Phantoms Weekly

February 10, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


Philadelphia ended its six-game winless streak and remained in the playoff hunt by going 2-1-1 last week. On Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Ian Forbes' second career AHL goal with 9:03 remaining was the difference in a 4-3 win over the Penguins. John Slaney contributed a goal and an assist against his former team and Neil Little finished with a team season-high 40 saves. Two nights later against the top team in the AHL, the Phantoms tallied four consecutive goals before settling for a 4-4 tie with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Peter White, Mike Siklenka, Guillaume Lefebvre and Mark Greig each scored to help Philadelphia overcome an early 2-0 deficit, while Little made 36 saves. Philadelphia had its three-game unbeaten streak come to an end on Saturday as Peter Budaj made 30 saves in a 2-1 win for the Hershey Bears. Mike Lephart scored the lone goal and Antero Niittymaki finished with 36 saves for the Phantoms. On Sunday, Kirby Law scored three times and rookie Patrick Sharp added a goal and two assists in a 5-3 triumph over the Syracuse Crunch. Little stopped 32 shots and White chipped in with two assists.

SEASON-HIGH FIVE-GAME ROAD TRIP ON TAP

The Phantoms are 2-1-1 so far during their brutal stretch of 13 games in 19 days. The team will be further tested this week with games in Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Rochester and Cincinnati over a five-day span as part of a season-high five-game road trip. The trip concludes in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday, Feb. 17 before another four-game in five-day stretch from Feb. 19-23

LAW RECORDS SECOND HAT TRICK OF YEAR

Right wing Kirby Law recorded his second hat trick of the year in Sunday's 5-3 win over Syracuse. It was the third career hat trick for Law, who accomplished the feat for the Louisville Panthers on Nov. 19, 1999, and then again on Dec. 7, 2002 at Bridgeport. Law is just the second Phantom to have two hat tricks in one season, joining Mike Maneluk (1999-2000). Philadelphia has three hat tricks this season after compiling just one in 2001-02.

BOGAS & BAST RETURN

A pair of familiar faces joined the Phantoms backline last week, as Chris Bogas was signed to a tryout contract on Feb. 5 and Ryan Bast was acquired in a trade on Feb. 7. Bogas appeared in 15 games with Philadelphia in 2000-01, compiling seven points (1G, 6A) and eight penalty minutes, and had seen action with Hershey, Manchester and Reading (ECHL) this season. Bast came to Philadelphia in the Sami Kapanen trade after recording a goal and 68 PIM in 45 games with the Lowell Lock Monsters. He totaled 21 points (1G, 20A) and 358 PIM in 140 games with the Phantoms from 1998-2000.

SLANEY BECOMES ALL-TIME AHL ALL-STAR GAME POINTS LEADER: John Slaney helped rally his team to victory and became the AHL All-Star Game's all-time points leader along the way on Feb. 3. Slaney recorded a goal and two assists as the Canadian AHL All-Stars scored five unanswered goals to post a 10-7 win over the PlanetUSA squad at the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic. Slaney, who started and made his fourth straight AHL All-Star Classic appearance, now has eight career AHL All-Star points (3G, 5A) to break the record of seven held by Willie Marshall and Arnie Kullman.

PHANTOMS TRANSACTIONS

2/4 - ADD Kirk Furey, signed to PTO
2/4 - ADD Mike Siklenka, reassigned from Flyers (NHL)
2/5 - ADD Chris Bogas, signed to PTO
2/7 - ADD Ryan Bast, acquired by Flyers (NHL) in trade with Carolina
2/7 - DELETE Bruno St. Jacques, traded by Flyers (NHL) to Carolina
2/9 - ADD Josh Harrold, signed to PTO

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

The Phantoms make their first of two visits to Cleveland on Tuesday. In the first match-up on Oct. 27, Ryan Kraft recorded a hat trick and teammate Niko Dimitrakos added a goal and two assists in a 6-3 Barons win. Kirby Law scored twice for Philadelphia, while Antero Niittymaki made 26 saves. The Phantoms evened the series on Jan. 17 as Niittymaki made 28 saves and Andre Savage had three assists in a 4-3 victory. Philadelphia went 0-1-1 last year vs. the Barons during their first season in the AHL. The Phantoms and Barons will play four times this year, with the last meeting set for March 29 in Cleveland.

The Phantoms and Griffins conclude their two-game season series on Wednesday in Grand Rapids. The Griffins captured the first-ever encounter between the teams on Jan. 25 as Michel Picard and Mark Mowers each recorded a goal and an assist in a 3-1 decision at the First Union Center. Neil Little finished with 14 saves and Peter White scored the lone goal for Philadelphia. Grand Rapids joined the AHL last season and did not have Philadelphia on its inaugural schedule. The Griffins were a member of the IHL for five years (1996-2001) and advanced to the Turner Cup Finals in 1999-2000.

Philadelphia seeks to complete a four-game sweep of the Rochester Americans this Friday. The Phantoms opened the season against the Americans on Oct. 12, as Mark Greig scored with 30 seconds left in overtime to lift Philadelphia to a 1-0 victory. Neil Little made 29 saves to notch his ninth career shutout. Greig then recorded a goal and an assist, and Antero Niittymaki stopped 22 shots on Nov. 27 in a 4-2 triumph over Rochester. Niittymaki made 25 saves and four different players scored as Philadelphia posted a 4-1 road win on Jan. 15, improving to 7-0-2 in its last nine regular-season meetings with the Americans. The Phantoms also swept the best-of-three Western Conference Qualifying Round series vs. Rochester last year. Philadelphia is 16-15-4 in the all-time regular-season series and 7-8-2 when playing in Rochester, but is 3-0-1 in the last four visits there.

The Phantoms and Cincinnati Mighty Ducks begin their four-game season series on Saturday. Philadelphia swept both match-ups with Cincinnati in 2001-02, winning 4-1 on the road on Oct. 13 and 3-1 at home six days later. The Phantoms hold a commanding 28-8-2 lead in the all-time series, including a 12-6-1 mark when playing in Cincinnati. Philadelphia will host the Mighty Ducks on March 19 & 21 before playing at Cincinnati on March 28.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

It will be Snyder's of Hanover Switcharoo Night on Wednesday, Feb. 19, as all adults can buy tickets at $8 child prices. Fans will also receive free Snyder's products as they enter the First Union Spectrum. Flyers right wing Justin Williams will be signing autographs at the game as a preview to his bobblehead doll night on March 2. Courage the Cowardly Dog is set to appear at the Phantoms' game on Friday, Feb. 21 to sign autographs and take pictures with his fans who bring cameras. Christian parody band ApologetiX will perform live after the game and check out the Go-Go Gagdetmobile from Disney's "Inspector Gadget 2" movie on display outside the First Union Spectrum.

PHANTOMS AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS (thru 2/9)

* Peter White is tied for 14th in points (48) and tied for first in power-play goals (12).

* Mark Greig is tied for 18th in points (46) and tied for fourth in game-winning goals (6)

* Neil Little is ninth in goals-against average (2.39)

* John Slaney is seventh among defensemen in points (34) and fourth in assists (28)

* Peter Vandermeer is second in major penalties (24) and fourth in penalty minutes (208)

* The Phantoms are third in penalty minutes per game (27.1)

* The Phantoms are fifth in shots allowed per game (27.75)

PHANTOMS NOTES

* Ian MacNeil played in his 400th game as a pro on Feb. 5 at Wilkes-Barre.

* The Phantoms had a season-low six penalty minutes on Feb. 5.

* Kirk Furey recorded his first AHL point with an assist on Feb. 7 vs. Hamilton.

* Ben Stafford is the only Phantom to play in all 51 games this season.

* Patrick Sharp had a career-high three points (1G, 2A) on Feb. 9 vs. Syracuse.

* Jamie Wright scored his 100th goal as a pro on Feb. 9.

* The Phantoms tied a club record with two straight ties at home from Feb. 1-7. They also did it from Nov. 23-30, 2001 and Feb. 2-3, 2002.

* After scoring a combined three goals during a five-game losing streak from Jan. 22-29, the Phantoms have averaged 3.4 goals in their last five games (2-1-2).

TICKET INFORMATION

Ticket prices for Phantoms home games are $18, $17 and $13 for adults, and $8 for children 14 and under. The team also offers group rates, Game Plans, attractive premium area seating, birthday party and youth hockey packages, and the popular Family Value Pack. Please call the Phantoms sales office at 215-465-4522 for information, or log on to www.phantomshockey.com.



American Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2003


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.

OurSports Central