Phantoms Ousted by Syracuse

April 22, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


The Phantoms' season came to an end on Sunday when the top-seeded Syracuse Crunch completed a sweep of their best-of-five Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Syracuse captured Game One, 5-3, on April 13 as Sean Pronger scored 2:58 into the third period to snap a 3-3 tie. Brad Moran also tallied a pair of goals and J.F. Labbe stopped 21 shots for the Crunch. Pavel Brendl, Kristian Kudroc and Mark Freer each scored for Philadelphia, Greg Koehler registered two assists and Neil Little made 27 saves in defeat. The Phantoms led 1-0 after two periods in Game Two on April 17 thanks to Koehler's goal, but Syracuse responded with four tallies over the final 20 minutes. Moran had a goal and two assists during the decisive third period, including the game-winning power-play goal at the 4:27 mark. Labbe finished with 27 saves, while Little had 33. On Sunday, Blake Bellefeuille's power-play goal 4:28 into the third period snapped a tie as Syracuse went on to win 3-1. Derrick Walser contributed two assists and Labbe made 27 saves. John Slaney scored Philadelphia's lone goal and Little stopped 21 shots. The Phantoms and Crunch were meeting in the playoffs for the first time.

PHANTOMS SWEEP ROCHESTER IN WESTERN CONFERENCE QUALIFIER

The Phantoms opened the 2002 Calder Cup Playoffs with a two-game sweep of the Rochester Americans in a best-of-three Western Conference Qualifier. On April 9, Mike Watt and John Slaney scored 63 seconds apart early in the third period to snap a tie and lead the Phantoms to a 4-2 victory. Watt finished with two goals on the night, Pavel Brendl contributed a goal and an assist, and Neil Little made 25 saves. Philadelphia completed the sweep on April 11 thanks to 37 saves by Little. Brendl tallied two goals and Mark Freer netted his first of the postseason as the Phantoms built a 3-0 lead before Rochester's Ryan Shmyr scored two late goals to make things interesting. Philadelphia and Rochester were meeting in the playoffs for the fourth time in six years. The Phantoms have won three of the series and hold a 10-6 lead all-time.

PHANTOMS TRANSACTIONS

* 4/21 - ADD Matt Zultek, recalled from Trenton (ECHL)
* 4/22 - DELETE John Slaney, recalled by Flyers (NHL)
* 4/22 - DELETE Pavel Brendl, recalled by Flyers (NHL)
* 4/22 - DELETE Neil Little, recalled by Flyers (NHL)

PHANTOMS TOP AHL IN ATTENDANCE FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT YEAR

It went down to the wire this year, but with 14,528 fans attending Philadelphia's 4-2 victory over the Norfolk Admirals on April 6 during Fan Appreciation Night at the First Union Spectrum, the Philadelphia Phantoms locked up their sixth straight American Hockey League attendance title. Over 40 home games, Philadelphia finished with an average of 8,450 fans per game, 113 more than the second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (8,337). The Phantoms totaled 12 crowds of at least 10,000 people and own four of the top six attendance figures in the league this season.

SLANEY WINS SECOND STRAIGHT EDDIE SHORE AWARD

John Slaney added to his 2001-02 accolades collection on April 4 when he was named the winner of the Eddie Shore Award as the American Hockey League's outstanding defenseman. This is the second consecutive year that Slaney has received the award, which is voted on by players and members of the media in each of the league's 27 cities. Slaney, who also picked up AHL First-Team All-Star honors for the second straight season the week before, led the Phantoms in assists (39) and game-winning goals (6) and tied for the team lead in points (59) and plus-minus (+12) despite missing 15 games due to a broken foot. At the time of his injury, he was tops among AHL defensemen in points, goals and assists, and Philadelphia proceeded to go 3-10-1-1 without him.

For his efforts, Slaney was called up by the Flyers on April 7 and made his debut with them the following night vs. Florida. The 30-year-old appeared in 263 NHL games for Washington, Colorado, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Nashville and Pittsburgh entering this season.

PHANTOMS AMONG THE REGULAR-SEASON LEAGUE LEADERS

* Goaltender Neil Little finished second in the league in goals-against average (2.02).

* Defenseman John Slaney placed second among AHL defensemen in goals (20), fourth in points (59) and fifth in assists (39).

* Center Guillaume Lefebvre tied for first among AHL rookies with three shorthanded goals.

* Philadelphia led the AHL in penalty killing overall (.871 percent) and on the road (.892). The Phantoms also finished third in penalty minutes per game (27.3).

PHANTOMS NOTES

* Left wing Matt Zultek played his first game with Philadelphia on Sunday since May 1, 2001.

* The Phantoms are now 39-27 all-time in postseason play and 9-5 in playoff series.

* Philadelphia is 7-1 when winning Game One of a playoff series and 2-4 when losing the opening game.

* Philadelphia was swept in a playoff series for the first time.

* The Phantoms set a postseason record when Kristian Kudroc and Pavel Brendl scored 11 seconds apart during the second period of Game One vs. Syracuse. The previous mark of 22 seconds was accomplished by Mark Greig and Dean Melanson in the first period of Game Four of the 2000 Mid-Atlantic Division Semifinals vs. Hershey.

* The four goals allowed in the third period of Game Two vs. Syracuse tied a Phantoms playoff and regular-season record.

* The Phantoms were outscored 8-0 in the third period during their three games against the Crunch.

* Philadelphia is 8-6 all-time at the First Union Center during postseason play.

TICKET INFORMATION

It's not too early to purchase 2002-03 season tickets. Contact the Phantoms office at 215-465-4522 for more information.



American Hockey League Stories from April 22, 2002


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