Phantoms Weekly

Published on January 31, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


The Phantoms went 1-1 over the weekend against the two AHL teams from Connecticut. On Friday, Ben Stafford scored twice to lead Philadelphia to an impressive 5-1 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Randy Jones, B.J. Abel and Ryan Ready also scored, while Boyd Kane and Todd Fedoruk each added two assists. Antero Niittymaki stopped 28-of-29 shots as Philadelphia avenged a season-opening 2-1 loss in Hartford. Wolf Pack goaltender Steve Valiquette, who entered the game with a league-leading 1.48 goals-against average, made 19 saves on 23 shots. Philadelphia dropped a 2-1 decision in Bridgeport on Saturday as Chris Campoli's goal 3:33 into the third period was the difference. R.J. Umberger scored the lone goal and Niittymaki stopped 18-of-20 shots for Philadelphia, which had a two-game win streak snapped. Wade Dubielewicz made 31 saves for the Sound Tigers, who took a 3-2 lead in the season series.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Philadelphia and Hershey square off for the seventh time on Wednesday. The Phantoms captured all 12 match-ups with the Bears in 2003-04 and won the first four meetings this season before Hershey answered by winning the last two. Philadelphia owns a 53-33-8-5-1 lead in the all-time series, including a 23-18-4-4-1 mark on the road. The Phantoms had an eight-game road win streak in the series snapped in their last visit to Hershey on Dec. 31. The teams will next meet on Feb. 25 in Philadelphia.

The Grand Rapids Griffins make their only visit of the season to Philadelphia this Friday. The teams split two meetings last year, as Philadelphia posted a 5-3 road win on Feb. 29 and lost 3-2 at home on March 21. Grand Rapids has captured three of the four all-time match-ups between the teams, including both encounters in Philadelphia. The Phantoms are set to play in Grand Rapids on Sunday, Feb. 20.

The Phantoms are 3-2 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins heading into Saturday's showdown. Philadelphia began the season series with a pair of 3-2 shootout wins, as R.J. Umberger and Ben Stafford tallied the deciding goals on Nov. 12 and Dec. 1, respectively. Wilkes-Barre answered with a 6-4 win on Dec. 11 behind Michel Ouellet's hat trick and then captured a 5-3 decision on Dec. 26 before Philadelphia countered with a 4-3 shootout win on Jan. 8. Last season, the teams split 10 match-ups before meeting in the East Division Finals. The Penguins captured the best-of-seven series in six games before eventually bowing out in the Calder Cup Finals. Philadelphia owns a 34-19-3-1 lead in the all-time series, including an 18-10-1 mark on the road. The 10-game series continues on Sunday, Feb. 27 in Philadelphia.

THREE PHANTOMS NAMED AHL ALL-STARS

Patrick Sharp, Joni Pitkanen and Antero Niittymaki were all selected last week to participate in the 2005 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic, which takes place from Feb. 13-14 at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H. Sharp will play for the Canadian team, while Pitkanen and Niittymaki will be on the PlanetUSA squad. Pitkanen was also voted a starter for PlanetUSA via on-line balloting at theahl.com.

WOOD & ROBINSON PLAY IN ECHL ALL-STAR GAME

Stephen Wood was excused from Phantoms practice for two days last week to participate in the ECHL All-Star Game. The defenseman was held scoreless in Wednesday's game, but did place third in the hardest shot contest at the Skills Competition a night earlier. Brent Robinson, who appeared in five games with Philadelphia earlier this season, scored twice to lead the National Conference to a 6-2 victory in the All-Star Game. Both players were representing the Trenton Titans. Scoring a goal for the American Conference was Brett Engelhardt, who played in two games with the Phantoms at the end of last season.

TOUGH MONTH IN STORE FOR PHANTOMS

The Phantoms are facing a difficult schedule in February, including just four games at home and the longest road trip of the season. The home portion of the schedule features match-ups with Grand Rapids and Lowell, as well as in-state rivals Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the final weekend of February. Philadelphia is also set to play in Hershey and Wilkes-Barre in addition to two visits to Norfolk over a three-day span. The second meeting in Norfolk begins a five-game road trip that also includes games at Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and Cincinnati again.

WORKIN' OVERTIME

The Phantoms and Binghamton Senators are tied for the league lead in games going past regulation with 15, as Philadelphia is 4-2 in overtime games and 5-4 in shootouts. Philadelphia is tied for the second-most shootout games (9) with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hartford, trailing only Syracuse (10).

PHANTOMS TRANSACTIONS

1/26 - DELETE Jerramie Domish, released from PTO

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

The Phantoms' Summer Fun Beach Party takes place this Friday at the Wachovia Spectrum. A reggae band will be performing on the concourse and registration begins for an Apple vacation for four people to Cancun, which will be awarded on Fan Appreciation Night. Radio Disney and Q102 will also have tables set up on the concourse this Friday.

PHANTOMS AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS (thru 1/30)
* Riley Cote is third among rookies in penalty minutes (135).
* Freddy Meyer is fourth among defensemen in shooting percentage (.114).
* Antero Niittymaki is third in goals-against average (1.93) and tied for fifth in shootout wins (3).
* Dennis Seidenberg is tied for 12th among defensemen in points (23) and tied for first in game-winning goals (3).
* R.J. Umberger is seventh among rookies in points (27) and tied for fifth in goals (12).
* The Phantoms are fourth in shots allowed per game (27.50), fifth in goals allowed per game (2.36), fifth in penalty minutes per game (27.86), seventh in penalty killing (87.0 percent) and eighth in goals per game (2.91).

PHANTOMS NOTES
* Randy Jones played in his 100th game as a Phantom on Jan. 28 vs. Hartford.
* Philadelphia unveiled its new purple third jerseys in Friday's 5-1 win over the Wolf Pack. Last season, the Phantoms went 8-0 during the regular season when wearing their purple jerseys.
* The Phantoms are 28-for-30 in penalty killing over the last six games, but 0-for-23 on the power play in the last five games.
* Philadelphia is 14-1 when scoring four or more goals in a game.
* Jeff Smith and Ben Stafford are the only two players to appear in at least 50 career games with both the Phantoms and their ECHL affiliate, the Trenton Titans.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to all Phantoms home games are $19, $18 and $14 for adults, and $8 for all children 14 and under, and are available now at the Wachovia Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations throughout the Delaware Valley. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling (215) 336-2000, (856) 338-9000 or (302) 984-2000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Contact the Phantoms office at 215-465-4522 or log on to www.phantomshockey.com for information on group discounts, birthday packages and the Family Four Pack.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2005


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