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Phantoms Weekly

April 8, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


WESTERN CONFERENCE QUALIFIER (BEST-OF-THREE)
Date Opponent Site Time (ET)
Tuesday, April 9 Rochester Americans First Union Spectrum 7:05 p.m.
Thursday, April 11 Rochester Americans First Union Spectrum 7:05 p.m.
*Friday, April 12 Rochester Americans First Union Spectrum 7:05 p.m.

*if necessary

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Date Opponent Site W-L-T Score
April 3 W-B/Scranton Penguins First Union Spectrum T 1-1
April 5 W-B/Scranton Penguins First Union Arena W 5-3
April 6 Norfolk Admirals First Union Spectrum W 4-2
April 7 Hershey Bears Hersheypark Arena L 3-1

PHANTOMS WEEK IN REVIEW

The Phantoms completed the regular season last week with a 2-1-1 record, all over a five-day span. Philadelphia skated to a 1-1 tie with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday. Phantoms center Jarrod Skalde netted the tying goal 3:30 after Tomas Surovy had put the Penguins ahead early in the third period. Neil Little finished the night with a personal season-high 38 saves. The same two teams met again on Friday in Wilkes-Barre and rookie right wing Mike Lephart enjoyed a career night with two goals and two assists in a 5-3 victory. Mike Watt added two goals of his own and Corey Hirsch stopped 19 shots to post the win. On Saturday, Greg Koehler scored twice and Mark Freer contributed three assists in a 4-2 triumph over the Norfolk Admirals. Little registered 17 saves as Philadelphia extended its unbeaten streak to five games. The streak came to an end, however, on Sunday when the Hershey Bears pulled out a 3-1 win in the last-ever regular-season game at Hersheypark Arena. Skalde scored Philadelphia's lone goal, while Little totaled 33 saves.

PHANTOMS TRANSACTIONS

* 4/2 - ADD Jarrod Skalde & Guillaume Lefebvre, reassigned from Flyers (NHL)
* 4/6 - DELETE Peter Vandermeer, reassigned to Trenton (ECHL)
* 4/6 - ADD Todd Fedoruk, reassigned from Flyers (NHL)
* 4/7 - DELETE John Slaney, recalled by Flyers (NHL)
* 4/7 - ADD Peter Vandermeer, recalled from Trenton (ECHL)
* 4/8 - DELETE Guillaume Lefebvre, recalled by Flyers (NHL)

PHANTOMS FINISH WITH EIGHTH SEED, SET TO PLAY ROCHESTER IN QUALIFIER

The Phantoms ended the season 4-1-1 to secure the eighth seed in the Western Conference and home-ice advantage in their best-of-three qualifier against No. 9 Rochester. Philadelphia (33-27-15-5, 86 points) will host all three games this week vs. the Americans (32-30-15-3, 82 points), with the winner advancing to play either top-seeded Syracuse or No. 2 Grand Rapids in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

UPCOMING OPPONENT

Philadelphia went 4-0-2 against the Rochester Americans this season, collecting two wins and a tie both on the road and at home. In the Phantoms' first road game of the season back on Oct. 8, Vaclav Pletka scored twice, including the game-winner 4:15 into the third period of a 3-2 Philadelphia victory. On Nov. 10 in Rochester, Pletka scored twice more, John Slaney had a goal and an assist, and Mark Greig dished out two assists in a 3-3 tie. The Phantoms rallied from a two-goal deficit on Nov. 16 as Dan Peters' goal evened the score with 3:04 left in the third period and Slaney scored 48 seconds into overtime in a 3-2 home win over the Amerks. Maxime Ouellet made 34 saves and did not allow a Rochester goal until the 19:33 mark of the third period in a 2-1 Phantoms win on Dec. 30. On Jan. 5, Guillaume Lefebvre and Kirby Law snapped a tie with goals during the first three minutes of the third period in a 3-2 home win. Ouellet stopped a season-high 45 shots and four different Phantoms scored in a 4-4 tie at the First Union Center on Feb. 3.

This is the fourth time the Phantoms and Americans are meeting in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Rochester won the regular-season series 4-1-1-0 last year, but the Phantoms exacted some revenge in the best-of-five Mid-Atlantic Division Semifinals by ousting the top-seeded Americans in four games. The teams first met during postseason play in 1998, when Philadelphia won three games to one in the best-of-five Western Conference Quarterfinals. They also met the following year in the Western Conference Finals, with Rochester capturing the best-of-seven series in six games.

SLANEY WINS SECOND STRAIGHT EDDIE SHORE AWARD

John Slaney added to his 2001-02 accolades collection last week 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 Sunday. The 30-year-old appeared in 263 NHL games for Washington, Colorado, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Nashville and Pittsburgh entering this season.

PHANTOMS TOP AHL IN ATTENDANCE FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT YEAR

It went down to the wire this year, but with 14,528 fans attending Saturday's 4-2 victory over the Norfolk Admirals 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.

PHANTOMS AMONG THE 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

* Center Mark Freer was the only Phantom to appear in all 80 games this season.

* Center Jarrod Skalde actually appeared in 81 games (64 with the Chicago Wolves, 16 with the Phantoms, one with the Flyers).

* On Friday, Mike Lephart joined John Slaney, Mark Greig and Pavel Brendl as the only Phantoms to record four points in a game this season.

* Mark Freer tied a season high for assists in a game (3) on Saturday. Mike Watt and Mark Greig had accomplished the feat earlier in the year.

* Greg Koehler tied Mark Greig's team season high for shots in a game (9) on Friday.

* Left wing Peter Vandermeer set a team record for most penalty minutes in a season by a forward with 313. Former defenseman Francis Lessard established the overall record of 416 in 1999-2000.

* The Phantoms are 62-30-13 all-time when drawing at least 10,000 fans.

SAFETY FIRST

This year, the Phantoms have instituted a Designated Driver program at their games. It occurs during each weekday game. All fans are encouraged to sign up and agree not to drink alcoholic beverages during the duration of the night, and provide safe transportation for the other members of their group. Every designated driver receives free O'Doul's non-alcoholic brew in Bullies, two free tickets to a future Phantoms game and has his/her name placed in a raffle to win a Phantoms windshirt ($75 value). One windshirt is awarded at every Wednesday and Friday night game.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to all Phantoms home playoff games are $13, $17 and $19 for adults, and $8 for all children 14 and under, and are available now at the First Union Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations throughout the Delaware Valley. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling (215) 336-2000 or (856) 338-9000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com . Contact the Phantoms office at 215-465-4522 for information on group discounts.

PHANTOMS ON-LINE

The Philadelphia Phantoms are on the World Wide Web at www.phantomshockey.com. The site is the best way for fans to stay updated with the latest news about the Phantoms, including timely scoring updates, statistics, news releases, player biographies and more.



American Hockey League Stories from April 8, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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