Final score: Penguins 3, Phantoms 1

Oliver Lauridsen makes it 3-1, very late in the third period. Good job! Assist: Holmstrom.

With 14.7 seconds remaining in the third period, the Phantoms go on the PP.

But the Phantoms are unable to score with a 5 on 3 advantage in the final seconds of the period. Final score: Penguins 3, Phantoms 1.

Click here for the Phantoms' official game recap.

Third period (in progress)

Another 5-on-3 disadvantage translates into another Penguins goal in the third period. 3-0 Penguins. But as one of the Phantoms had a double minor, rather than just two minutes, we're still down two players even after being scored on. Holmstrom and Marshall are in the box.

Back to 5 on 5. 8:28 left in the third period. Still 3-0 in favor of the bad guys. SOG favor the Penguins 26-13. The Phantoms have only had one shot on goal so far in this period.

End of Second Period

At the end of the second period, the Penguins lead the Phantoms 2-0.

From Twitter:

@PhantomsHockey shots on goal: ADK 12 - WBS 20.Bacashihua playing well for ADK. Phantoms have been getting to Brad Thiessen but haven't broken him yet.

I was surprised to hear that we will only play in Wilkes-Barre one time this season. That's a major departure from our past history. Then again, we are in a different division from the PA teams this year, after a realignment of the AHL during the offseason.

I'm Not Amused, however, as I would rather see the Phantoms play semi-close to Philly more often than that. W-B is only SEMI-close, to be sure, but it's a darn sight nearer to Philadelphia than Glens Falls is. The distance from the former Spectrum site to the Glens Falls Civic Center is 288 miles. Wilkes-Barre and Hershey offer the opportunity to see the Phantoms live, at a distance that won't require an overnight stay in a hotel. So I'd rather have seen us continue to make numerous appearances in PA during the course of the season.

Phantoms @ Penguins, second period (in progress)

The Penguins drew first blood during this period, and lead 1-0. The Pens also spent some time in this period with 6 skaters on the ice, completely missed by the referees. I guess it's preseason for the officials as well.

With 21 seconds remaining in the Phantoms' 2-man disadvantage, both of which penalties were assessed to our top penalty killers, the Penguins scored again to make it 2-0. So now we'll be at 5 on 4 briefly before returning to full strength.

Even strength now. 8:48 left in the second period.

Michael Leighton loaned to Phantoms; Phantoms preseason results so far

On Wednesday, September 28, the Phantoms opened their preseason in Saratoga vs. the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with a 3-1 win. Last night, October 1, they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Albany Devils.

They are currently in a game at Wilkes-Barre vs. the Penguins. The score is 0-0 in the first period.

Today, the Flyers announced that they have loaned Michael Leighton to the Phantoms.

Tom Sestito sent down

Tom Sestito was ejected from Monday night's Flyers/Rangers preseason game after delivering a hit from behind. There's no word yet on any suspension or fine from the league, but the hit was blatant enough that I'd be amazed if he doesn't get suspended for it.

On Tuesday, it was announced that he was sent to the Phantoms, though he'll have to clear waivers before being added to the roster.

I've seen the AHL partially honor other leagues' suspensions before. See: Jesse Boulerice (twice), Steve Downie. Their suspensions in the AHL weren't as long as the corresponding suspensions from other leagues, but they did have to spend some games in the press box before being allowed to join the Phantoms. So if Sestito gets sternly treated by the NHL, he might have to sit out games in the AHL, as well.

Building the Phantoms 2011-2012 Roster

Today's Waiver Wire/Flyers Cuts

On Waivers (have to clear to go to Phantoms):

PHI - Jason Bacashihua
PHI - Johan Backlund
PHI - Dan Jancevski
PHI - Jon Kalinski
PHI - Stefan Legein

Full NHL Waivers List: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=376604

Assigned to Phantoms:

FORWARDS
Jason Akeson
Tyler Brown
Shane Harper
Ben Holmstrom
Tye McGinn
Luke Pither
Mike Testwuide
Eric Wellwood

DEFENSEMEN
Marc-Andre Bourdon
Tyler Hostetter
Blake Kessel
Oliver Lauridsen
Kevin Marshall

GOALTENDER
Brad Phillips

Also, Cullen Eddy, Garrett Klotz and Garrett Roe are no longer on an NHL Pro Try-Out and will report to Adirondack as well.

http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=589692

Phantoms lose third preseason game, 5-4, in Syracuse

For the second night in a row, the online radio stream didn't work. However, I did find a couple of Syracuse Crunch-related Twitter feeds that kept me updated on the game. Such as this one:

@SyracuseCrunch Syracuse Crunch win 5-4 v. Adirondack Phantoms! Bonino named first star and Syvret gets the 2nd star.

I think we're going to regret not having Syvret on this team anymore. On the other hand, we have a huge logjam on the Flyers blueline. He probably stands a better chance of getting an NHL shot in Anaheim's system, as compared to ours.

Anyway, the Phantoms are now 0-3, or 0-2-1-0 if you want to separate OTL and SOLs from regulation losses. They were all close games on the scoreboard, which is good, but I'm looking forward to seeing the team register a W.

Phantoms Preseason Results to date

The Phantoms have played two preseason games vs. Albany so far. The first one was a 2-1 OT loss to the Albany Devils on Friday night. The second one was a 4-2 loss, with the fourth Albany goal going into the empty net.

I haven't been online a lot in the past couple of days, so I'm going to have to do some legwork to track down preseason coverage. However, I did find a nice writeup on Zac Rinaldo, a Phantom who should help make this a pretty colorful season. :-) CLICK HERE for Broad Street Hockey's take on his performance so far.

The Phantoms wrap up a three-games-in-three-nights stint in Syracuse tonight. Here's to improving our preseason record with a win!

Pregame Warmup: Flyers vs. Minnesota Wild

Young guys warming up with the Flyers include Powe, Pyorala, Syvret, Backlund, Giroux, Parent, and van Riemsdyk.

Preseason: Albany River Rats 5, Phantoms 1

CLICK HERE for the first available writeup of tonight's Phantoms game in Albany. It appears that the River Rats avenged last night's loss and then some, as they beat the Phantoms 5-1. Nic Riopel started the game and was replaced about halfway through by Michael Teslak.

That wraps up the Phantoms' preseason schedule. The next game will be the Home Opener on October 3 vs. the Worcester Sharks.

EDIT to add: The Post-Star has posted its game recap HERE.

Boucher: lower body injury; Randy Jones waived

from the Flyers' Twitter feed:

FlyersOnTheFly Brian Boucher left tonight's Flyers-Devils preseason game with a lower body injury and will not return.

I guess we'll find out before long how significant the injury actually is, by whether or not we recall Backlund from Glens Falls.

In other news, Flyers defenseman Randy Jones was waived today, to free up space under the salary cap. If he clears waivers, which is not guaranteed to happen, he'll be assigned to the Phantoms. I saw a very-much-unverified rumor that he was claimed, but even the person who posted it is trying to get that information confirmed. Therefore, I'm not putting any stock in that report unless I see it from an official source. Stay tuned.

Boucher leaves preseason Flyers game prematurely, with the trainer in tow

The Flyers preseason game in NJ is on the radio. Brian Boucher was supposed to play the entire game for the Flyers tonight, but he left the game in the first period with the trainer in tow.

There was no obvious injury that took place as far as the radio play-by-play guys could see. And, of course, my radio's picture isn't so hot, so I couldn't see anything one way or the other. ;) However, I guess we'll find out before long whether it's significant enough to have Backlund recalled from Glens Falls.

Preseason: Phantoms defeat Albany at GFCC 2-1 in shootout

Boy, were in-game details about this contest hard to come by! Fortunately, the blogger from the Post-Star,com has a preliminary post available that gives some details. I look forward to seeing more details when they become available.

The Phantoms complete a home-and-home preseason series vs. Albany on Saturday at 5 PM. Admission to the game in Albany is free.

Oh, and by the way, I don't like shootouts any better now than I did when I was keeping the previous incarnation of this blog. ;) ARGH on turning a team game into a one-on-one competitions.

However, since shootouts exist, I'd rather see the Phantoms come out ahead when we take part in them. So I'm pleased to see that the team's tenure at the GFCC has been opened with a win.

Edit to add: CLICK HERE for the game recap on the Post-Star.com site.

The Phantoms may play a game or two in Philadelphia; Wednesday's practice session

According to THIS BLOG POST from the Post-Star.com, there is a possibility for the Phantoms to play a home game or two in Philadelphia over the next two seasons.

To wit:

The Adirondack Phantoms are exploring the possibly of playing a regularly scheduled home game this season in Philadelphia, on the ice of their NHL affiliate the Philadelphia Flyers.

If the change in venue is requested, the Phantoms have agreed to attempt to bring an NHL preseason game to the Glens Falls Civic Center next fall, or possibly an exhibition match up between the Flyers and the Phantoms.

Language allowing the possible schedule change, if the Flyers request it, was added to the final version of the Phantom’s contract, which the city Common Council approved on Tuesday.

The three-year contract allows the Phantoms to play up to two of their home games in Philadelphia in subsequent seasons.

Nothing is definitive at this point, said Jim Brooks, co-president of the Phantoms.

The goal, he said, is to strengthen ties with Philadelphia area fans, and hopefully attract some of them to travel to Glens Falls to attend games and stay overnight in local hotels.

Similar arrangements are being scheduled with other AHL teams and their affiliates, he said.

– Maury Thompson

For the record, HERE are the notes I took at the Town Hall Meeting for Phantoms STHs last March. In that talk, we were informed that we would have some Phantoms games, plural, "every year" in Philly. Now we're down to one or two games next year and the year after. Sigh. I guess we should be happy to get ANY games. *IF* it pans out.

OK, on to other news, as in actual hockey. HERE is a link to some video of the Phantoms' first practice in Glens Falls. And HERE is a recap of some goings-on at the practice. I'm glad to see that at least tomorrow's practice is open to the public. I hope ALL the team's practices prove to be open to the public, as they were when the team was in Voorhees. It'll give Phans who make the 5-hour road trip some more opportunity to see the team. After all, we might as well get to see as much of the team as possible if we're going to make a ten-hour round trip, right?

According to that practice recap, Rob Bellamy got banged up after taking a spill and having his knee collide hard with a goal post. I hope it turns out to be nothing major. But geesh, guys, you're not allowed to start using up your allotment of "scare everyone to pieces" points before the season even starts. Let's not worry the fans to bits, OK?

There'll be a scrimmage tomorrow (Thursday). Here's the list of Team A and Team B, from the above-mentioned article:

he team is split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ squads. Here are the rosters, with all the numbers I have available.

Team A
Forwards: 11 Jon Matsumoto; 13 Thomas Sinisalo; 15 Matt Clackson; 18 Jared Ross; 19 Ryan Dingle; 27 Michael Mullen; 36 Krys Kolanos; 42 Aaron Clarke. Defensemen: 2 Joonas Lehtivouri; 4 Kevin Marshall; 5 Marc-Andre Bourdon; 7 Oskars Bartulis; 41 Ryan McGinnis; 45 Jeremy Swanson; 77 Cliff Loya.

Team B
Forwards: 12 Garrett Klotz; 14 Andreas Nodl; 20 Josh Beaulieu; 22 Michael Ratchuk; 24 Rob Bellamy; 37 Jon Kalinski; Bryan Marshall; Anthony Pediocaro; Chase Watson. Defensemen: 3 Joey Mormina; 6 David Sloane; Devin Featherstone; Jaime Fritsch; Nathan Schwartzbauer; Logan Stephenson; Slavomir Tomko.

For those who are new to the Phantoms, the guys who did NOT play for the team last seaosn are Sinisalo, Dingle, Mullen, Kolanos, Clarke, Bourdon, McGinnis, Swanson, Loya, Bryan Marshall, Pediocaro, Watson, Mormina, Featherstone, Fritsch, Schwartzbauer, Stephenson, Tomko. (I actually had to go look up Watson's stats, as I could have sworn he was a callup for us last year, but maybe he was just here for the preseason.)

Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print. I hope they have a good scrimmage tomorrow, MINUS any mishaps that lead to guys getting dented and dinged beyond the norm. Go Phantoms!

Preseason game at Newark: Lowell Devils 5, Phantoms 4 (Shootout)

Here's the only link so far that I have been able to find to a recap of the game in Newark today: Lowell Devils defeat Adirondack Phantoms 5-4 in a shootout