October 31, 2012

This Week's Games

Friday, November 2 (7:00) - Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms
Saturday, November 3 (7:00) - Albany Devils at Adirondack Phantoms


Last Week's Scores

Friday, October 26 - Albany Devils 5 - Adirondack Phantoms 1
Saturday, October 27 - Rochester Americans 6 - Adirondack Phantoms 2
Sunday, October 28 - Adirondack Phantoms 4 - Syracuse Crunch 3 (OT)


Phantoms Leaders
Brayden Schenn 4-5-9
Sean Couturier 1-5-6
Tye McGinn 3-1-4
Zac Rinaldo 2-1-3

Scott Munroe 2-2-0, 3.28, .909
Cal Heeter 1-2-0, 4.00, .859


Weekend Homestand

The Adirondack Phantoms enjoy their first homestand of the 2012-13 season as they play back-to-back games at the Glens Falls Civic Center this Friday and Saturday. It's an all-rivalry weekend as the Syracuse Crunch come to town Friday night followed by the Albany Devils on Saturday night.

The Adirondack Phantoms stand at 3-4-0 overall and are looking to move ahead of the .500 mark with a sweep of the tough upcoming home weekend.

Friday night's game features the return of $2 draft beer specials PLUS the All-American pregame buffet in Heritage Hall with grilled hamburgers, hot-dogs and much more.

Saturday night is Phantoms Poster Night for the first 3,000 fans presented by Glens Falls Printing. And fans can take their great posters to Heritage Hall after the game where the whole team will be appearing to sign autographs. Be prepared to stay after the game. You won't want to miss this great autograph opportunity with the WHOLE team!

It's the best caliber of hockey ever to hit Glens Falls with several current NHL'ers suiting up for the Phantoms due to the lockout. When you get your tickets in advance, you save. Call the Phantoms at 518-480-3355.


Looking Ahead

After this weekend, it's a five-game road-trip for the Phantoms beginning next Friday and Saturday, November 9 and 10 at Rochester and Albany and continuing the following week to Manchester, Binghamton and Syracuse.

The Phantoms will return to the Glens Falls Civic Center over Thanksgiving week to begin an exciting six-game run of home games to help boost your holiday fun! It's a lot of hockey over less than two weeks at the Glens Falls Civic Center with some great promotions for the fans. It's also the team's longest homestand of the season. This fantastic portion of the schedule runs from Wednesday, November 21 through Saturday, December 1 and includes the team's traditional and popular Black Friday home game on Friday, November 23 against the Norfolk Admirals.

Contact a Phantoms ticket representative to book your group of 15 or more fans and save big. Or order your 22-pack or 12-pack. If you plan on coming to more than one Phantoms game this season, then we have the ticket package for you to save some bucks! Call the Phantoms at 518-480-3355.


Phantoms Week in Review

Friday, October 26 - Albany 5 - Adirondack 1

The Albany Devils got an early 2-0 lead and never looked back as they defeated the Adirondack Phantoms 5-1 on Friday night at the Times Union Center.

Zac Rinaldo scored on a penalty shot late in the first period. It was the second straight game for him scoring a goal and his first ever penalty shot.

Adam Henrique got it back early in the second with a penalty shot of his own.

The AHL had not seen two penalty shot goals scored in the same game in 16 years. The last time it happened was December 7, 1996 in a game between Springfield and Providence.

Cal Heeter played well for the Phantoms despite taking the loss. He kept Adirondack close in the game through the first two periods and made several fine stops.

The game was the first of 12 in the Time Warner Cable Cup rivalry series and gives the Devils a 1-0 lead.


Saturday, October 27 - Rochester 6 - Adirondack 2

One of the highest scoring teams in the AHL invaded the Glens Falls Civic Center and were able to fire home six goals before the evening was through in a 6-2 victory. The penalty-filled affair featured numerous power plays and a total of 94 penalty minutes and 17 power plays.

Rochester went 2-for-10 on the power play while Adirondack was 0-for-7. Entering the game, the Phantoms were the least penalized team in the AHL but a number of slashing and hooking infractions right from the start changed that rather quickly.

Harry Zolnierczyk and Mike Testwuide scored for the Phantoms. For "Big Mike" it was his first game of the year.

Adirondack was trailing only 4-2 with four minutes to go AND went on a power play with an opportunity to close the deficit. The Phantoms pulled goalie Scott Munroe to increase their chances of making it a one-goal game but shortly thereafter surrendered an empty-netter and then another goal after that.

Rick Schoefield scored a pair of goals to lead the Amerks.

Tye McGinn dropped the gloves with Nick Tarnasky after he earned a five-minute major for boarding on hit against Danny Syvret. It was a quality fight with both tough guys landing several solid rights against each other.

Rochester outshot the Phantoms 51-30 in the game as they won the first of four games between the two teams. The Phantoms travel to western New York for a rematch at Blue Cross Arena next Friday, November 9.


Sunday, October 28 - Adirondack 4 - Syracuse 3 (OT)

Comeback-Time for the Phantoms!! With their backs to the wall as they were winding down their first three-in-three weekend of the season, Adirondack staged an exciting and dramatic comeback to pull out an overtime win at the Syracuse Crunch 4-3.

Brayden Schenn scored a rare 6-on-3 power-play and extra-attacker goal with 1:02 remaining to tie the score. And Brandon Manning needed just 14 seconds into the overtime to blast home the game-winner and stun the Syracuse-partisan crowd.

Tye McGinn scored a pair of goals for the Phantoms in the second period to give Adirondack a 2-1 lead at the time as he completed a nice weekend of play. Schenn participated in every goal finishing the day with one goal and three assists.

Cal Heeter was especially strong in net in his first career professional victory with 32 saves as he allowed only one even-strength goal.

It was the first overtime game of the season and the second time the team has battled back from a deficit to post a victory.


Firsts and Milestones

Cal Heeter posted his first career professional win on Sunday afternoon at the Syracuse Crunch. The rookie out of Ohio State stopped 32 out of 35 shots he faced and allowed only one even strength goal. Heeter has made three starts so far for the Phantoms but has yet to appear in game action at home. The native of St. Louis, MO was 13-11-5, 2.45, .918 with the Buckeyes in his senior season last year. In his career at OSU he went 39-36-11 with a goals against average of 2.58 and a saves percentage of .915 in a total of 94 games played. One of his highlights last year was a 40-save shutout of national ranked Miami (Ohio) on January 7, 20111 in a 1-0 win.

Brandon Manning scored the first overtime goal of his professional career. The Prince George, BC native says he has scored a couple of overtime winners in juniors. The former captain of the Chilliwack Bruins earned an "A" as an alternate captain as a 22-year-old defenseman. "ManDog" joined the Phantoms in December of last year after missing the first two months with injury and impressed so much that he made it up to the Flyers for a four-game stint in March as he made his NHL debut.

Tye McGinn recorded the third multi-goal game of his career. All three of his standout performances have been against Norfolk/Syracuse. McGinn scored five out of his 11 goals last season against the Norfolk Admirals including a couple of two-goal games. Tampa Bay moved their affiliate from Norfolk to Syracuse this season so the current Crunch team is pretty much the same as last year's Calder Cup Champion Admirals team. And McGinn's success against them has continued as well with his two-goal effort Sunday afternoon. Seven of McGinn's career 15 professional goals scored have come against the Tampa Bay affiliate.


Saratoga Spine Phantoms Player of the Week - Brayden Schenn

Brayden Schenn is the Saratoga Spine Phantoms Player of the Week. He participated in all four of Adirondack's scores in their dramatic come-from-behind win at Syracuse on Sunday with one goal and three assists which included the 6-on-3 tally with just 1:02 remaining.

The 21-year-old Schenn is in his second full season of professional hockey and is one of 10 players on the Adirondack roster who played with the Philadelphia Flyers last year or earlier. Schenn was the fifth overall pick in the NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings in 2009 and scored a combined total of 21 goals last season. He began with six goals with Adirondack early in the year including a hat trick in October, 2011 against Bridgeport. He then added 12 regular season goals for the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL regular season beginning with his first ever NHL goal on the biggest hockey stage of all; The Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. He added three more goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Not surprisingly, Schenn is the Phantoms leader in scoring seven games into the season with nine points on four goals and five assists.


Lightning Connection

Many fans would not remember that Adirondack was briefly affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Before the AHL expanded to 30 teams, it was not uncommon for teams to share parent-club affiliations. The Adirondack Red Wings were jointly affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings AND the Tampa Bay Lightning from 1996-98 in the early seasons of the Lightning franchise. Paul Brousseau, who led Adirondack in scoring in 1996-97 with 35 goals and 66 points, was perhaps the best known of the Lightning prospects to play for the Adirondack Red Wings. He would rack up 45 more goals with Adirondack in 1997-98.


Upcoming Opponents


Syracuse Crunch, 4-1-2 (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Last year, the majority of this team were together as the Norfolk Admirals and went on to win the Calder Cup following an historic and almost unfathomable 28-game win streak to conclude the regular season.

Tampa Bay switched their affiliation from Norfolk to Syracuse and with the switch went some of the highest scoring young players in the league including Cory Conacher and Tyler Johnson.

The last time Norfolk was at the Glens Falls Civic Center was April 15, 2012. Ben Holmstrom thought he had tied the score with 19 seconds remaining via a 6-on-5 goal. But the referee waved it off due to slight contact in the crease on a controversial decision as the Admirals were able to finish the year with their 28-game streak.

Cory Conacher - AHL MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2011-12 with 39 goals and 41 assists.
Undrafted speedster out of Canisius College.
Second in the AHL in points with 11 on five goals and six assists.
Related to Hockey Hall of Famers Charlie Conacher (1929-41 mostly with Toronto), Roy Conacher (1938-1952 Boston, Chicago) and Lionel Conacher (1925-37 NY Americans, Montreal Maroons).

Tyler Johnson - Second-year pro out of Spokane in the WHL had a tremendous rookie season with 31 goals and 37 assists. This year he has already racked up five goals and three assists.

Brett Connolly - a send-down from Tampa Bay during the NHL lockout.
Played in 68 games with the Lightning in his rookie season scoring four goals.

Mike Angeledis- Captain of the Crunch and former captain of the Albany River Rats The center played for Albany for four seasons from 2006-10. Will take many of the team's key face-offs.

Riku Helenius - Talented first round pick of TB in 2006 (#15 overall).
Back in the U.S. after last three seasons in Finland and Sweden.
His last season in the AHL was 2008-09 with Norfolk (9-15-0, 2.72, .918)
This season is 1-1-0, 4.81, .824

Dustin Tokarski - Fifth round pick of Lightning in 2008
Went 32-11-0, .913, 2.23 last year with Norfolk in helping lead the team to the Calder Cup.
This year is 3-1-1, .904, 2.37.
Broke Michael Leighton's Admirals record for most career wins. Leighton had 75 victories. Tokarski now has 83.
Led the Spokane Chiefs to the 2008 Memorial Cup
and was goaltender for Team Canada's fifth consecutive gold medal at 2009 World Juniors.

Jon Cooper - Was a shoe-in for Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award for AHL Coach of the Year honors.

Jeff Dimmen - Played for the Norfolk Admirals last year. Reunited with his former teammates this weekend.


Albany Devils, 2-4-0 (New Jersey Devils)

Game 2 out of 12 for the Time Warner Cable Cup. Devils lead the season series 1-0.

Rick Kowalsky is in his third year at the helm of the Devils who are 2-4-0 to begin the season. Last weekend, they defeated Adirondack 5-1 on Friday and then lost at Hershey on Saturday 3-0. Kowalsky was previously the head coach of Trenton (ECHL) for four years before being promoted to Albany.

Jacob Josefson - Early scoring leader for Devils, 4 goals and 2 assists. 21-year-old center played in 41 games with New Jersey last year scoring two goals and seven assists. Also played in 28 games with New Jersey in 2010-11 with three goals.

Adam Henrique - 16 goals for NJ during regular season.
Game 7 double OT winner vs. Florida in first round of Stanley Cup playoffs.
25 goals for Albany in 2010-11.
Former teammates with Eric Wellwood with Windson Spitfires (OHL) who won back-to-back Memorial Cups.

Tim Sestito - older brother of the Flyers' and Phantoms' Tom Sestito (currently with Sheffield in England).
Played in 18 games with New Jersey last year.
While with Albany, he logged 45 games and nine goals.

Darcy and Kelly Zajac - Younger brothers of 2004 NJ first-rounder Travis Zajac who has 91 goals, 423 games
Darcy is in third full pro season. Scored 8 goals in 66 games with Albany last year. Also played in 2 games with Adirondack in 2009-20.
Kelly is a rookie out of Union College who has not played for the Devils yet due to injury.

Keith Kinkaid - Second-year pro goalie out of Union. Last year was 17-20-3, 2.94, .904 with three shutouts including one vs. Adirondack. This year is 1-3-0, .913, 2.27

Jeff Frazee - Second-round pick of NJ in 2005 out of University of Minnesota. Winner vs. Phantoms last Friday. 12-19-2, .906, .267 last year. This season is 1-1-0, .915, 2.02


Time Warner Cable Cup

The Adirondack Phantoms and Albany Devils season-long rivalry is again being sponsored by Time Warner Cable. The Phantoms have won the last two Time Warner Cable Cups including a 7 games to 3 advantage last year that featured three overtime wins on home-ice for Adirondack. The Albany Devils lead the rivalry series so far this year 1 game to 0.

The Phantoms and Devils are squaring off in three consecutive weekends. Adirondack travels back to the Times Union Center on Saturday, November 10 at 7:00 pm.

The two teams will face each other 12 times in 2012-13 including six encounters at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Adirondack Phantoms are 13-5-1 all-time against the Albany Devils. The lone Albany claim for the Time Warner Cable Cup came in 2009-10 when their team was still known as the Albany River Rats.

Stats Breakdown

---- Offense -- Defense -- Shots ----- Shot Against - PP ------ PK

ADK 2.57 (21st) 3.71 (27th) 32.4 (4th ) 32.7 (25th) 11.6 (22nd) 82.4 (14th)
SYR 3.57 (8th ) 3.57 (24th) 31.6 (8th ) 26.3 (6th ) 21.7 (10th) 84.6 (13th)
ALB 2.33 (24th) 2.33 (5th ) 29.2 (20th) 25.3 (4th ) 09.5 (28th) 80.0 (16th)

On The Air

The Voice of the Phantoms, Bob Rotruck, has the fast-paced hockey action and excitement all season long on the flagship home of the Adirondack Phantoms, Classic Hits Q101.7 and on the Phantoms Radio Network presented by Curtis Lumber. Broadcasts begin 30 minutes prior to game-time with the Pepsi Countdown to Faceoff pregame show and also include the Great Meadow Federal Credit Union post-game show including audio-replay highlights. Be sure to tune-in on your way to and from each Phantoms home game!

The Phantoms Power Hour is back as well. The weekly show recapping the past game and featuring interviews with Phantoms players and coaches is every Monday at 7:00 pm throughout the season. A new LIVE location where the fans can join us will be announced soon.

Fans can also listen to all the Phantoms games on our internet home at ustream.tv/channel/phantomsradio . UStream is also available as a free app on Android and iPhone so you can listen wherever you go! AHLLive.com has all the games too on pay-per-view.

Phantoms Roster

The Adirondack Phantoms' 25 player roster features plenty of familiarity as well as experience. 20 out of those 25 have played for the Phantoms before including 18 last year. And 10 players on the roster have played in the NHL for the Philadelphia Flyers including nine last season. There's a lot of talent on this team including plenty of impressive NHL credentials.

The ten players on the Phantoms roster who played for the Flyers (either last season or in previous seasons) include: Marc-Andre Bourdon, Sean Couturier, Erik Gustafsson, Ben Holmstrom, Brandon Manning, Zac Rinaldo, Danny Syvret, Brayden Schenn, Eric Wellwood and Harry Zolnierczyk.

Welcome Head Coach Terry Murray

The new head coach for the Adirondack Phantoms is NHL veteran mentor Terry Murray. No coach in the history of the AHL has ever had more experience than Murray who has been at the bench for 1,012 NHL regular season games with Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington and Florida. He has posted a career record of 499-383-89-41 for a points percentage of .557 and is 19th all-time in NHL history in regular season games coached and is 18th all-time in total wins.

Murray returns to the Flyers organization for his third tour of duty as a coach. He most recently worked in the Los Angeles Kings organization, where he was the head coach from the start of the 2008-09 season through December 2011. Prior to joining the Kings, Murray was a Flyers assistant coach for four seasons from 2003-2008, working first under Ken Hitchcock and later under John Stevens.

He was the head coach of the Flyers for three seasons from 1994 through 1997, leading the Flyers to the 1997 Stanley Cup Final. He posted a record of 118-64-30 in 212 games behind the bench in Philadelphia.


Upcoming Events

Friday, November 2 (7:00) - Syracuse Crunch at Adirondack Phantoms. Start of "Movember!" $2 Draft Beer Specials. All-American Pregame Buffet ($12)

Saturday, November 3 (7:00) - Albany Devils at Adirondack Phantoms. Team Poster Giveaway Night presented by Glens Falls Printing (first 3,000 fans). Pasta Pregame Buffet ($12).

Monday, November 5 (7:00) - Phantoms Power Hour on Q101.7. Scheduled guests include Matt Mangene and Andrew Johnston. This week's show from the GFCC press-box. New live location where the fans can attend with us to be announced soon!

Friday, November 9 (7:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Rochester Americans

Saturday, November 10 (7:00) - Adirondack Phantoms at Albany Devils

Phantoms Have You Covered

We have all the latest interviews, game-recaps, videos and more. Make sure you're keeping up! Follow the Phantoms and join our online communities on facebook.com/adkhockey and on twitter @phantomshockey. And, of course, check in frequently at our official team website at phantomshockey.com

Get great savings with the Phantoms when you purchase a season ticket PLUS never waste a ticket. Your unused game tickets can be redeemed for future Phantoms games. 22-game and 12-game packages available as well.

I'm In! We need 1,756 season ticket holders for this season to help prove the viability of Glens Falls as a great hockey market. The league and other teams are watching! We're almost there. Keep it up, fans! To join the "I'm In" campaign, contribute your $50 down-payment to a season ticket for 2012-13 or ask about a 22-pack or 12-pack ticket plan. Together we can do this. Call the Adirondack Phantoms at (518) 480-3355.