Preview: Phantoms at Bears, Preseason
AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Preview: Phantoms at Bears, Preseason

Published on October 1, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release


Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Hershey Bears

GIANT Center, Hershey, PA

Wednesday, October 1, 2025 (7:00 p.m.)

TONIGHT - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are back! The Phantoms will play their preseason opener at the Hershey Bears with several new arrivals and tryout players receiving an opportunity to impress new head coach Jon Snowden.

Tonight is the only road preseason game of the season for the Phantoms and is the first of three exhibition contests on the slate including a pair of rivalry tilts at PPL Center this weekend.

THE ROSTER - A crowded field of 38 players comprises the Phantoms roster entering tonight's game. Lehigh Valley has 12 tryout players on the team including nine who are on ECHL contracts with the Reading Royals. 11 players were assigned from the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday and today including several familiar names from last year's team including Emil Andrae, Helge Grans, Anthony Richard (on waivers), Alexis Gendron and more. This isn't all of it, however. Flyers Training Camp continues in Voorhees, NJ with a tighter field competing for the very last spots spots available.

MEDIA MATERIALS - Fans can browse rosters and Media Materials for tonight's game here: https://www.phantomshockey.com/media-materials/

WHO'S BACK - 15 returning players from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' playoff run last year include several top players and fan-faves. Emil Andrae, Helge Grans and Hunter McDonald are going to be key cogs on the blueline again. Veteran captain Garrett Wilson brings his toughness to bolster the forward group along with experienced wingers Cooper Marody and Zayde Wisdom. Anthony Richard and Alexis Gendron were two of the team's top goal scorers last year. Samu Tuomaala, Massimo Rizzo, Oscar Eklind and Sawyer Boulton are also back. Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov is aiming for a big campaign in his second professional season in the U.S.

WHO'S NEW - Some exciting new prospects are jumping into the professional ranks as well. Forward Alex Bump and defenseman Ty Murchison already got their initial taste of the AHL at the end of last season.

Bump is part of the "Killer B's" quartet of talented rookies also including forward Denver Barkey and goaltender Carson Bjarnason as well as defenseman Oliver Bonk (still in Voorhees with the Flyers due to injury).

Newcomer Tucker Robertson joins from Coachella Valley in California after a trade for his good friend and former teammate, J.R. Avon.

AHL contract players looking to make an impression include big Emile Chouinard and forward Nick Capone who were part of camp one year ago but spent all of last season with Reading. Defensemen Carter Berger and Ben Meehan as well as forward Carson Golder and goaltender Yaniv Perets are all aiming to make a big statement in this preseason as well. Perets was a record-setting goaltender at Quinnipiac where he led the Bobcats to an NCAA Championship.

WHO'S OUT - The Philadelphia Flyers have announced injuries to four players who are possibly going to join the Phantoms in the future.

Ethan Samson - D (6-8 weeks)

Oliver Bonk - D (Day-to-Day)

Karsen Dorwart - F (Day-to-Day)

Lane Pederson - F (Day-to-Day)

GETTING A LOOK - 12 additional players are getting a tryout look during the camp with a chance to impress for a potential opportunity later in the season. Nine of the players are on contract with the Reading Royals including returning veteran forwards Yvan Mongo (28 years old) and Connor McMenamin (26).

Some interesting storylines to watch:

Brothers Jacob and Jordan Frasca are undoubtedly excited to play together on the same team. Jordan used to play for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Free agent Nolan Burke had a 50-goal campaign in the OHL with the Sarnia Sting and previously played in the Nashville Predators organization.

Forward Jack Page is a West Chester native who twice won the Flyers Cup high school championship with Bayard Rustin.

Forward Vincent Sevigny has 91 games of AHL experience with Bridgeport and Laval.

COACHING STAFF - John Snowden was named the fifth head coach in Lehigh Valley history. He joined the Phantoms as an assistant coach in the 2022-23 season after spending two years as an assistant coach with the Toronto Marlies.

Nick Schultz is a 15-year NHL veteran as a player who is entering his first season with the Phantoms and first season as an assistant coach. He spent the last six seasons with the Flyers organization as Assistant Director of Player Development and as a player development coach.

Assistant coach Terrence Wallin enters his first season with the Phantoms arriving from the Maine Mariners of the ECHL where he served as head coach for the past three seasons. The Yardley, PA native grew up cheering for the Flyers and was a Flyers Cup and Pennsylvania State Champion with LaSalle College High SChool in 2008.

Video coach Patrick McDonough enters his first season with the Phantoms following five years with the University of New Hampshire.

HERE COMES HERSHEY - Of course, the last time the Phantoms and Bears met on May 11 we saw Lehigh Valley's rivals from Chocolatetown eliminating the Phantoms from the Calder Cup Playoffs for a second consecutive season. Lehigh Valley took the Bears to the distance in the five-game series but the Bears held on and advanced. Perhaps a third consecutive round in the playoff rivalry is in store in 2025-26!

Derek King takes over the coaching reins in Chocolatetown following the departure of Todd Nelson who accepted an assistant coach position with the Pittsburgh Penguins. King was previously an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks and head coach with the Rockford IceHogs following a playing career of 830 NHL games mostly with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs.

It's a very different look for the Bears' roster as well including departures of some big names like Mike Vecchione, Mike Sgarbossa and Hunter Shepard. Defenseman Louie Belpedio is in the Washington Capitals camp competing for a spot but may eventually end up with the Bears following a three-year stay with the Phantoms. Veteran defenseman Aaron Ness is back as is former Phantom Matt Strome. Bruising veteran Dalton Smith returns as well. He was briefly a Phantom 10 years ago and is the son of Derrick Smith who played 537 games with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Similar to the Phantoms, expect Hershey to implement a Wednesday night lineup with several AHL contract and tryout players looking to showcase their abilities.

BROADCAST - Tonight's game can be seen on FloHockey.tv

Fans can also listen to the game on the Phantoms 365 app and 1470-WSAN in Allentown and on iHeartRadio.

The broadcast is also available on your smart-speaker device at "Play Phantoms Radio on TuneIn"

WHAT'S NEXT - The Phantoms return home on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 3:05 p.m. hosting preseason games against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Hershey Bears. Expect to see more of the "regulars" in the weekend matchups as the team puts the finishing touches on Training Camp.

Opening Weekend on Saturday, October 11 at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, October 12 at 3:05 p.m. will have the Phantoms hosting the Belleville Senators and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins back-to-back to kickoff the 12th season of Phantoms Hockey in the Lehigh Valley. Fans will receive Rally Towels to ring in the new season on October 11 and then will get their own Phantoms Trading Card sets when they arrive for the October 12 game.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are in Our Hockey Era

Join us for a weekend of hockey and Taylor vibes - sing along to your favorite hits, cheer on the Phantoms, and celebrate the release of Life of Showgirl. It all goes down October 4th and 5th!

Check out the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from October 1, 2025


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