February 1, 2010

2009-10 Record: 22-22-2-1, 47 points (11-9-2-0 Home, 11-13-0-1 Road), Fourth Place - East Division

Week 18 Recap:

The return from injury of left wing Patrick Maroon highlighted the Phantoms Week 18 action. Maroon, who missed 12 games due to a concussion, came back with a bang last Wednesday in Binghamton, posting two goals and one assist, including the game-winning goal in a 5-3 win over the Senators. Friday night Maroon set up the game-winner as Adirondack broke a 1-1 tie in the third period and edged the B-Sens for the second straight game. The Phantoms weekend balanced out as they suffered two 2-1 defeats, home to Norfolk on Saturday and at Rochester on Sunday.

Joonas Lehtivuori came back from an injury that sidelined him for one game last weekend and Josh Beaulieu has been cleared for duty, while Krys Kolanos remains on the injured list. Adirondack also saw the AHL debuts of Russian defenseman Denis Bodrov and Finnish left wing Mika Pyorala on Saturday night against the Admirals. With players getting healthy and two new skaters in the lineup, the Phantoms had a surplus of bodies, so they returned call-up Trent Daavettila to the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings after Saturday’s game.

Week 19 Preview:

This week the Phantoms see three games on the schedule, beginning on Wednesday, February 3rd as they travel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to face the Penguins at 7:05 pm at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. Adirondack returns on home Friday, February 5th as they face the Atlantic Division’s first place Manchester Monarchs at 7:30 pm at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Then on Saturday, February 6th the Phantoms head back to Syracuse for another clash with the East Division rival Crunch at 7:30 pm at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter.

This week Adirondack travels to Binghamton for the second week in a row as they face the Senators on Wednesday, January 27th at 7:05 pm at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The Phantoms return home for back-to-back games at the Civic Center; Friday night they will host Binghamton for a 7:30 pm face off and then Saturday they will tango with the Norfolk Admirals at 7:00 pm. Playing in their fourth game in five days, Adirondack will finish off the week with their second and final trip to Rochester on Sunday, January 31st for a 5:00 pm game at Blue Cross Arena.

Week 19 Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on Classic Hits Q-101.7 FM and can also be heard for free over the Internet at www.phantomshockey.com and can be viewed via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com.)

Wednesday, February 3 – 7:05 pm – Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza – Wilkes-Barre, PA

@ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (22-23-1-1, 46 pts)

Fifth Place, East Division

It has been over a month since the Phantoms and Penguins faced each other in an AHL game. The last meeting took place on Sunday, December 13th, the second of a two-game weekend sweep by Adirondack at the Glens Falls Civic Center. In the first four games of the season series the home team has won each contest, as both are 2-2-0-0 against each other. This will be the first time the Phantoms travel to Wilkes-Barre since the naming rights to their building have changed from Wachovia Arena to Mohegan Sun Arena. The Penguins beat Manitoba 3-1 on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak and a span where they had gone 1-7-0-0 in their previous eight games. The team slumped in January, posting a 4-9-0-0 record in the month, fall from third to fifth place in the East Division standings. G Brad Thiessen has started five of the last eight games, but has a 1-4-0 record in that span. G John Curry bounced back from allowing 7 goals on 20 shots in 29 minutes of play in an 8-6 loss to Hershey on Friday by stopping 31-of-32 shots in a 3-1 win over Manitoba on Sunday.
Leading Scorer: Dustin Jeffrey (C) – 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) in 44 GP.
Leading Goaltender: John Curry (G) – 2.68 GAA, 0.900 save pct., 17-14-1, 1 SO in 33 GP.
Who’s Hot: Chris Conner (RW) – 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) in his last six games played. Luca Caputi (LW) – 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in his last five games played. Wyatt Smith (C) – 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) in his last five games played.

Friday, February 5th – 7:30 pm – Glens Falls Civic Center – Glens Falls, NY

vs. Manchester Monarchs (29-14-2-5, 65 pts)

First Place, Atlantic Division

This will be the first of two meetings this season between Manchester and Adirondack. The Monarchs are on a four-game point streak (3-0-0-1) and have just one regulation loss in their last seven games. Last weekend after a shootout loss to Portland, Manchester posted back-to-back 2-0 shutouts at Providence and at Hartford. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier has made four straight starts (3-0-1); he has a current shutout streak of 148:34 and was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week on Monday. Bernier stopped 85-of-87 shots faced in the week; he ranks third in the AHL in goals-against average (1.90), second in save percentage (.942), third in wins and first in shutouts (6), minutes played (2,244), saves (1,147) and shots faced (1,218). Rookie Corey Elkins leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the AHL in rookie scoring.
Leading Scorer: Corey Elkins (C) – 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) in 46 GP.
Leading Goaltender: Jonathan Bernier (G) – 1.90 GAA, 0.942 save pct., 21-11-5 in 38 GP.
Who’s Hot: Corey Elkins (C) – 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in his last eight games played. Bud Holloway (LW) – 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in his last five games played. Gabe Gauthier (C) – 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist) and a +4 rating in his last six games played.

Saturday, February 6th – 7:30 pm – Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter – Syracuse, NY

@ Syracuse Crunch (19-23-3-30, 44 pts)

Sixth Place, East Division

In the first three games of the season series, the home team has won each between Syracuse and Adirondack. In two games at Syracuse the Crunch have out-scored the Phantoms 11-3, while Adirondack blanked Syracuse 5-0 in their one meeting in Glens Falls. This will be the last game of the season at the War Memorial, but there are two more matchups at the Civic Center on the schedule. The Crunch are on a three-game winning streak, after ending a four-game losing streak. Goaltender Kevin Lalande has started five straight games in goal and is 3-2-0 over that span. C Derek MacKenzie is on a five-game assist streak (5 assists) and an eight-game point streak (12 points). C Jared Aulin ended a five-game point drought with a three point game (1 goal, 2 assists) in Syracuse’s 5-1 win over Binghamton on Saturday; C Mike Radja also had three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in the game.
Leading Scorer: Brendan Bell (D) – 30 points (8 goals, 22 assists) in 45 GP.
Leading Goaltender: Kevin Lalande (G) – 2.98 GAA, 0.908 save pct., 13-11-2 in 29 GP.
Who’s Hot: Derek MacKenzie (C) – 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists) and a +2 rating in his last eight games played. Tomas Kana (C) – 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) and a +3 rating in his last three games played. Dan Fritsche (C) – 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in his last four games played.

Week 18 Game Results:

January 27, 2010 Adirondack 5 @ Binghamton 3

January 29, 2010 Binghamton 1 @ Adirondack 2

January 30, 2010 Norfolk 2 @ Adirondack 1

January 31, 2010 Adirondack 1 @ Rochester 2

Phantoms Player of the Week: (Week 18)

Patrick Maroon – LW – #16 4 GP, 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists), +3, 2 PIMs

Left wing Patrick Maroon missed 12 games due to a concussion suffered against rival Albany on December 30th. He was leading the team in assists and beginning to really catch fire at the time of his injury, but the St. Louis, Missouri native needed little time to shake the rust off as he returned to the lineup with a vengeance this week. Maroon posted three points (2 goals, 1 assist), including the game-winning goal as he led Adirondack to a 5-3 victory on Wednesday night at Binghamton. Friday night in Glens Falls Maroon again sunk the Senators as he assisted on the game-winning goal in a 2-1 Phantoms win. Over the weekend Maroon had a hand in both of Adirondack’s goals as they dropped a pair of 2-1 contests, extending his points and assists streaks to four games.

Phantoms Player of the Month: (January)

David Laliberte – RW – #10 15 GP, 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists), +1, 11 PIMs

David Laliberte turned up his offensive production in January as he registered points in 11 of the 15 games in the month. The St. Liboire, Quebec native started January with two assists in a 3-2 win over Norfolk. During the middle of the month he rattled off a five-game point streak (1 goal, 4 assists), had it snapped on January 24th at Rochester and then finished the month with another four-game goal and point streak (4 goals, 1 assist). In an incredible run of form, Laliberte has points in night of the team’s last ten games in January, posting ten points (5 goals, 5 assists) over that span. So far this season Laliberte ranks second on the team in points (28), shots on goal (125) and power play goals (3), third in goals (11) and fourth in assists (17).

Phantoms Goalie of the Month: (January)

Johan Backlund – G – #31 8 GP, 5-2-1, 2.22 GAA, 0.930 Sv.%, 240 Svs.

Johan Backlund continues his incredible season in goal for the Phantoms, proving just how comfortably he has acclimated to the North American game. The Skellefteå, Sweden native started the month by winning three straight, part of a personal six-game winning streak. Backlund made a season-high 43 saves in a 4-3 shootout loss at Binghamton on January 22nd, which ended his winning-streak, but he responded with back-to-back wins over the Senators, stopping 31-of-34 shots on January 27th and holding them to one goal on January 29th. Over his eight starts in January he never allowed more than three goals in one game and posted a very impressive 2.22 goals-against average and a 0.930 save percentage. For the season Backlund has a 14-10-1 record, with a 2.57 GAA and a 0.915 save percentage, while making 708 saves over 1,540:38 of action.

Phantoms Rookie of the Month: (January)

Joonas Lehtivuori – D – #2 14 GP, 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists), +8, 4 PIMs

Rookie defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori continues his evolution as a reliable two-way defender for the Adirondack Phantoms. The Tampere, Finland native has increased his point production each month of the season and put up five points (2 goals, 3 assists) and a massive +8 plus-minus rating in 14 games. Lehtivuori had an assist a +3 rating on January 6th at Albany, he scored a power play goal against Bridgeport on January 13th and then tallied the first even strength goal of his pro career on January 23rd vs. Albany. He also put together a five game streak where he had a plus rating in each game (totaling +7). Overall this season he tied for the lead amongst Phantoms defensemen in scoring with twelve points (3 goals, 9 assists) and leads the team with a +6 plus-minus rating in 35 games played.

Phantoms Quick Hits:

· ON THE PLUS SIDE – Rookie defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori has surged to the top of the Phantoms plus-minus category with a +6 rating this season. The Tampere, Finland native was +4 during the four games this week and has been a minus-player in just one of his last ten games; during that span he is +8.

· ON THE MINUS SIDE – Adirondack has an AHL-low 109 team goals this season and a 2.32 goals-per-game average, which is 12 goals less than the 28th ranked offense Bridgeport (121 goals) who has a 2.37 average. However, the Phantoms rank 14th in goals-against average (2.83), having allowed 133 goals in their 47 games this year.

· HOT HAND – RW David Laliberte has the goal-scoring touch at the moment for the Phantoms as he scored in all four games of Week 18 to equal an Adirondack season-high four-game goal streak. Laliberte ranks third on the team with 11 goals this year and matched Stefan Legein’s four-game goal streak, although Legein scored six goals during his streak and Laliberte has four.

· DEBUTANTS – Two players made their AHL debuts on Saturday night against Norfolk, Russian defenseman Denis Bodrov and Finnish left wing Mika Pyorala. These two skaters are not typical AHL rookies who need time to adjust to the pro level. Between them they have 642 game of experience in the elite leagues in Europe and Pyorala started the season playing 36 NHL games for the Philadelphia Flyers.

· STREAKING – Patrick Maroon has been on a tear, only interrupted by the concussion he suffer at Albany on December 30th, which kept him out of the lineup for 12 games. The St. Louis, Missouri native is on a four-game assist and point streak (2 goals, 4 assists) and a +3 rating; but were it not for the injury his point streak might be reaching double digits. In his last 12 games, Maroon has 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) and a +9 rating; he is also tied for the team lead in assists this season with 21.

· APPROACHING MILESTONES – Captain Jared Ross is 3 games away from his 300th career AHL game, D Sean Curry needs 4 games for his 500th career AHL game and LW Jason Ward is 10 games shy of his 700th career Pro game; Ward played in his 350th career AHL game on January 24th at Rochester.

· MATSUMOTO BENCHMARK – Phantoms leading scorer Jon Matsumoto had a fantastic two games against Binghamton this week. The Ottawa, Ontario native equaled an Adirondack season high with three assists on Wednesday at Binghamton and then had an assist on the game-winning goal over the Senators Friday in Glens Falls. Matsumoto’s assist on Friday gave him 150 career Pro & AHL points, a feat he accomplished in his 216th career Pro & AHL game; he has 69 goals and 81 assists in 218 career AHL games.

Phantoms Recent Transactions

January 30 – DELETE – Trent Daavettila (C) – Released from PTO; returned to Kalamazoo (ECHL).

January 30 – ADD – Mika Pyorala (LW) – Assigned by Philadelphia (NHL).

January 26 – ADD – Denis Bodrov (D) – Signed standard AHL contract.

Adirondack Phantoms Team Leaders:

Games Played: Stefan Legein & Jon Matsumoto (47)

Goals: Stefan Legein (19)

Assists: Patrick Maroon & Jon Matsumoto (21)

Points: Jon Matsumoto (39)

Plus/Minus: Joonas Lehtivuori (+6)

Penalty Minutes: Matt Clackson (133)

Power Play Goals: Jon Matsumoto (5)

Short Handed Goals: Stefan Legein (3)

Game-Winning Goals: Four players tied (2)

Shots: Jon Matsumoto (146)

Shooting Percentage: Stefan Legein (18.3%)

Wins: Johan Backlund (14)

GAA: John Grahame (2.56)

Save Percentage: Johan Backlund (0.915)

Saves: Johan Backlund (708)

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Adirondack returns to action on Wednesday, February 3rd as they travel to Pennsylvania for a 7:05 pm face off with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The Phantoms next home game is on Friday, February 5th as they host the Manchester Monarchs for a 7:00 pm face off at the Civic Center.

There is no better way to watch Phantoms Hockey than by sharing it with a group of your family and friends. Bring a group of 15 or more people to the Glens Falls Civic Center and qualify for incredible discounted ticket prices off the regular box office rates. For more information about group tickets, contact the Phantoms at 518-480-3355 or visit www.phantomshockey.com.