March 14, 2012

Upcoming Games

Wednesday, March 14 (7:00) - Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms
Friday, Mar 16 (7:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Hershey Bears
Saturday, March 17 (7:30) - Adirondack Phantoms at Syracuse Crunch

Phantoms Results

Friday, March 9 - Norfolk Admirals 3 - Adirondack Phantoms 1
Saturday, March 10 - Adirondack Phantoms 4 - Albany Devils 3
Sunday, March 11 - Adirondack Phantoms 4 - Worcester Sharks 1


Coming Up

The Adirondack Phantoms are on a roll! And they are looking to stay that way this week as they take on Syracuse a couple of times with a trip to Hershey sandwiched in-between.

The Phantoms have pulled to within one point of a playoff spot in the increasingly tight Eastern Conference race. And a win on Wednesday at home versus Syracuse is guaranteed to vault them all the way up to seventh place! The top eight teams qualify for the postseason in April.

Adirondack has won six of their last eight overall as well as four straight road games. The Phantoms are 8-4-1 in their last 13 games as they keep moving up the standings. Now it's Crunch-Time with 15 games to go in the regular season. It's also "Crunch Time" this week with the Wednesday and Saturday night games against our in-state rival Syracuse Crunch!

The success of recent has been consistent and solid for the Phantoms. They are coming off another weekend in which they won two out of three games which is their four consecutive weekend accomplishing the impressive feat.

Wednesday night is a $1 hot-dog night at the Phantoms lone home game this week. It's also National Potato Chip Day and we are celebrating Saratoga's invention of the humble and tasty snack-food with a potato chip giveaway courtesy of Fitzgerald's. After the game, all the season ticket holders get to meet in Heritage Hall for our annual Season Ticket Holder Party which include the whole team. See ya there!

Friday night, Adirondack heads down to Hershey for our final game of the season against the Bears. And Saturday night it's back to upstate New York for a game at Syracuse.

Don't forget that the Phantoms will be coming back for more home games the following weekend. Saturday, March 24 includes a Guns 'N Hoses charity game at 3:00 to benefit NY Special Olympics followed by the Phantoms game against Springfield at 7:00. Then on Sunday, March 25 for our afternoon game against Binghamton, it's another Sunday Family 3-Pack Day for $39 (3 tickets, 3 hot dogs, 3 sodas, 1 large popcorn and 1 program) while we celebrate Dax's birthday! Lots of other mascots will converge on Glens Falls for the game as they all wish Dax a Happy Birthday. Another great post-game skate with the Phantoms players will follow courtesy of Glens Falls Hospital.

Call the Phantoms to get your tickets in advance at (518) 480-3355.


Phantoms Ticket Specials

Get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit and feel the luck of the Irish and the O'Phantoms! Two tickets plus a specially designed green Adirondack O'Phantoms T-Shirt presented by O'Toole's all for only $30.

The next Sunday Family 3-Pack Day is March 25 at 3:00. Get 3 tickets, 3 hot dogs, 3 sodas, 1 large popcorn and 1 program ALL for only $39!!

Call the Phantoms to find out more and order your great ticket packages today. 518-480-3355.

Syracuse Bus Trip

There are a few seats available for the fan bus-trip to Syracuse this Saturday night. Come join your fellow Phantoms fans and have a good time cheering on the team on the road. The whole package costs $50 and includes bus transportation on the fan-bus, a ticket to the game that night in Syracuse, and also dinner. Fans can reserve a seat on the bus by stopping by the table in the front lobby of the GFCC at Wednesday night's game or they can call Craig Lefeve at (518) 378-9533.

Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

The 2012 Class of the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame presented by Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company has been selected by the Hall of Fame Committee of area hockey historians as well as balloting from the fans themselves. Dave Casey, Murray Eaves, Pete Mahovlich and Dave Strader will all be inducted. Congratulations to all four. What a terrific honor!

Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame Night will take place on Saturday, April 14. The Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction will be held at 4:30 at Heritage Hall and then the Phantoms will play the Springfield Falcons at 7:00. Tickets for the Banquet and Induction are $35 or a table of 10 for $250. Reservations can be made to Anne Porreca at (518) 791-4248 or anneporreca@msn.com

Roster Moves

Harry Zolnericzyk and Brandon Manning have both been returned to the Adirondack Phantoms by the Philadelphia Flyers and are eligible to play for the Phantoms this week in the late-season playoff push. Congratulations especially to Manning who made his NHL debut last Thursday and also played for the Flyers on Saturday and Sunday. Way to go!

Eastern Conference Playoff Focus (8th place and up qualify for post-season)
7. Manchester Monarchs (65 pts)
8. Albany Devils (64 pts)
9. Adirondack Phantoms (63 pts)
10 Worcester Sharks (63 pts)
11. Portland Pirates (62 pts)
12. Springfield Falcons (62 pts)
13. Providence Bruins (61 pts)
14. Syracuse Crunch (60 pts)

Week in Review

Friday, March 9 (Norfolk Admirals 3 - Adirondack Phantoms 1)

The Phantoms ran into the top team in the AHL on Friday night and a slow start in the first period cost them. Norfolk won their 13th straight in a streak that they have now extended to 15 in a row as they also became the first team in the league to reach 40 victories this season.

Three goals in the first period, two by talented rookie Tyler Johnson, gave Norfolk a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

Adirondack battled back nicely. They received a power-play goal in the second period on a long wrister by Denis Hamel to close the score to 3-1. And they outplayed and outshot the affilaite of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third period 14-4. But they ran out of time in their efforts to break goalie Jaroslav Janus and ended up taking the loss.

Adirondack has one more game left with Norfolk and it could be a big one. The Phantoms host the Admirals on Sunday, April 15 on the last game of the regular season.

Saturday, March 10 (Adirondack Phantoms 4 - Albany Devils 3)

March 10 was a night to remember for Phantoms fans. A jam-packed standing-room crowd of 5,163 crammed into the Glens Falls Civic Center with a seating capacity of 4,806, the largest in over two years and the third-largest in Adirondack Phantoms' history. It was the eighth sellout in Adirondack Phantoms history and the loud and enthusiastic contingent were treated to a doozy of a game as well!

Adirondack built a 4-1 lead and then closed out a 4-3 victory over their Northway rivals to take a five games to three lead in the Time Warner Cable Cup Series with two games remaining. If the Phantoms defeat the Devils on either April 6 or April 7 they will remain champions of the Time Warner Cable Cup series.

Michael Leighton made one of the most remarkable saves the fans in attendance will ever see on a spectacular windmill, behind-the-back motion with his glove while diving to his left. After his thievery on Joe Whitney of the Devils, he received a lengthy standing ovation from the amazed and appreciative crowd.

Another lengthy ovation came in the first period when Matt Ford had his stick break in the midst of a 3-on-5 penalty-kill. The increasingly popular Phantom was still able to make a nice play even without a stick as he went down low in the slot for a loose puck and whapped it the length of the ice with his hand.

Defenseman Oliver Lauridsen surprisingly scored two goals for the Phantoms, just his 2nd and 3rd of the season. Denis Hamel added his 18th and Shane Harper his 12th.

The rivals engaged in several spirited scraps throughout the night showing their distaste for each other. And the crowd chanted "We Want Playoffs" in the third period as the team closed the distance even further on one of the playoff teams directly ahead.

The Christian Rock band Isaiah 6 performed a tremendous concert after the game.to close out the successful Faith and Family Night with the Phantoms.

Sunday, March 11 (Adirondack Phantoms 4 - Worcester Sharks 1)

The final score doesn't necessarily tell the whole story of how tough this game was for the Phantoms.

Michael Leighton made 40 saves on 41 shots in another terrific performance in net, including going 21-for-21 in a busy second period that went right up to the closing seconds when he had to deny Brandon Mashinter on a breakaway to preserve the advantage.

Rob Bordson led the way offensively with three primary assists, all differing in nature. His high loft down ice was perfectly received by Shane Harper in the first period for a breakaway goal. Bordson intercepted a puck in the Worcester zone to set up Matt Ford in the opening minute of the second period. And his slapshot from the point in the third period was right there for Mike Testwuide in the slot to deflect it upstairs for the third.

Harper picked up his 13th including his fourth in his last five. Ford recorded his 10th since joining the Phantoms in early February and his 20th overall. Testwuide and then Tye McGinn with an empty-netter both notched their 10th of the season.

It was the first meeting of the season between Adirondack and Worcester and the win pulled the Phantoms into a 9th place tie with the Sharks, just one point out of a playoff spot.

Phantoms Breakdown

-- The Phantoms are 5-2 in overtime games this year with three of those wins coming against Albany. Five different Phantoms have notched overtime game-winners this season; Matt Ford, Shane Harper, Mike Testwuide, Ben Holmstrom and Jon Kalinski.

-- Jason Akeson leads the team in points with 44 including 10 goals and 34 assists. He is third among AHL rookies in helpers and is eighth in points. Akeson led the OHL in assists (84) and points (108) last year with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL.

-- Shane Harper is on a two-game goal scoring streak and also has four goals in his last five games.

-- Denis Hamel is tops on the Phantoms in goals with 18.. The 34-year-old veteran is 11th all-time in AHL history with 333 career goals. He played his 1000th career professional game on December 31st which included 192 NHL games mostly with Buffalo and Ottawa. He is in pursuit of an amazing 10th AHL season with 20 or more goals. Hamel leads the AHL in shots with 246.

-- Matt Ford has 10 goals in just 16 games since being acquired from the Hershey Bears in a trade for Kevin Marshall. He began the season with 10 goals in 39 games with Hershey. The 27-year-old from West Hills, Cal. had a career-high 26 goals last season with Lake Erie where he was teammates with Jason Bacashihua.

-- Ford now has 6 game-winning goals for Adirondack. And has a total of 7 on the year to move into a tie for the league-lead with Mark Mancari of Chicago and Kyle Palmieri of Syacuse.

-- Michael Leighton has 35 career shutouts to rate 6th all-time in AHL history. He is one away from moving into a 4th place tie. Leighton has the most shutouts in the AHL of any goalie since 1975. This season, he is 2nd in the league in total minutes with 2453, 2nd in total saves with 1174, and tied for 5th in wins with 21.

-- Tyler Brown has scored six of his seven goals in 2012.

--The Phantoms are 21-2-1 when leading after two periods and are an impressive 18-2-1 when leading after one period.

--The Phantoms are 26-9-2 when they score first. The Phantoms are 16-10-3 in one-goal decisions.

--Adirondack is 18-11-1 at home this year which is the second most home wins in the Eastern Conference

Phantoms Leaders (Goals - Assists - Points):
Jason Akeson 10-34-44
Denis Hamel 18-18-36
Garrett Roe 7-26-33
Ben Holmstrom 11-22-33
Mike Testwuide 10-15-25
Shane Harper 13-11-24

Michael Leighton - 21-21-0, 2.67, .915
Jason Bacashihua - 8-9-1, 2.82, .908

Upcoming Opponents

Syracuse Crunch (Anaheim Ducks) -

Adirondack and Syracuse are already familiar with each other having squared-off on six occasions already. And they will become even moreso with four of their last 15 games this season coming against each other.

Adirondack leads the season series over the Crunch 4-2 heading into this week's games on Wednesday and Saturday.

Syracuse is in 14th place in the Eastern Conference at 26-27-8 for 60 points but the standings are so tight they find themselves very much still in the postseason chase. The Crunch are three points behind 9th place Adirondack, four points back of 8th and only five point out of 7th place.

The Crunch will have to do it without leading scorer Kyle Palmieri though. The AHL's top goal-scorer with 32 has again been called up to Anaheim in the NHL so will be unavailable for the Crunch on Wednesday and perhaps as well on Saturday if he sticks with the big club.

Their top point man is former Phantom Patrick Maroon with 64. He has lit up a career-high 28 goals as well as 34 assists for the team this year. The St. Louis native had 21 goals with the Phantoms in 2009-10.

First rounder Peter Holland has 21 goals and 50 points. Dan Sexton has over 80 games of NHL experience in the last two seasons and has 11 goals and 35 points for the team this year.

Former Philadelphia Phantoms goalie Antero Nittymaki is one of the netminders for the Crunch. He starred for the Phantoms from 2001-2005 and was named MVP of the post-season in leading the Phantoms to the 2005 Calder Cup championship racking up 15 post-season wins, a 1.75 goals against average and 3 shutouts. The next year, at the 2006 Winter Olympics, he slid into the role by necessity for Finland and ended up with MVP honors for the tournament.

Nittymaki has played the last two seasons with San Jose and Tampa Bay following his 2005-09 stretch with the Flyers. He was is on loan to Syracuse by San Jose currently. He played earlier this season with the Sharks' affiliate in Worcester.

Trent Yawney was brought in as head coach midway through the season and Mark Holick switched to Associate Head Coach. Yawney is a former head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks and Norfolk Admirals who recently was an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks.

The Crunch's top weakness may be on the penalty kill where they rate dead-last in the AHL out of 30 teams at just 78.2%.Their offense is 6th in the league at 3.2 goals per game but their defense is 29th at 3.25 goals allowed per contest.

Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals) -

Friday night is the fourth and last meeting of the year between the Phantoms and the Bears in a season series almost completely even dating back to the beginning days of the Philadelphia Phantoms in 1996. Hershey leads the all-time series 82-81-8 heading into the 172nd all-time meeting between the two.

Adirondack leads the series this year two games to one including a win on a magical night in Philadelphia on January 6th in front of 45,653 fans at the Outdoor Classic that shattered the all-time AHL Attendance record. Ben Holmstrom scored with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to tie that game and then Shane Harper rushed up ice with Eric Wellwood for the exciting game-winner.

The next night, January 7th, the two teams met for a rematch at Giant Center in Hershey in a game that featured some bad blood and a big fight that poured into the Phantoms bench some. This is the first encounter between Adirondack and Hershey since that fight.

Hershey is in a fight with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for 4th/5th place positioning in the Eastern Conference. Right now the Bears are tied with the Penguins with 72 points on the strength of their 31-20-10 record. The Bears are coming off back to back losses at St. John last weekend and are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games.

Still, everyone knows that the 12-time Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears are always dangerous.

Chris Bourque leads the league in points with 78 including 25 goals and 53 assists. Keith Aucoin is second in the league in points and first in assists with 70 and 59. Aucoin was on pace to be a lock to break the all-time AHL single-season assist record of 89 but he may have to hold off for that award as he has received plenty of ice-time with the Washington Capitals the past few weeks.

Jacob Mcflicker is also in the top 10 in the league in points with 57 including 21 goals.

Mark French's team is third in the AHL in scoring at 3.3 goals per game but they are 21st in total defense allowing 3.0. Their power play is easily the best in the league at an eye-opening 26.6%.On the penalty kill they are 7th at 84.4%.

Transactions

Mar 2 - Eric Wellwood (F) Recalled by Philadelphia
Mar 3 - Erik Gustafsson (D) Recalled by Philadelphia
Mar 8- Brandon Manning (D) Recalled by Philadelphia
Mar 8 - Harry Zolnierczyk (F) Recalled by Philadelphia
Mar 9 - Harry Zolnierczyk (F) Returned on loan from Philadelphia
Mar 9 - Tyler Hostetter (D) Recalled by ADK from Trenton (ECHL)
Mar 11 - Harry Zolnierczyk (F) Recalled by Philadelphia
Mar 12 - Harry Zolnierczyk (F) Returned on loan from Philadelphia
Mar 13 - Brandon Manning (D) Returned on loan from Philadelphia
Mar 13 - Tyler Hostetter (D) Loaned to Trenton (ECHL)

Phantoms Day-by-Day

Wednesday, March 14 - Practice at GFCC (10:00am). Game vs. Syracuse (7:00pm)
Thursday, March 15 - Practice at GFCC (10:00am). Bus departs for Hershey (1:00pm)
Friday, March 16 - Practice at Hershey (11:00am). Game at Hershey :7:00pm). Bus departs after game.
Saturday, March 17 - Practice at Syracuse (11:00am). Game at Syracuse (7:35). Bus departs after game.
Sunday, March 18 - Optional. Coach's discretion. Practice TBD.
Monday, March 19 - Practice at GFCC (10:00am)

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, March 14, 7:00 - Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms. $1 hot dogs. Season Ticket Holder Party after the game in Heritage Hall with the Phantoms players.

Friday, March 16, 7:00 - Adirondack Phantoms at Hershey Bears

Saturday, March 17, 7:30 - Adirondack Phantoms at Syracuse Crunch

Monday, March 19, 7:00 - Phantoms Power Hour LIVE from McGinny's. Scheduled players guests Jason Akeson and Shane Harper subject to availability.

Friday, March 23, 7:00 - Adirondack Phantoms at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Saturday, March 24, 7:00 - Springfield Falcons at Adirondack Phantoms. Guns 'N Hoses Charity Game at 3:00 to benefit NY Special Olympics.

Sunday, March 25, 3:00 - Binghamton Senators at Adirondack Phantoms. Dax' Birthday Party! Mascot Mania!! Post-game skate with the Phantoms players presented by Glens Falls Hospital.


Get great savings with the Phantoms when you bring your group of 15 friends or co-workers to a game. Group-rates available as low as $13 per person. Call the Phantoms to find out more at 518-480-3355.

Get your Adirondack O'Phantoms T-Shirts presented by O'Toole's! Two tickets for any game in March plus a St. Patrick's Day O'Phantoms logo T-Shirt all for only $30.

The Sunday Family 3-Pack is available for ALL Sunday home games! Get 3 tickets, 3 hot dogs, 3 sodas, 1 large popcorn and 1 program all for only $39. That's a savings of $26!

Follow the Phantoms at facebook.com/ADKhockey and on twitter @phantomshockey