Phantoms Weekly Notes

Published on November 26, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Friday, November 30 - Phantoms at Hamilton Bulldogs, 7:30: Philadelphia's first foray north of the border takes them to the home of the defending Calder Cup champion Hamilton Bulldogs (Montreal Canadiens). It's the first of two games between the clubs, with the second scheduled for the Wachovia Spectrum on Sunday, March 30. Hamilton took both games between the two clubs a year ago. The Bulldogs are 7-7-0-3 this season, which is good for 4th place in the North Division. With the exception of four rookies and veteran defenseman Joel Bouchard, the majority of Hamilton's roster is made up of players that were part of last year's championship team. Sergei Kostitsyn leads the Bulldogs with 19 points on five goals and 14 assists.

Saturday, December 1 - Phantoms at Lake Erie Monsters, 7:30: It's the first ever meeting between the Phantoms and the Lake Erie Monsters (Colorado Avalanche), the latest entry into the league from Cleveland, Ohio. The Monsters replaced the Cleveland Barons, which left Quicken Loans Arena following the 2005-06 season. It's the first time the Avalanche have had their own AHL affiliate since ending a nine-season relationship with Hershey following the 2004-05 season. For the past two years, the club shared an affiliation in Lowell and then in Albany with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Monsters start the week in 7th place in the North Division with a record of 5-11-0-2. Chris Stewart has eight points in his last five games, including a hat trick on November 18. The Phantoms and Monsters will square off at the Wachovia Spectrum on January 11.

Sunday, December 2 - Phantoms at Toronto Marlies, 4:00: The weekend trip wraps up with a stop in Toronto to face the Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) in a match-up of the only two AHL teams to play in the same town as their NHL affiliate. The Phantoms and the Marlies split a two game series last season. They play two more games this year, with the return engagment for Toronto set for December 14. The Marlies start the week at the top of the North Division with a record of 13-3-0-2. David Ling leads the Marlies with 21 points on five goals and 16 assists, and seven others are in the double digits in points scored. Derrick Walser and John Mitchell both have posted seven goals so far this season.

PHANTOMS RESET

The Phantoms are 15-4-1 for 31 points through 20 games, which completes the first quarter of the 2007-08 regular season. They start the week with a nine-point lead in the East Division, a two-point lead in the Eastern Conference and a tie with Chicago for the overall league lead.

Last year the Phantoms did not reach 31 points until January 10 and did not win their 15th game until January 17. The Phantoms are three points behind the pace of the 2004-05 Calder Cup team, which was 17-3 for 34 points after 20 games, and are four points ahead of the pace of the 1997-98 Calder Cup team, which was 11-4-1-4 for 27 points after 20 games.

BLACK FRIDAY DOUBLEHEADER - A RECAP

The Phantoms welcomed a season-high 11,556 fans to the Wachovia Center on Friday night, the largest home crowd since October 8, 2005 when 11,584 came out for Opening Night of the 2005-06 season. It's the largest crowd to see a Phantoms game, home or away, since Philadelphia beat the Chicago Wolves 6-1 before 11,804 at Allstate Arena on Feb. 11, 2006.

Additionally, the Phantoms combined with the Flyers to bring 31,283 fans to the Wachovia Center on Black Friday. The Flyers welcomed a sellout crowd of 19,727 to their matinee with Washington that day.

DOWNIE POSTS FIRST PRO GOAL

Steve Downie scored his first professional goal on Wednesday against Norfolk and posted three assists on the week for a total of four points in three games. Downie now has a goal and 10 assists for 11 points in 10 games.

PICARD MINDING HIS MANNERS

Alexandre Picard has played in 19 games for the Phantoms this season and has recorded just two minor penalties for four minutes - a boarding penalty on Oct. 28 vs. Norfolk and a roughing penalty on November 10 at Binghamton. That pace puts him on target for just 16 PIM this season. In his rookie season of 2005-06, Picard appeared in 75 games and recorded 82 PIM. He spent most of 2006-07 with the Flyers.

ROSS NOMINATED FOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The Phantoms nominated center Jared Ross for Rbk/AHL Player of the Week consideration this week. Ross posted two two-point games this week, scoring a goal and adding an assist in the 7-3 loss vs. Norfolk on Wednesday and doing the same in the 6-0 win at Hershey on Saturday. Ross has seven goals and 10 assists on the season and joins what is now a four-way tie for the team lead in scoring along with Jonathan Matsumoto, Kyle Greentree and Alexandre Picard. Ross was also +2 on the week and currently leads the team in plus-minus with a +6 rating on the season.

HONORABLE MENTION - D Alexandre Picard: 3G, +3 in three games; RW Steve Downie: 1G, 3A in three games

PHANTOMS NOTABLES

The 6-0 shutout of Hershey on Saturday night was the second most lopsided shutout in Phantoms history. Philadelphia blanked Syracuse 8-0 on March 24, 1999 at the Spectrum. Brian Boucher was the Phantoms goaltender in both games... Saturday's game completed a run of eight consecutive games against divisional opponents. The Phantoms posted a record of 5-3 during that stretch... The Phantoms are spreading their scoring around. Four players currently share the team lead in scoring, and the club has 11 players with 10 or more points on the season - more than any other team in the league. Three other teams - Chicago, Rockford and San Antonio - start the week with 10 players that have 10 or more points... Kyle Wanvig's penalty shot against the Phantoms on Wednesday in Norfolk was the second the team has faced this season but just the 12th penalty shot against in team history. It was the first successful penalty shot against the Phantoms since April 6, 2005 when Pavel Vorobiev, coincidentally also of Norfolk, scored at Scope against Antero Niittymaki.

TOYOTA CUP STANDINGS

Brian Boucher picked up six points over the weekend to widen his lead in the annual race for the Toyota Cup. Players are awarded points each time they are chosen as a star of the game, with five points given for a first star, three points for a second star and one point for a third star. The player with the most points at the end of the season will win a monetary donation to the charity of his choice courtesy of Toyota.

Player 1st Star 2nd Star 3rd Star Points

Brian Boucher 4 1 1 24

Darren Reid 3 0 1 16

Ryan Potulny 2 1 0 13

Steve Downie 1 2 0 11

Jonathan Matsumoto 0 3 1 10

Denis Tolpeko 1 1 1 9

Boyd Kane 1 1 0 8

Jared Ross 1 0 1 6

Pete Zingoni 0 2 0 6

Alexandre Picard 1 0 0 5

Stefan Ruzicka 0 1 1 4

Scott Munroe 0 1 0 3

Kyle Greentree 0 0 2 2

Frederik Cabana 0 0 1 1

Nate Guenin 0 0 1 1

PHANTOMS HOCKEY ON THE INTERNET

The Phantoms have teamed up with the Philadelphia Area Dodge Dealers to provide free audio broadcasts of all Phantoms games, home and away, this season. The Phantoms official website, Phantomshockey.com, in conjunction with league and team partner B2 Networks, will provide the home for the audio. In addition to the games, Dodge will also bring the ever-popular Coaches Corner to fans on Phantomshockey.com. New editions of the weekly sit-down with Phantoms head coach Craig Berube will be posted to the site every Tuesday.

WATCH THE GAMES THROUGH B2

Every Phantoms game this season is being broadcast with streaming video through the league's partnership with B2 Networks. A ticket for the game is $6, which allows fans to watch the game via a broadband Internet connection from their own homes! Visit www.phantomshockey.com for more details.

TICKET INFORMATION

All kids tickets for all Phantoms games are just $10. To purchase, go to phantomshockey.com or call 1-800-298-4200.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Date Opponent Site Time

Friday, November 30 Hamilton Bulldogs Copps Coliseum 7:30

Saturday, December 1 Lake Erie Monsters Quicken Loans Arena 7:30

Sunday, December 2 Toronto Marlies Ricoh Coliseum 4:00

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Date Opponent Site Result Score

Wednesday, November 21 Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Scope L 7-3

Friday, November 23 Hershey Bears Wachovia Center L 2-1

Saturday, November 24 Hershey Bears GIANT Center W 6-0

NEXT HOME GAME - Friday, December 7 vs. Norfolk at 7:05

Live audio and video broadcasts are available for every game at Phantomshockey.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2007


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