ADIRONDACK PHANTOMS (9-7-1) vs. Springfield Falcons (10-7-0)

Phantoms- 5th Northeast Division, 10th Eastern Conference
Falcons – 2nd Northeast Division, 7th Eastern Conference

Glens Falls Civic Center – Glens Falls, NY
Friday, November 25 (7:00 p.m.)

Thanks Phantoms Fans!

The Adirondack Phantoms would like to take this opportunity during the Thanksgiving weekend to thank all of you terrific fans for your wonderful support of AHL hockey in the North Country. And we also offer a big thank you to all of the fans who came out early this morning to support our first Orange-and-Black Friday sale. The fans lined up to get the great discount tickets and also gobbled up some fantastic merchandise specials and sales. It has been a long day for the Phantoms staff arriving early in the morning to have everything set up for the Orange-and-Black Friday sale but the outpouring of support and the great response to this new idea made it all worthwhile.

Home at Last

The Phantoms return home from a four-game road trip when they host the Springfield Falcons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night, for ‘80s Night at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Tonight's game also features $2 draft-beer specials through the first intermission (Bud Light and Labatt Blue Light).

With a chance for a .500 road trip, Adirondack lost to the defending champion Senators by a score of 5-2 on Thursday night. Although the Phantoms finished with a 1-3-0 record on the trip, they return to a home where they are 15-3-5 since last February. The Adirondack Phantoms are 5-0-0 all-time against the Springfield Falcons. The Phantoms got a 2-1 win at Springfield in the only head-to-head meeting this season, on November 4.

However, the Falcons are a much-improved team from the one Adirondack defeated three weeks ago. Springfield comes to town on a three-game winning streak, having outscored its opponents by a clip of 11-3 over the last two games.

By going 4-1-0 since their loss to Adirondack, the Falcons have jumped one point ahead of the Phantoms in the Northeast Division standings. However, a Phantoms win on Friday could result in them jumping over Springfield, Albany and Bridgeport in the division standings.

Northeast Division Standings

1. Connecticut Whale (23 pts)
2. Springfield Falcons (20 pts)
3. Bridgeport Sound Tigers (20 pts)
4. Albany Devils (20 pts)
5. Adirondack Phantoms (19 pts)

Denis Hamel Countdown – 1 Goal to Catch Merkosky

The Phantoms’ leading scorer, Denis Hamel, is one goal behind Adirondack Hockey Hall of Famer Glenn Merkosky for 12th place on the AHL’s all-time goal-scoring list. With a team-best nine goals this season, Hamel is up to 324 career tallies. Merkosky scored 325 times in a career that stretched from 1980-1991.
By assisting Tom Sestito’s second goal on Thursday night, Hamel reached the 300-assist milestone (in the AHL) and tied Brian Kilrea and Ken Gernander for 34th place in career points (624).

Playing in Binghamton, where he compiled an all-time Senators record of 392 career points, Hamel played in his 793rd AHL game and 985th professional game on Thursday night.

Adirondack Phantoms (NHL Affiliate: Philadelphia Flyers)

Tom Sestito scored both of Adirondack’s goals Thursday night and is up to six markers for the season. Sometimes more known for his pugilistic tendencies (he leads the Phantoms with five fights), Sestito is on pace to shatter his career-high for goals in a season as a professional (13), which he produced while playing for both the Springfield Falcons and Adirondack Phantoms last season. Sestito scored 42 goals with the Ontario Hockey League’s Plymouth Whalers five years ago, which led his team. Sestito was acquired by the Phantoms from the Springfield Falcons in a late February trade. He also played three season for the Syracuse Crunch from 2007-2010 when they were the Blue Jackets top affiliate. The Rome, NY native is the younger brother of Tim Sestito of the Devils who was recently called up to New Jersey from Albany.

Brayden Schenn returned to play his first game back with the Phantoms on Thursday night after he suffered a broken foot while playing for the Flyers on October 26. Schenn got an assist on Thursday and has four goals and five assists over five games with the Phantoms this season. Schenn has at least one point in all five games he’s played with Adirondack and has seven goals and eight assists in 11 total games in the AHL. All of Schenn’s prior AHL experience came with the Manchester Monarchs, who are the top affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. Los Angeles drafted Schenn fifth overall in 2009 and was acquired by the Flyers in an off-season trade.

Jason Akeson has been Adirondack’s biggest scoring threat in the month of November. Prior to being held pointless Thursday night, Akeson had produced three goals and three assists of the prior five games, putting together a team-best five-game point streak. The 21-year-old from the Ottawa subrub of Orleans, Ontario was the top scorer in the OHL last year with 108 points as well as a league-leading 84 assists.

Michael Leighton is expected to get the start in goal on Friday after not making the trip to Binghamton. Leighton made 20 saves on 21 shots on November 4 in Springfield in a solid performance. He holds a 6-5-0 record this season and a 20-17-3 record over the last two seasons with the Phantoms.

Phantoms Leaders

Goals: Denis Hamel (9)
Assists: Garrett Roe (10)
Points: Denis Hamel (15)
Plus/Minus: Garrett Roe (+8)
Penalty Minutes: Tom Sestito (63)
Wins: Michael Leighton (6)
Goals-Against Average: Michael Leighton (2.61)
Save Percentage: Michael Leighton (.909)
Shutouts: Michael Leighton(1)

Springfield Falcons (NHL Affiliate: Columbus Blue Jackets)

This is Springfield's second season as the affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Previously, the Blue Jackets had been the parent-club for the Syracuse Crunch. Springfield had previously been affiliated with the Edmonton Oilers.

The Falcons are led by head coach Rob Riley who is in his second season at the bench in Springfield. Riley had previously been a scout for the Blue Jackets for four seasons. He spent 18 seasons as head coach of Army, where he compiled a 257-288-33 record (.473 win percentage) in 578 career games from 1986-2004. He served as an assistant coach at Army in 1985-86 to his father, Jack, and the two are the all-time winningest father-son combination in college hockey history with 848 victories between them.

The Falcons have been members of the AHL since 1994. A rich hockey history dates back to 1926 in western Massachusettes with the Springfield Indians who were founding members of the American Hockey League in 1936. The old Springfield Indians were owned and operated by the legendary Eddie Shore. The Springfield Indians boast seven Calder Cup Championships (1960, 1961, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1990, 1991) but as the Springfield Falcons they have yet to win a league crown.

Since their 2-1 loss to Adirondack on November 4, the Falcons have gone 4-1-0 to leapfrog the Phantoms in the standings and improve their overall mark to 10-7-0.

Alexandre Giroux has returned to Springfield after missing parts of the season either with injury or on call-up to Columbus. The 11th-year pro has won two Calder Cups with the Hershey Bears and has five goals in the last four games. Giroux has 346 career goals, which are 10th most in AHL history and tops among all active AHL'ers, 22 ahead of Denis Hamel who has 324.

38-year-old goalie Manny Legace won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002. Legace has won three straight starts, allowing a total of six goals over his last four starts. Legace was also previously with the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes. This season, he has a 2.05 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in six starts.

Danny Taylor (5-2-0) has started just once since he lost to the Phantoms on December 4.

Cam Atkinson has three goals in the last two games and scored Springfield's only goal on November 4 against Adirondack. The Greenwich, CT native was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award withBoston College and won a National Title in 2009-10.

Martin St. Pierre leads the Falcons with 16 assists and 21 points, while Nick Drazenovic is second on the team with 13 assists and 17 points.

Falcons Leaders

Goals: Ryan Russell/Cam Atkinson (8)
Assists: Martin St. Pierre (16)
Points: Martin St. Pierre (21)
Plus/Minus: Martin St. Pierre/Nick Drazenovic/David Savard (+6)
Penalty Minutes: Dane Byers (58)
Wins: Danny Taylor (5)
Goals-Against Average: Manny Legace (2.05)
Save Percentage: Manny Legace (.928)
Shutouts: None

Stat Pack

--The Adirondack Phantoms are a perfect 5-0-0 all-time against the Falcons.

--The Phantoms are 15-3-5 over their last 23 home games, dating back to last season. Adirondack is 4-2-1 at home this season. Springfield is 5-2-0 on the road, not having lost an away
game since October 23. In the middle of their road unbeaten streak, the Falcons had a six-game homestand on which they went 4-2-0.

--The Phantoms are 4-3-0 in the second half of back-to-back games.

--The Falcons haven’t played in six days, since getting a 4-1 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last Saturday.

--Thursday’s game in Binghamton was Phantoms captain Ben Holmstrom’s 100th professional game. It was Jon Kalinski’s 200th AHL game. After missing the first month of the season, Kalinski made his season debut in the November 4 game at Springfield and scored a game-winning, shorthanded goal. Adirondack’s other goal scorer on November 4 was Garrett Klotz.

--After tonight, the Phantoms and Falcons play two more times this season. The clubs face off on March 24 in Glens Falls, while Adirondack’s final road game of the season will be in Springfield on April 13.

--Joe Paterson is 34-23-9 as the Phantoms' head coach. The former Adirondack Red Wings Standout in the early 1980s also had 63 wins as head coach of the Louisville Panthers from 1999-2001 giving him a total 97 victories in his professional coaching career.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, November 26, 7:00 - Albany Devils at Phantoms. Time Warner Cable Cup Rivalry Game #2. Phantoms Snow Cap Giveaway for first 1,000 kids (age 14 and younger) courtesy of UniFirst.

Wednesday, November 30, 7:00 - Syracuse Crunch at Phantoms. $1 Hot Dogs. Free tickets with lightly used coat donation to Phantoms office this week.

Friday, December 2, 7:30 - Phantoms at Norfolk Admirals

Saturday, December 3, 7:15 - Phantoms at Norfolk Admirals

Tuesday, December 6, 7:30 - Phantoms at Hamilton Bulldogs

Phantoms Holiday Socks are on sale now. $49 package for 4 tickets to a premium Phantoms game, an autographed puck, a program, all in a game-worn Phantoms hockey sock. $59 for an autographed stick with the 4 premium game tickets, program and game-worn Phantoms hockey sock.

Catch all the action of Phantoms hockey all season long on the team's flagship station, Classic Hits Q101.7 and on phantomshockey.com. Bob Rotruck has the broadcast coverage 30 minutes prior to game-time with Countdown to Faceoff.

The Adirondack Phantoms are now over 10,000 members strong on their social media networks. Be sure to follow us on twitter @phantomshockey and on facebook.com/adkhockey