October 1, 2012

Bob Rotruck is in Voorhees, NJ this week covering Phantoms training camp

Some more videos and pics as well as a little game preview here. Pace picking up here in Voorhees and there's lots going on:

The Adirondack Phantoms officially open their preseason schedule with a Tuesday afternoon tilt against the Albany Devils at the Virtua Center Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. The game begins at 2:00 pm and it's free admission for fans so we're expecting a packed turnout. It's not a very big arena but it does have 5 rows of bleacher seats on one side and I'm guessing seating capacity might be 400-500 or so. And you can get another 100 fans standing around the glass I would guess. Very rough estimates there.

I think the team is excited and ready to get started with actual games even though they are exhibitions. They've had two-a-day practices throughout their training camp so far and have been working hard on passing, shooting and skating drills. But now they actually hit to hit somebody from another team. And it's not like the Adirondack Phantoms and Albany Devils have been on the friendliest terms the past couple years so getting the rivalry started again right away should be fun.

If spots are set for regarding which players will make the Phantoms roster then nobody has said so. Competition is pretty fierce and with the caliber of players being sent down to Adirondack from Philadelphia it only gets tougher.

39 guys arrived to camp including seven on tryout contracts. Some will be cut. Some will be sent down to Trenton of the ECHL. Speaking of which, the ECHL will be seeing a similar increase in the caliber of play this season because the AHL quality guys that will make it down to their league. Adirondack will probably bring 22 players or so back to Glens Falls I would think.

The preseason game on Tuesday will feature a pretty stacked lineup for Adirondack that will include Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, Erik Gustafsson, Brandon Manning and Marc-Andre Bourdon.

The Albany Devils have Adam Larsson and Adam Henrique among others sent down from New Jersey who will be skating for their AHL team in this game. Henrique was one of the heroes of the New Jersey Stanley Cup run. Among his five post-season goals was a Game 7 winner in double overtime in the opening round against the Florida Panthers.

And the Devils also have some fierce battles developing for roster spots on their squad as well.

Players on both sides are excited to get into actual games.

"The competition will be high in the game," said Phantoms head coach Terry Murray, who returns to the AHL bench for the first time since the 1989-90 season with the Baltimore Skipjacks.

"Clearly you have everybody in the organization watching them and the kids want to come out and play their best and impress because they're battling for jobs and want to make sure they're leaving a good impression with management."

We will have updates on our twitter pages @phantomshockey and @BobRotruck and later you can check the team's website for the full game recap plus some pics and videos.

The full lineup for Adirondack in this Tuesday preseason game:

FORWARDS: Jason Akeson, Matt Mangene, Garrett Roe, Zac Rinaldo, Matt Ford, Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, Ben Holmstrom, Tyler Brown, Tye McGinn, Andrew Johnston, Mike Testwuide, Harry Zolnierczyk and Shane Harper.

DEFENSE: Marc-Andre Bourdon, Danny Syvret, Oliver Lauridsen, Cullen Eddy, Erik Gustafsson, Brandon Manning, Blake Kessel and Tyler Hostetter

GOALTENDERS: Cal Heeter, Niko Hovinen, Scott Munroe.

And now onto all that other fun stuff from training camp: Lots of videos and pics as usual!

Got to meet goalie Niko Hovinen and learn more about him and his thoughts of his first season in the U.S. The native of Finland will also be bringing his wife and 7-month old baby girl to Glens Falls this season. He's excited to show his stuff in the AHL!

Brayden Schenn and Jason Akeson were among a handful of Phantoms players who headed down from Voorhees to Philadelphia to check out an exciting Sunday Night Football game between the Eagles and the Giants. I decided to get the two of them together and talk about it a ltitle bit.

Passing drill from day 3 of practice. High pace and it just keeps going and going.

And here's an interview with Tyler Brown and his thoughts going into the season:

And some pics too:

Sneak Preview of the Phantoms Exhibition Game jerseys

Couple of pics from practice. Practicing one-timers here. All receiving passes from the corner and blasting away. Jason Akeson hit a good one while I was watching.

Passing drills up and down the ice. It was all gogogogo again. Coach Murray has these guys really moving.

Here's a couple of pics of 6'7" tall goalie Niko Hovinen from Finland. Yes, he is a really big guy!

Jason Akeson snapped this pic from his seats at Sunday Night Football where he went with buddies Brayden Schenn and Tye McGinn.

And the runaway winner for Pic of the Day is of Luke Pither. Haha. He and Tyler Brown were hanging out and popped into a Halloween store. Lookin' good, Luke!