Happy Valentine’s Day! We’re back from the All Star Break, it’s Olympics Weekend, and all we see anywhere is orange. Let’s do that hockey!
“I’ve been dreaming, floating down the stream, and
Losing touch with all that’s real”
-Steven Victor Tallarico, Aerosmith
Looking Back
Way back. Anyone remember the name Darroll Powe? I got a link on one of my feeds recently from 2014, Valentine’s Day weekend. If you want to jump in the way-back machine, click HERE. It’s the early days of “Hockey Night in Allentown” and it’s worth a read. Leave me a comment if you remember those days.
Christian Kyrou made his way to the All Star game, but somebody forgot to pack his white jersey. He could be seen in what looked like a black replica jersey with Zayde Wisdom’s number on it. If anyone knows the story behind this, please share.
Just before the break, the Phantoms lost the Wilkes-Barre on home ice 6-5 in a game that wasn’t really that close. Then they went to Bridgeport and got blasted again, 5-1. Perhaps the orange jerseys will help us turn things around here.
Records and Standings
Record: 21-20-2-2
Standings: Fifth place in the AHL Atlantic
Home: 11-9-1-1
Away: 10-11-1-1
Recent: 0-3 Streak; 2-8 in our last 10!
Overtime: 4-2
Shootout: 4-2
Friday: 4-9
Saturday: 13-3-0-2
Sunday: 2-4-1
[Sunday 3/3: 0-2-1]
Monday:.0-1-1
Wednesday: 3-3
October: 5-3-0-1
November: 5-3-1-1
December: 5-5-1
January: 5-6
February: 0-3
“Winter Semester” Xmas to All Stars: 7-9-1
White “Road” Jerseys: 9-4-1-1
Black with Orange “Alternate” Jerseys: 4-6-1-1
Orange “Home” Jerseys: 5-5
“Black-Out” Jerseys: 0-2
“Faux-Back” Keystone Black: 2-2
Charcoal Gray “Forgotten Preseason”: 1-1
“Orange Out” 2026:
Post-Game Fan Event Game: 2-0
Player Update
G Aleksei Kolosov is back with the Phantoms. Guryev and Perets are back with Reading. D Vincent Sévigny has been signed to an AHL contract for this season and next. He had been with us earlier in the season for a couple games on PTO, then off to Reading. While here, he played in 6 games with no points but was a +5 so that looks good. The Phantoms have allowed the third-most goals in the division and are among the worst penalty kill units. Some help for the blue line was certainly in order. No problem giving Vinny another crack at it.
GAME DAY!
It’s Olympics weekend! Saturday Night Hockey Live! Orange Out! Let’s Go!
Game Time: 7:05PM, Hockey at 7:15PM
All Gates: 6:00PM
Premier Season Tickets: 5:45PM WFMZ and Air Products Gates.
Tickets: Good seats still available, but this is going to be a busy one. Very few deals to be had on the secondary market.
Parking: Still some general tightness on the streets due to the snow. Decks are the better bet.
Promotion: Knit Hat giveaway tonight to the first 5,000. They are generally available until 6:30 to 6:45. If you’re nervous about being late, use the LVHN entrance they tend to be more plentiful there. If you’re a Premier Member, check with your rep if you miss out and they can hook you up–worked for me last time until someone stole them from my seats when I got up to get a beverage. Expect some special music pre-game and second intermission for SNHL. Remember to wear Orange!
Jerseys: Phantoms debut their new “orange out” kit tonight. Looks OK in the pictures. We’ll see.
Media Kit:
Officials:
Referees: Riley Brace (#49), Jarrett Burton (#78) Linesperson: Jud Ritter (#34), John Rey (#16)
Cleveland
The Cleveland Monsters are the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ivan Fedotov is their main goalie, who was once a Flyers prospect and draftee.
Here’s the write-up from Phantoms Media:
“Cleveland (23-15-7) has been on the rise and briefly touched second place in the North Division on the strength of a six-game win streak. But the Monsters dropped a pair at first-place Laval prior to the break. The Luca X 3 Show leads the way. Third-year-pro Luca Del Bel Balluz (13-24-37) is tops on the Monsters in scoring and the second-rounder in 2022 has also played in 13 games with the Blue Jackets this year. 20-year-old fourth-rounder Luca Pinelli (10-21-31) is next and also rates fifth among AHL rookies. And 20-year-old defenseman Luca Marrelli (0-5-5) has recently joined the Monsters to play his first eight pro games since recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. Former Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov (16-9-4, 2.87, .886) has been a workhorse for the Monsters and his 31 games played is second among all AHL goaltenders trailing only Devon Levi (32) of Rochester. The Phantoms swept a pair of games in northeast Ohio in October including a 3-0 win on October 17 with Aleksei Kolosov outdueling his former Flyers teammate while recording his first North American shutout.”
Photo: Jack Mitroka
What To Watch
- Thinking it will be Kolosov in net–keep an eye for who leads warm-ups.
- Watch to see how the defense looks
- Watch for sloppy penalties and subsequent poor penalty kill; that’s usually where we lose.
- Watch for injured players to return. Bump?
Up Next
Right back here tomorrow afternoon for a matinee with Syracuse. Next weekend–Friday and Saturday–doing a residency in Hershey (actually, they’ll likely commute, no?). The following Wednesday we get a mid-week tilt versus a powerful Providence squad, then Hartford visits for the weekend as March comes in.
See you at the arena,
@Kram207