November 20, 2012

This Week's Games

Wednesday, November 21 (7:00) - Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Adirondack Phantoms
Friday, November 23 (7:00) - Norfolk Admirals at Adirondack Phantoms
Saturday, November 24 (7:00) - Hershey Bears at Adirondack Phantoms

More Home Games

Wednesday, November 28 (7:00) - St. John's IceCaps at Adirondack Phantoms
Friday, November 30 (7:00) - Binghamton Senators at Adirondack Phantoms
Saturday, December 1 (7:00) - Albany Devils at Adirondack Phantoms

Last Week's Scores

Wednesday, November 14 - Adirondack Phantoms 4 - Manchester Monarchs 1
Friday, November 16 - Binghamton Senators 5 - Adirondack Phantoms 2
Saturday, November 17 - Syracuse Crunch 5 - Adirondack Phantoms 2


Phantoms Leaders

Goals Assists Points
Brayden Schenn 8-8-16
Sean Couturier 3-8-11
Ben Holmstrom 2-5-7
Erik Gustafsson 2-5-7


Goalies

W-L-SOL GAA SV%
Scott Munroe 3-4-1 2.57 .924
Cal Heeter 3-4-0 3.38 .882

Stats Breakdown

Record - 6-8-0
Offense - 2.4 goals per game, 23rd (out of 30)
Defense - 3.1, 22nd
Power Play - 13.6%, 22nd
Penalty Kill - 86.8%, 7th
Shots - 30.3, 16th
Shots allowed - 31.5, 21st



Thanksgiving Feast!

Happy Thanksgiving, Phantoms Fans. And welcome to the team's big Holiday Weekend Homestand. It's three games in four days so you can pack your weekend with lots of great hockey at fun times at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

It opens when the Adirondack Phantoms play their first home game in two-and-a-half weeks on Wednesday night, Thanksgiving Eve, when they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders.

The big homestand continues with the annual Black Friday game against the Norfolk Admirals and then Men' Cancer Awareness Night on Saturday against the Hershey Bears with lots of great promos.

Don't forget about our huge "Orange and Black Friday Sale" beginning at 6:00 AM with huge bargains on tickets and merchandise. The earlier you arrive, the more you save.

The Adirondack Phantoms are returning from a five-game road trip. They have played only four home games (out of 14 total) so far this season, fewest in the American Hockey League. They will bring that slate back to even over the coming days. This holiday weekend with three games in four days begins a six-game homestand for the Phantoms that will have them playing on the same days the following week; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

In fact, coming up the Phantoms will have 10 of their next 12 games at home from now through November 19.

The Phantoms are 6-8-0 overall after going 2-3-0 on their recent five-game road trip. Now it's time for a big push in this busy stretch of home games.

Brayden Schenn leads the Phantoms with eight goals this season. And Adirondack welcomes back last year's leading point producer, Jason Akeson, who will return to the Adirondack lineup for the first time this season on Wednesday night.


Orange and Black Friday Sale

It all happens this Friday morning with the team's annual Orange and Black Friday Sale. The sale runs from 6:00 AM until 12:00 PM but the best bargains are in the opening hour of the sale so arrive early! $7 game tickets for this Friday and Saturday will be available for one hour only and select merchandise discounted to 40% off that will never be priced this low again.

Phantoms 14 FLEX packs can be purchased for the price of a 10 FLEX pack saving you $56. The game tickets can be used for any games.

And the Phantoms are bringing back the popular Holiday Packs with a game-worn hockey sock perfect for hanging on your mantle stuffed with a puck or Phantoms scarf along with a program and two game tickets.

Coats and Cans

The Adirondack Phantoms are proud to announce their Coats and Cans initiative over the Thanksgiving weekend as they team up with the Greater Glens Falls Salvation Army. And you get to benefit too with a ticket to a future Phantoms game as a reward for your donation!

Please give and think of others less fortunate during this holiday season.

Bring your coat donation or bag of canned goods to any of the upcoming games on November 21, 23 or 24 and you will receive a free ticket for the Phantoms game on November 28. Fans may also drop off their donations at the Adirondack Phantoms offices located downstairs in the Glens Falls Civic Center.

All donations will be delivered to Major David Dean, pastor of the local Salvation Army, and will benefit needy families and kids in the North Country in time for the holiday season.


Mustache Mania!!

Phantoms Fight Cancer this month features players and staff growing mustaches to raise awareness and generate funds for men's cancer issues. Contribute in the donation cans at the Phantoms game for your favorite Phantoms mustache grower (even Dax!!)

The month will feature a Phantoms Mustache Jersey in our November 24 game presented by Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union with part of the proceeds from the post-game jersey auction to benefit the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation - C.R. Wood Cancer Center Capital Campaign. Visit our special Movember site at mobro.co/phantomshockey

Special "Ticket and a T-Shirt" packages to benefit area men's cancer organizations are available now for only $30 with $5 from every purchase benefiting some great local causes including the Hudson Headwaters Health Network, the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation - C.R. Wood Cancer Center Capital Campaign.

Fans can also purchase the t-shirts separately for $20, again with $5 from each purchase benefiting this great organizations.
Here's a preview of our great jerseys for the Men's Cancer Awareness Night game this Saturday.

Phantoms Fun Bus

Come aboard the Phantoms Fun Bus!
Sunday, December 9th at Providence. $65 includes bus transportation and a ticket to the game.
Bus departs at 11am. Game is at 4pm. Bus arrives back at 11pm. Sign up right away. Space is limited. Not a team sponsored event. Special thanks to our team's bus driver, Craig LaFave, for putting this together for the fans! Sign up with Craig at any of our upcoming home games.


Phantoms Week in Review

Wednesday, November 14 - Adirondack 4 - Manchester 1

Hats off to Brayden Schenn! In an unusual morning game in New Hampshire, Schenn scored a natural hat trick to lead the Phantoms to a 4-1 victory at the Monarchs. It was Schenn's first game against his former team. He was traded from the Los Angeles Kings organization to the Philadelphia Flyers a couple summers ago.

It was the second career Phantoms hat trick for Schenn who also scored three in a game on October 14, 2011 against Bridgeport in just the second game of the season last year. Schenn becomes the third Adirondack Phantom to score two hat tricks in a career joining Denis Hamel and Michael Ryan.

Garrett Roe also added a power play goal for the Phantoms and Cal Heeter made 37 saves for the win.


Friday, November 16 - Binghamton 5 - Adirondack 2

Besides the final score, the major discussion surrounding this game was a big line-brawl at the end of the second period that saw three players receive game misconducts from each team. Marc-Andre Bourdon, Garrett Roe and Mike Testwuide were all involved in simultaneous scraps with various Senators players. Tyler Brown was in a fight with Binghamton's Derek Grant as well but neither were ejected for what was rules the first fight.

As for the game itself, Sean Couturier gave Adirondack an early 1-0 lead and Ben Holmstrom tied the score at 2-2 later on after a lengthy video review following a rebound-goal from a Brayden Schenn post-shot. But Binghamton put together back-to-back goals after that and then hung onto their 4-2 advantage up until the end when they added an empty-netter.

Saturday, November 17 - Syracuse 5 - Adirondack 2

Adirondack's comeback efforts in the third period fell short as Syracuse secured a 5-2 victory in the conclusion of the Phantoms five-game road trip.

It was a 1-0 Crunch lead in the second period when an early power play goal by reigning MVP Cory Conacher would help open things up. Syracuse pushed across four goals in the first 12 minutes of the second period to take a 5-0 advantage.

Schenn quickly got Adirondack on the board after that for his team-leading eighth of the year. And Erik Gustafsson added another in the third. Eric Wellwood was denied on a breakaway by Crunch goalie Riku Helenius and a couple other close calls almost pulled the Phantoms within another incluing a Zac Rinaldo slapshot right after Gustafsson had scored. But in the end, the team that won the Calder Cup last year when they operated as the Norfolk Admirals were able to get the win and take a 2 games to 1 lead in the eight-game season series.


Saratoga Spine Phantoms Player of the Week - Brayden Schenn

Brayden Schenn is the Saratoga Spine Phantoms Player of the Week. Schenn leads the Phantoms with eight goals after he scored four more last week including his second career hat trick on Wednesday at the Manchester Monarchs.

Schenn became just the third Adirondack Phantom to score two hat tricks in his career. The 21 year old out of Saskatoon, SASK was the fifth overall selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. And his hat trick against Manchester came in his first game against the organization that traded him.

Schenn had a combined total of 18 goals last year with Adirondack and Philadelphia. He scored six with the Phantoms and 12 with the Flyers which his first ever NHL goal coming on the biggest stage of all, in the NHL Winter Classic on January 2, 2012 against the New York Rangers.


Striking First and Special Teams

Special teams continues to play a huge role and sometimes the stats lead to some extremely simple results. When Adirondack scores at least one power play goal, they win the game. If they go oh-fer on the power play, then they do not. It really has been as simple as that. 6-1 with a power play goal but 0-7 if their power play gets shut down.

Adirondack recently suffered their first loss in a game in which they scored on the power play. Schenn had a PPG on Saturday at Syracuse but the Phantoms were not able to win that game.

Coach Murray has emphasized that scoring the first goal in any game is crucial. But Adirondack has also shown an impressive ability to battle back from behind. Five of the team's six wins this year have been comeback efforts. Adirondack has scored the first goal of the game only twice this season.

Getting to the three goal mark in any game has proven to be a key as well. Adirondack is 5-0-0 when they score three or more goals, they are 1-8 in games scoring two or fewer goals.


Scott Munroe Climbing the Charts

30 year old veteran goalie Scott Munroe was the star in Adirondack's last home game on Saturday, November 3. His 26-save shutout of the Albany Devils in a 4-0 win was his 19th career AHL blanking and his 11th as a Phantom. His first 10 career shutouts came with the Philadelphia Phantoms from 2006-09.

Munroe is third all-time in Phantoms franchise history in career wins with 67 and trails Antero Nittymaki for second place all-time by just four. Neil Little has the all-time record with 177.


Iron-Man Holmstrom

25 year old captain Ben Holmstrom is racking up the games as he looks to become the all-time leader in Adirondack Phantoms history. Entering this week, Holmstrom has played in 173 career games with Adirondack which included 79 out of 80 in his rookie season.

Kevin Marshall's 185 career games with the Adirondack Phantoms is the most followed closely by Jon Kalinski with 182.

Holmstrom's 36 career goals with the Adirondack Phantoms is second all-time behind only Denis Hamel who had 48. And his 89 career points are also second all-time behind Hamel who had 96.

Last year, Holmstrom became the youngest captain in Phantoms franchise history when he was named to the position at just 24 year old. Boyd Kane (now with the Hershey Bears) had been the previous youngest captain when he was 25 with the Philadelphia Phantoms.


Upcoming Opponents


Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 10-4-0 (New York Islanders)

The Wednesday morning game will be the Phantoms' lone visit to New Hampshire this season. The Monarchs will travel to the Glens Falls Civic Center on Saturday, December 15th.

Record - 10-4-0
Division - Northeast, Second Place
Head Coach - Scott Pellerin
Offense - 3.5 goals per game, 8th (out of 30)
Defense - 2.8, 9th
Power Play - 24.6%, 3rd
Penalty Kill - 82.6%, 15th

The AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders are led by new head coach Scott Pellerin. The 1992 Hobey Baker Award winner from the University of Maine might be remembered by long-time fans in the area when he played for the Albany River Rats for three seasons including on their Calder Cup Championship team in 1995. He also played in 536 career NHL games mostly with New Jersey and St. Louis. This is his first season as an AHL head coach after serving as an assistant coach with Manchester for six years.

The Sound Tigers won back-to-back games last weekend 4-0 over Manchester and 6-2 against Providence to improve to 10-4-0 overall.

Kevin Poulin (6-3-0, 2.99, .905) and Anders Nilsson (4-0-0, 1.75, .935) are back between the pipes.

19 year old Swiss prospect Nino Niederreiter is down from the Islanders and leads the Sound Tigers with nine goals and 17 points which is also good for third in the AHL. Niederreiter was the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft while Adirondack's Brayden Schenn was the fifth overall selection in the 2009 draft (by the Los Angeles Kings).

Another 2010 first-rounder, Brock Nelson (30th overall) has seven goals and 14 points. He joined the team last season out of the University of North Dakota and is off to a quick start in his first full professional season.

Aaron Ness is in his second full season with Bridgeport and has nine assists. He was a second-round pick in 2008 out of the University of Minnesota.


Norfolk Admirals, 7-7-0 (Anaheim Ducks)


Record - 7-7-0
Division - East (Fourth)
Head Coach - Trent Yawney (2nd Season)
Offense - 3.1, 12th
Defense - 3.3, 27th
Power Play - 15.4%, 20th
Penalty Kill - 81.9%, 19th

This year's Norfolk Admirals are not the same as the group that put together an amazing 28-game win streak and cruised to a Calder Cup Championship. The team switched affiliations and went from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Anaheim Ducks. So basically, Norfolk inherited the entire team that was Syracuse last year.

Trent Yawney is in his first full season as head coach after assuming the reigns early last year. Interestingly, he had coached in Norfolk before back in the early 2000s when they were the Chicago Blackhawks affiliate.

Former Adirondack Phantom Patrick Maroon is one of the team's top guns with six goals and eight points. Maroon scored a career-high 32 goals last year for Syracuse to finish fifth in the league. He scored 23 goals with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2008-09 and then had 11 goals for the Adirondack Phantoms in 2009-10 before being traded to the Ducks organization in November, 2010. He was dealt along with David Laliberte in exchange for Rob Bordson and Danny Syvret coming to the Flyers organization.

Just like last year's Crunch team, a double-whammy of NHL first-rounders are the ones to watch out for on the Norfolk Admirals.

Peter Holland was the #15 overall selection in the 2010 draft out of Guelph of the OHL and he leads the Admirals with seven goals and 14 points. Holland had 23 goals last year as a rookie.

Kyle Palmieri was the #26 overall choice in 2009 out of Notre Dame and has six goals and 14 points after scoring 33 goals last year to finish fourth in the AHL.

Frederik Anderssen (4-3-0, 2.76, .915) and Igor Bobkov (3-4-0, 3.79, .894) are the team's goalies.

Norfolk has struggled with their tough and lengthy travel schedule going 2-4-0 on the road while they are 5-3-0 at home. But they just lost back to back home games to Springfield and have dropped four of their last five.

It is the first of just four games between Adirondack and Norfolk this season. The Phantoms do not play at Norfolk until late March.


Hershey Bears, 6-8-1 (Washington Capitals)


Record - 6-8-1
Division - East (Fifth)
Head Coach - Mark French (Third) / Adam Oates (Co-Coach)
Offense - 2.6, 20th
Defense - 2.9, 14th
Power Play - 18.8%, 9th
Penalty Kill - 81.4%, 20th

Hershey has struggled with injuries this year and are off to slow start. Last weekend they lost two of three games as they fell in Friday and Sunday decisions both against Syracuse while winning their Saturday night game against Wilkes-Barre.

Several recent Adirondack Phantoms are on the Hershey Bears roster and will be coming back to the Glens Falls Civic Center for the first time as non-Phantoms. In fact, they all lined up for a goal for Hershey a couple weeks ago when Matt Clackson scored his first of the year assisted by Kevin Marshall and Jon Kalinski.

Marshall and Kalinski rate first and second in most games played for the Adirondack Phantoms but Ben Holmstrom looks to overtake both potentially within the next month.

A couple other Phantoms from the Philadelphia days are also on the Hershey team; Ryan Potulny and Boyd Kane.

AHL veteran Garrett Stafford's 13 assists and 14 points lead the way. Stafford debuted in the league in 2003 with the Cleveland Barons.

Another veteran, Jeff Taffe, has five goals and eight assists for 13 points. Taffe started in 2002 with Springfield and has played with a whole host of teams in the AHL. He also has 180 games in the NHL in his career mostly with Pittsburgh and Phoenix.

Braden Holtby (4-5-0, 2.53, .927) made some amazing stops and grabbed attention in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs last year during Washingon's run. He was also the losing goalie against Adirondack last year in the Outdoor Classic on January 6, 2012 when Shane Harper scored the overtime winner in front of over 45,000 fans.

Dany Sabourin (2-3-0, 3.54, .882) is in his third season with Hershey. He won the Baz Bastien Memorial Trophy for the 2005-06 season as the AHL's top goaltender while with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Hershey has won 11 Calder Cups, most recently in 2009 and 2010. The storied franchise is celebrating their 75th Anniversary Season.


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.

BIG THANKSGIVING HOMESTAND!

Wednesday, November 21 (7:00) - Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Adirondack Phantoms - $1 Hot Dogs!

Friday, November 23 (7:00) - Norfolk Admirals at Adirondack Phantoms - Annual Black Friday Game. $2 Draft Beer Specials

Saturday, November 24 (7:00) - Hershey Bears at Adirondack Phantoms - Men's Cancer Awareness Night.

Includes Phantoms Youth Jersey Giveaway presented by Glens Falls Hospital Rehabilitation Team. Phantoms Mustache Jerseys and post-game auction presented by Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union with portion of proceeds to benefit Glens Falls Hospital Foundation - C.R. Wood Cancer Center Capital Campaign.



Great Youth Jerseys to be given away to the first 1,000 kids in attendance (age 14 and younger) on Saturday, November 24 presented by the Glens Falls Hospital Rehabilitation Team. Be sure to get there early!

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

Mustache Mania!!

Phantoms Fight Cancer this month features players and staff growing mustaches to raise awareness and generate funds for men's cancer issues. Contribute in the donation cans at the Phantoms game for your favorite Phantoms mustache grower (even Dax!!)

The month will feature a Phantoms Mustache Jersey in our November 24 game presented by Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union with part of the proceeds from the post-game jersey auction to benefit the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation - C.R. Wood Cancer Center Capital Campaign. Visit our special Movember site at mobro.co/phantomshockey

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

Mustache Mania!!

Phantoms Fight Cancer this month features players and staff growing mustaches to raise awareness and generate funds for men's cancer issues. Contribute in the donation cans at the Phantoms game for your favorite Phantoms mustache grower (even Dax!!)

The month will feature a Phantoms Mustache Jersey in our November 24 game presented by Parks Heritage Federal Credit Union with part of the proceeds from the post-game jersey auction to benefit the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation - C.R. Wood Cancer Center Capital Campaign. Visit our special Movember site at mobro.co/phantomshockey