Allentown Morning Call: "Hockey arena no sure thing"

Allentown's Morning Call has a less-than-optimistic article about the downtown site that's been proposed for the new arena. It's a site that has been beset by sinkholes, causing the nixing of a previous attempt at an arena on that site, as well as the demolition of an office building that the sinkholes damaged in the 90s.

Surrounding properties would also have to be purchased from their current owners, or else taken via eminent domain, and the appeals process for that could take "a couple years".

CLICK HERE to see the article itself.

Can someone please explain to me why Bellmawr, NJ was rejected as an arena location? It would have been PERFECT -- minutes away from the Voorhees practice facility, and minutes away from the Spectrum site so the entire existing STH fan base could easily make the shift and go there instead. They already had done an environmental impact study and had plans to manage the increased traffic flow to the area (as there's other developing going on there, with or without the proposed arena). They were ready for, and WANTED, an arena there. Their original plans even had a tentative location shown where the arena would go. And in the meantime, the rumors were that the team would spend the interim in Atlantic City.

But NOOOO. That made too much sense. We couldn't do THAT. Instead, we get the team moved 288 miles away, to a place where we have to reserve a hotel room if we want to see them play a home game. The AC interim move was nixed because they had concerns about poor attendance, yet we are currently 29th out of 30 AHL teams in attendance. Moreover, the intended permanent home in Allentown, from which we'd heard nothing since last summer, is only surfacing in the news to report plan changes and potential problems.

All this is making me a Very Grouchy Fan right about now. Can you tell?

Pronger questionable for Saturday; Gustafsson called up

Because Chris Pronger is questionable for Saturday's game with a swollen hand, Erik Gustafsson has been recalled from the Phantoms. CLICK HERE for the story on the Phantoms site.

Allentown arena: a construction site has been chosen. Or has it?

For the first time in a long time, we are hearing news of actual decisions being made in Allentown, regarding the placement of their new arena.

I don't know the layout of Allentown, so I can't offer an opinion on the suitability of the various potential construction sites. But apparently the original waterfront site, which is near their baseball stadium, has been ruled out in favor of a downtown site. Or at least it's PROBABLY ruled out. Per the Morning Call article:

"Logistically, if downtown doesn't work, then the riverfront goes back on the table. But there's a hope to get it downtown," the source said. "Until it's all signed, sealed and delivered, no one really knows what's going to happen. If they did, there would have been a press conference already."

So there you have it. It's been decided, unless it hasn't been decided, and it's a great big definite maybe. But someone actually mentioned the arena plans in a public venue, so that in itself is a measure of progress compared to hearing nothing whatsoever.

Click on the links to see coverage in Glens Falls's The Post-Star, Allentown's Morning Call, and Easton's Express-Times.

P.S. I couldn't help but notice the irony in the photo of the Brooks Brothers, taken in the Allentown press conference in 2009, which accompanied the Easton article. Notice anything about those jerseys? How about the SPECTRUM commemorative patches? Which, incidentally, go nicely with the shoulder patch depicting Phlex with the SPECTRUM.

Sigh.

Phantoms register a hat trick AND shutout in the same game!

It figures last night's game was one I couldn't watch because I wasn't home. I'll have to watch the archived video, because not only did the Phantoms beat one of the league's better teams in Hamilton, they earned the W in style. Denis Hamel registered the team's second hat trick in as many weekends, and Michael Leighton earned something that no Flyers goalie has achieved yet this season, a shutout, as the Phantoms downed the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-0. Way to go!

Here is the link to the game's box score. Read it and rejoice! :-)

Article on Leighton's rehab stint with the Phantoms (including interview)

CLICK HERE to read The Post-Star's interview with Michael Leighton as he starts his rehab stint with the Phantoms. We expect to see him in both games this weekend.

Micnael Leighton has arrived in Glens Falls. What will happen with the Flyers/Phantoms goalie situation, once Leighton's rehab stint ends in up to 6 days, is anybody's guess. Meanwhile, Backlund will miss 2-4 weeks with an ankle sprain.

If the Flyers opt to send Leighton down after the rehab stint, he would have to clear waivers. Given his history of being claimed, I will be somewhat surprised if he clears.

Hallelujah, the streak is over! Phantoms win in OT!

Hallelujah! The Phantoms won 4-3 in OT! Thank you, Denis Hamel for tying the game with 1:55 left, then scoring the winner in overtime!

Must have been the prayers from the people in the house for Faith and Family Night that put us over the top. :-) I wonder if we can get them all to attend the rest of our games this year?

New coach, Same Results: Losing Streak Reaches 10 Games

The results speak for themselves, and they're not saying anything pretty.

The Phantoms have welcomed John Paddock into his second stint as head coach with a 5-1 loss to the second-worst team in the league, the Toronto Marlies. In seven of the ten losses in this streak, we have given up 5 or more goals. In ALL of the losses in the streak, we've given up at least four goals. We haven't earned a standings point since an OTL on October 16.

I posted about replacing Gilbert with Paddock the day before the team pulled the trigger on precisely that move. For my next feat, I predict that trades and reassignments are going to be the order of the day. Some guys are going to be headed to the ECHL or out of the organization entirely. Speaking of which, I read a rumor a few days ago that we would see Maroon moved this week, but so far, that hasn't come to fruition. Here's hoping we get someone back who can help us, STAT. When it's crisis time and we're not even to Thanksgiving yet, you know your hockey team's having a rough year.

Phantoms Weekly Report #5, Phantoms Podcast, Transcript to Flyers Conference Call

HERE is the Phantoms Weekly Report #5 from the Phantoms site.

I seem to have missed last week's podcast link, so I'll put that link in with this week's:

HERE is the Phantoms Podcast Episode #5, and

HERE is Phantoms Podcast Episode #6 on The Post-Star.

And HERE is the transcript to tonight's conference call with the Flyers, regarding the coaching changes. As beat writer Tim McManus pointed out, it's different from, and expanded in some places compared to, the transcript released by the Flyers.

Greg Gilbert relieved of coaching duties; John Paddock named interim head coach; Wellwood returns to Phantoms

When the team is mired in a nine-game losing streak, and hasn't garnered a point of any kind since an overtime loss on October 16, something has to be done.

Today, the Phantoms relieved Greg Gilbert of his coaching duties. Assistant GM John Paddock will retake his place behind the Phantoms bench. He last coached the Phantoms during the 2008-09 season, the final year in Philadelphia. Former Adirondack Red Wing Joe Paterson would join the team as an assistant coach.

Click HERE to see the article on the Phantoms website.

The preliminary story in The Post-Star is HERE.

Eric Wellwood has been returned to the Phantoms on loan from the Flyers, after a callup during which he received a lot of praise. If not for the salary cap, I suspect he might have been able to stay up a little longer. See The Post-Star's Phantoms blog post HERE.

Phantoms' losing streak reaches nine, sets a franchise record

I don't know what's more depressing: the way the Phantoms are playing right now, or the negative, sometimes hostile response of the fans online (as represented by the people who post comments on The Post-Star's news coverage and blog posts). But honestly, the team has performed so poorly this season, that the fans are within their rights to rant.

The Phantoms have set a franchise record with their ninth consecutive loss. They haven't earned a point since October 16, an OTL vs. Albany. That's more than ten percent of the season we've burned up in this losing streak, folks. I'm detecting another playoff-free season unless we start turning things around, and I mean NOW.

Gilbert's in the tough position of having an extremely young team with a lot of newly-minted pros, plus the loss of one top guy (Maroon) and the presence of two other top guys who've been "served notice" that if they don't straighten up and fly right, they'll be the next ones gone (Kalinski and Legein). We got a new veteran (Denis Hamel), and he's scored three times for us in two games, but it'll take a lot more than one guy to get this team on the right track.

My instinct says, "Get Gilbert out of there, and tell Assistant GM (and former Phantoms coach) John Paddock he's going back behind the bench for the remainder of the season." Paddock's Phantoms didn't exactly dominate the league in 2008-09, but at least we made the freaking playoffs. We got steamrolled by the Hershey powerhouse in the first round, but at least we freaking got to the first round.

It's a mess in Glens Falls. As much as I miss my team and wish I could see them in person, there's a part of me that's thinking, "I don't want these health issues that are keeping me from a road trip, but at least I can't travel NOW while the team can't seem to win its way out of a paper bag." Maybe the team's play will improve by the time my health does.

Phantoms Weekly Report #4

Read the Phantoms Weekly Report #4 HERE on the Phantoms website.

Phantoms' losing streak continues; Denis Hamel comes to ADK; Eric Wellwood makes Flyers debut; More on Maroon's departure

The Phantoms lost their seventh consecutive game on Saturday, to Rochester. Read about it, as well as Paul Holmgren's comments on Pat Maroon's status, HERE. There is also a transcript of Holmgren's interview HERE. Patrick Maroon will not be returning to the Phantoms; Holmgren is exploring other options, including trade or reassignment to the ECHL.

Maybe we can loan him out to another AHL team. (Preferably NOT one in our division, as that could come back to bite us in the caboose.) I've seen us loan players out to other teams, and then accept others on loan in return. Surely there'll be at least one other AHLer somewhere in the league who could use a fresh start in a new organization. That would be the first place I would look to send Maroon, be it by loan or by trade, with the intent of receiving said other player back in return. Whatever happened, it's a downright shame that matters had to reach this point. I thought Maroon brought a lot to the table on the ice, and this team sorely needs any and all contributions right now as they attempt to get back on track. According to THIS post, Jon Kalinski and Stefan Legein were "warned" to straighten up and fly right, or face a similar fate to Maroon's.

There IS some good news to report on the player front. Denis Hamel, an AHL veteran who had a brief (7 games) stint with the Flyers a few years ago, has been signed to a PTO. He's spent the past few years with the Bingo Sens. He has a track record of community involvement in Binghamton, including winning the AHLs Yanick Dupre Award as the league's Man of the Year, so I'm sure Senators fans will hate to see him go. I think a veteran of his on- and off-ice caliber will be a huge boon to the team right now. Read more about him HERE.

In other good news, Eric Wellwood made his NHL debut last night, as the Flyers will be without the services of Danny Briere (suspended) and Andreas Nodl (injured) for the next several games. He looked terrific. I can honestly say that no observer would have been able to guess that it was his first NHL game, if they hadn't already been aware of that fact, solely from watching him play. I thought for sure that he was about to get his first NHL assist, at one point, but the puck didn't cooperate by going into the net. Heck. On the other hand, if he keeps playing as he did last night, his first NHL points will be listed among his stats by the time he returns to the Phantoms.

Phantoms dismiss Patrick Maroon, extend losing streak to 6 games

I'm entirely bewildered to log on today and see that, along with losing the sixth straight game last night, the Phantoms have dismissed Patrick Maroon. He is "pending reassignment", according to coach Greg Gilbert. That could mean anything from a loanout to a trade to a buyout, so stay tuned.

What. The. Bleep. I hate to see us lose our current top scorer, especially since goals have been supremely hard to come by in the team's first nine games. He was slated to be a mainstay of the team this year, which makes the news that much more jarring.

The Post-Star has articles here and here. The Broad Street Hockey site has THIS to say on the subject.

I'm pretty well floored by this news, to be honest. Our front office had better come up with some scoring punch ASAP to replace what Maroon would have brought to the team this year. I was expecting him to have a breakout season, or at least a make-or-break one as he's a prospect in a contract year. So much for that idea.

Significantly, both Paul Holmgren and John Paddock were in attendance in Glens Falls last night. The Flyers had a game in Pittsburgh at the same time, which (as I found out earlier this week) is actually closer to Philadelphia than Glens Falls is. In any event, it's not a small matter for Homer and Paddock to make an appearance at a Phantoms game when the Flyers are playing as well. I'm trying hard to remember if it ever happened when the Phantoms were in the Spectrum, and I can't. The Flyers brass were normally with the Flyers on their game days, not the Phantoms, even when we were only right across the street. Of course, when both teams were in Philly, they also both PRACTICED in the same building, so the Flyers brass had ready access to the farm team at nearly all times (barring road trips for one or both teams). So they wouldn't have had to make a 288-mile pilgrimage to make their point by showing up in person.

All I can say is, with the way the Phantoms are slumping, GOOD that Holmgren and Paddock watched the team with their own eyes last night. I hope they stuck around in Glens Falls for tonight's game, too (though the Flyers have a home game tonight). I *want* the front office people to see firsthand just what the Phantoms need to field a competitive team. And right now, we need plenty.

Back-to-back 5-1 losses. Ouch. Also, game recaps, podcasts and weekly report updates

I haven't had the chance to listen to/watch the last couple of Phantoms games. The stream for their radio station has been down-and-out for over a week, and I haven't been home to watch the games online.

However, I can say that we lost to the Charlotte Checkers (former Albany River Ratw) at home on Friday night, 5-1. Jon Matsumoto, who was traded to Carolina over the summer, had a goal and two assists, and was the second star. I still can't figure out why the Flyers never even gave him a cup of coffee in the NHL. Then we played in Hershey on Saturday night, and lost 5-1 again. Ouch. Without having seen the past couple of games, I can't vouch for what we did well or poorly, but the scoresheets suggest that there are at least some things that we'll do well to work on in our next practices.

Sorry for the delay in posting... my health has not been ideal lately, and it's been getting in my way at times. The good news is, when I have surgery next month, it'll be all over but the recovery, but until then, I'll keep plugging away the best I can.

I have a couple of podcast links, courtesy of The Post-Star:

Phantoms Podcast, Episode 3
Phantoms Podcast, Episode 4

Here is the Phantoms Weekly Release, Week 2 from the Phantoms website.

Recaps of games that were played between the previous post and now:

October 12: Phantoms @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; Penguins 2, Phantoms 1
October 15: Syracuse @ Phantoms; Phantoms 3, Crunch 2
October 16: Albany @ Phantoms; Devils 4, Phantoms 3, OT
October 17: Phantoms @ Rochester; Americans 5, Phantoms 2
October 22: Charlotte @ Phantoms; Checkers 5, Phantoms 1
October 23: Phantoms @ Hershey; Bears 5, Phantoms 1
October 24: Phantoms @ Hershey; Bears 4, Phantoms 2

Phatoms Weekly, Week One; Phantoms website's coverage of the weekend

CLICK HERE for the Phantoms' website's first Phantoms Weekly report of the season.

CLICK HERE for the Phantoms' website's coverage of the weekend games.

10-9-10 Phantoms @ Albany: Phantoms 5, Devils 3, plus weekend wrap-up

I wasn't able to watch the Phantoms/Albany tilt live. However, I was pleased to see that we've earned the first win of the season, defeating Albany 5-3.

Here is the coverage of Saturday's games in The Post-Star:

Phantoms' efforts pay off in victory
Phantoms Forum: Phantoms 5, Devils 3 (FINAL)
Phantoms Forum: Postgame: Phantoms 5, Albany 3

Here is the box score from the AHL's site.

10-08-10 Phantoms at Binghamtom: Senators 5, Phantoms 1

From the Phantoms Facebook page:

Phantoms fall at Binghamton 5-1 in season opener. Great game for Johan Backlund in goal. Patrick Maroon scores first Adirondack goal of the year on the power play easily slamming in the nice cross-ice feed from Dan Jancevski. Next up: At the Albany Devils Saturday night at 7. Just 7 days away until the Phantoms Home Opener!

I did get to watch the entire game online; however, the audio was glitched for both the Adirondack and Binghamton feeds. So all of the fans who were logged in to AHL Live watched the game sans play-by-play until a little while after the midpoint of the game.

I haven't yet seen the box score, nor the stars of the game. However, I can say that Johan Backlund should have had a star, five goals-against notwithstanding. The Phantoms' teamwide youth (average age 22.8 years) really showed itself tonight, as there were lengthy stretches when the only Phantom touching the puck was the goaltender. We were massively outshot, and there were some parts of the game when even though the teams were even strength, the appearance was that the Senators were on the power play.

Though we did give up three PP goals, I can say that I was pleased to see the Phantoms kill off a full two-minute 5-on-3 PK. So that, and Backlund's performance in the game, were bright spots.

I am still concerned that Backlund's hip is still not quite in top form yet. The Senators got a wraparound goal, going around behind the net after Backlund made an excellent save on one post, and firing it in the open side of the net. Backlund just couldn't make the lateral move quickly enough. Mind you, a lot of goalies might have had a challenge going post-to-post on that particular goal. But the way Backlund moved made me think that his hip was among the reasons he couldn't get over there as quickly as he'd have liked. One thing's for sure -- his hip, and everything else, got quite the workout during this game. He'll be able to make a long report to the trainer on how the hip felt when he put it through its paces.

CLICK HERE for the box score from tonight's game.
CLICK HERE for The Post-Star's Phantoms blog post for the game.
CLICK HERE for The Post-Star's postgame blog post.
CLICK HERE for the game article from The Post-Star.


The Phantoms play in Albany on Saturday at 7 PM.

Phantoms officially announce the finalized roster

CLICK HERE for the article on the Phantoms website, announcing the final roster to start the season.

Post-Star article, including Phantoms final roster

CLICK HERE to read Tim McManus's article: "3 things to watch this weekend, a final roster, and where everyone went". It includes the Phantoms opening night roster, as well as a list of where the players went who were cut from the training camp roster. The following players will be on the Phantoms roster when they play the season opener tonight:

Forwards (13): Matt Clackson, Ben Holmstrom, Jon Kalinski, Garrett Klotz, David Laliberte, Stefan Legein, Pat Maroon, Greg Moore, Luke Pither, Andrew Rowe, Zac Rinaldo, Mike Testwuide, Eric Wellwood.

Defensemen (7): Marc-Andre Bourdon, Erik Gustafsson, Dan Jancevski, Joonas Lehtivuori, Kevin Marshall, Logan Stephenson, J.P. Testwuide.

Goalies (2): Johan Backlund, Brian Stewart.

Captains: Dan Jancevski (C); Greg Moore (A); David Laliberte (A).