 6:00PM; Premier Members FMZ and Air Products gates at 6:45PM
Promotions: Service Electric ball cap giveaway; post-game skate with the players. Sign the waiver ahead of time, or when you get to the game. Bring your skates but keep them secure.
Parking and Traffic: Construction has begun on the center square modification; use caution walking in the area and avoid driving through if you can. There are events at both Symphony Hall and The Archer tonight, so expect some crowds downtown.
Tickets: Widely available; check secondary markets first
Post-Game: Raffles at Chickie’s at 10PM, 10:15 and 10:30.
Media Kit: Toronto 2025
Officials: Referees Jim Curtin (#22), Patrick Hanrahan (#52) Lines Richard Jondo (#55), Bill Lyons (#27)
What To Watch
- Kolosov is back and we’re looking for him to get the start tonight in net. Both he and Bjarnason have been solid. We’d like to see Kolosov control the rebounds a bit better.
- Watch for sloppy play. Some may depend on how the game is being called, but the fact of the matter is that this Phantoms team has been committing far too many penalties–and many of them are of the sloppy or lazy variety. Some games have been better than others. Watch to see if they’re on-point tonight. At some point this could be a reflection on the new coach, as well.
- Watch for a regulation win. We only have a couple of those. If this team is in the top tier of the division, they need to be putting games away a bit better.
- The Grundstrom call-up does create an opening on the top two lines. Watch to see who fills that spot. We’re thinking the veteran Richard, who has been playing some good hockey this season. Or, perhaps Gaucher, who has returned from Philadelphia
- Watch to see the quality of the give-away cap. It’s fallen off recently, and we don’t think it’s Service Electric’s fault. Hockey fans need a steady supply of caps, you know, as you’ll lose one from time to time!
Up Next
The Phantoms get a bit of a break following the five away games. This is their only game this weekend and no weeknight games this week.
Premier members should note: Wednesday evening is the Holiday Photos opportunity and the debut of the new “Pro Shop.”
We’ll be right back here on Friday for Springfield and Saturday for Hershey. It’s a 3/3 next weekend as there will be the obligatory Sunday matinee in Hershey.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207