"Final Stroll" at the Spectrum on October 24: open to the public and free of charge

There will be a Last Stroll at the Spectrum, open to the public and free of charge, on October 24 from 10 AM to 1 PM.

They'll be selling memorabilia there. No suprise.

They'll also be taking orders for Spectrum chairs. I have to see how to go about getting my season ticket seat. I sat there for over 10 years, so IMO they owe me and other former STHs first crack at our seats.

Phantoms vs. Hershey Bears, Game 2, East Division Semi-Finals, 4-18-09, Pregame Musings

Side note -- boy, did it age me this morning when I saw the blurb in today's [I]Daily News[/I] about John Steven's son John turning 15.

15? Say what? Has THAT much time passed since 1996, when the Phantoms' first captain came here with his wife and two little boys? Eeee. It ages me. ;)

Anyway, tonight's game is at 7 PM in The Spectrum. There are two different scenarios, one happy and one not-so-happy, by which this actually COULD be the final hockey game in the Spectrum, so come on down!

The Phantoms actually don't have home ice advantage in this series. We got Games 1 and 2, rather than the traditional 3 and 4, because Disney on Ice is at the GIANT Center. So after tonight, we won't have a home game in this series until the proverbial "Game 6 If Necessary".

Therefore, if this series ends in under 6 games, either happily with a Phantoms win, or not-so-happily with the Bears advancing, we won't see Game 6 at the Spectrum. Since we don't know where the Phantoms will be playing Round 2 of the playoffs, even if we win the series we might not see the Spectrum again once this round is over.

So come on down to one of the last surviving ARENAS, an experience which we'll appreciate all the more once we only have Entertainment Venues to watch our pro hockey games in.

GO PHANTOMS!!!

WOO HOOOO, We're In The Playoffs!!!!

The GREAT news is, we beat Hershey 5-2 and Bridgeport lost to Norfolk, so we have absolutely clinched a playoff berth as of tonight! OUTSTANDING!!!!

The aggravating news is that my game night recap got goofed up and I've only got the first two periods to show for it.

So I'll be proofreading those, then writing up the things I remember best about the third period. There were plenty of highlights to remember, for sure.

I am SO PROUD of this team. Did we ever come out like gangbusters in this game!

Phantoms vs. Norfolk Admirals, 4-5-09

Scratches: Duchesne, Lehtivuori, Sloane, DeSantis, Klotz, Beaulieu, Kempe, Bellamy

Starting lineup: Munroe, Bartulis, Kane, Sirianni, Ross

The induction of Peter White into the Phantoms hall of fame took place prior to the game.

Matsumoto's line remains the same Szwez/Kalinski/JVR are also a line. The D pairs are the same as normal. The three remaining forwards are Raduns, Gratton, and Clackson and they are a line too.;

Two and a half minutes in, the Phantoms have the only shot on goal.

JVR parked at the crease's edge to try and screen the goalie/corral a rebound. Good thinking on his part. His line drew a penalty during that shift. So we are on the PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY with the Ross line, Syvret, and Kukkonen.

OMG OMG OMG Ratchuk does an end-to-end rush reminiscent of his first pro goal, and BURIES the biscuit for a 1-0 lead!

I didn't even have time to type in that we were shorthanded, with Bartulis off, before Laliberte and Matsumoto break in and score SH Laliberte from Guenin and Matsumoto, ALLL RIIIIIIGHT!!!

This was followed by a superb save by Munroe when the Admirals get the puck into our end – Muny is pumped to do HIS part to earn us that playoff spot, too. :)

Matsumoto makes another break Shorthanded, or at least we were shorthanded when he started rushing the puck. It was a 1-on-2 break, and the Admirals defenders included hooking among their attempts to keep him from scoring. So we get another PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY. Ross's line goes out with Curry and Ratchuk. We proceed to get a switch, as Kane goes up the tunnel holding his wrist. JVR comes out to replace him.

We go to 4 on 4 for 1:20 as Sirianni gets called for interference. That leaves Ross and JVR out with Kukkonen and Bartulis for the start of the 4 on 4. Kukkonen, BTW, still has jaw protection attached to his helmet Net up, Matsumoto/Laliberte with Syvret/Guenin as we go to the SH situation. Then Raduns/Kalinski.

Good, Kane and the trainer return to the bench.

Kalinski goes barreling up the ice on a 2 on 1 as our penalty expires. We got a couple of chances out of it, but no goal. Norfolk's goalie made a great save to keep the score at 2-0.

Aaaaw, JVR narrowly missed getting his first pro goal – he was breaking in on goal With Intent, but no dice this time. If he keeps that up, though, we'll see that pro point before the game is out.

Boy, did Ratchuk move fast to get to a loose puck near our net. We have had games in this season where we haven't gotten to stray disks first, but this is not turning out to be a night like that. Great!

LALIBERTE!!!! From Matsumoto and Maroon! Matsy's shot created a rebound that went way off to the side, but Laliberte was there to slam it over the prone goalie.

We proceed to get the Battle of the #15s, as Clackson and Brookbank go. Clackson gets the extra two for roughing. Gratton will sit in his stead. It was a somewhat long tilt that had Brookbank trying to pin Clackson in close and throw head shots. Clackson gave up a lot of size and reach, but apparently not much strength, because he fought out of the bear hug and got in some punches of his own. Brookbank seemed to throw more than Clackson, if we want to go by punch count, but I would say the quality of the shots was about even. I would say
“draw”, or :”slight edge, Brookbank”.

Raduns, Kalinski, Guenin, and Syvret are out on the PK for the final minute of the period.

At the end of the period, the teams are back at even strength, the Phantoms lead 3-0, and the SOG are Phantoms 12, Admirals 10.
WTH? A center-ice scrum that eventually separated into just Gratton and Henley looked fightish, till Henley.... turned and skated away mid-fight. If he was trying to make Gratton get the Betteann 17 (two for instigation and a ten-minute misconduct on top of the 5 for fighting), the ploy failed. All he got was booed and the players got coincidental majors.

I'm still not sure what triggered that outburst, though, really. All I know is that both Clackson and Gratton are in the sin bin at the moment, and I'm not too happy about it. I don't want to see shenanigans going on out there with our two best fighters in the box. Fortunately, though, Clacker should be done with his two-minute extra penalty soon. His waltz partner is already finished with his fie minutes and came out at the last stoppage in play.

Szwez is on the ice with Kalinski and JVR. Which tells me, among other things, that we are letting our other most physical guy be out there while we await Clackson's return.

Maroon was denied on a POINT BLANK shot by a superb save. No matter what the demeanor of his teammates, their netminder Kowalski most definitely came to play.

Ross made a slick play, looking like he was about to crash the net with the puck, only to jam on the brakes and let the defender go past him. He got a clear shot on goal off, but unfortunately an Admiral was in better position to get to the resulting rebound before Sirianni could fire it home. Nice move, though. :)

Here we go on a PK, as Szwez gets called for hooking. Ross and Kane proceed to break out in a 2 on 1. We don't get a shot but we come darn close and we kill some time off the clock into the bargain.

Back at our end, Guenin blocks a shot.

Next up: Matsumoto/Laliberte with Bartulis and Kukkonen.

The Admirals appear to have tried to turn it on during this period, as they went from being outshot to outshooting us. As the period ends Kane shoots on a 2-on-0 and Kowalski makes the save. The score remains 3-0 Phantoms. SOG are Phantoms 17, Admirals 24.
Yikes, Laliberte and an Admiral I can't identify crashed into one another and the boards at the blue line and both went down stunned. Laliberte got up slowly, but the Admiral got some assistance from the trainer before getting up. What do you know, it's #15, Brookbank, who also got called for roughing. However, someone else is serving his penalty (Buck), so we will have to see if Brookbank returns to the game.

POSTAGE, dang it. We had a few chances so far during this PP, but the most recent one found iron. Then Norfolk made a shorthanded rush, at which point Guenin blocked a shot.

Surprise, we get another PP moments after the previous one ends. Let's try this again, shall we? We got some more opportunities in this man advantage, but all we did was close the gap on the shot clock a bit more. With 10:4 remaining in the period, the SOG are now Phantoms 25, Admirals 28.

BOY did Guenin ever block a shot. That's at least the third time he has laid out flat on the ice to cut off a shooting lane. This time, he swept his stick and cleared the oncoming puck out of harm's way.

On Norfolk's next attempt, our defender took the body and the puck slid gently in toward Munroe all by itself. He easily sticked it aside.

Our rush with 8:01 remaining in the period resulted in yet another penalty against Norfolk, so let's see about cashing in this latest PECOOOOO POWER PLAY. We start with th Matsumoto line, Curry, and Ratchuk. Yiii... on our next shift, Kukkonen's shot from the top of the slot nearly nailed Kane at the crease's edge. Fortunately, everyone was in one intact piece by the end of that sequence. Ross's line is out with Syvret and Kukkonen... as the PP expires, Kalinski, Szwez, and JVR are out with Curry and Ratchuk. With 5:34 remaining, SOG are even at 28-28.

Just as we reach the final minute of the period, Guenin gets called for slashing. So we get to wrap up this game on the PK. At least we can ice the puck at will. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Kukkonen, and Bartulis are out.

Or we could go to 4 on 4 instead, with 36.2 remaining. Ross and JVR are out with Ratchuk and Curry.

And there we go – the game is over, we've won our remaining game in hand, and now it's the Phantoms who are in 4th place by one point. We have a game in Albany on Wednesday, one at home on Friday vs. Hershey on Friday, and a game in Hershey on Saturday. Count them all as must-wins for us to control -our own destiny and secure that final playoff berth.

GO PHANTOMS!

Phantoms vs. Binghamton Senators, 3-21-09: First, Second, and Third Periods; OT; Shootout

I can't seem to get through to the available networks tonight, so I will post the entire blog file when I get home.

Nodl is still on the line with Matsumoto and Maroon, so Laliberte is still out of the lineup. Kalinski is on a line with Raduns and Szwez. The line of Ross, Kane, and Sirianni remains together from last night. Klotz is on a line, and is out on the ice, with Clackson and Beaulieu.

The D pairs are the same as last night. Guenin is with DeSantis, Kukkonen is with Bartulis, and Ratchuk is with Curry.

We just spent the first four and a half minutes of the game with no stoppage of play before the Sens went offside. The Phantoms have the only shot on goal.

OMG we lucked out -- the puck hit the post behind Scott Munroe and didn't deflect in off him. Even better, he was able to clear it away from the Senator waiting on the doorstep.

Bartulis made some nice defensive moves, including checking an attacker into our bench, to prevent Bingo from getting set up in our end.

The shots on goal, with 10 minutes left in the period, are Phantoms 3, Senators 6.

We get to go on the game's first PK, as Kalinski gets sent off immediately after a faceoff for hooking. The first unit is Kane, Ross, Kukkonen, and Guenin. Nice clear by Kane. Next up are Matsumoto, Nodl, Bartulis, Curry. Curry's stick broke in half just as we finished killing the penalty, but luckily we cleared the puck out and nothing bad came of it.

A nice little scrum at our half boards results in one Senator going to the sin bin for boarding. Time for the PECOOOOO POWER PLAAY. Matsumoto's line is the first one up.  'we finally got our first shot on goal since before the halfway mark of the period. Unfortunately, that turned out to be our only shot during the man advantage,

Nice save by Munroe and an even nicer clear of the rebound by Kukkonen.

Kalinski is getting sent off for holding with 3:04 remaining in the period. The first PK unit is Ross, Kane, Guenin, and Kukkonen, However, the first shot of the PK was a SH attempt by Ross, who got to the loose puck first and rushed up ice with it for all he was worth,

A Senator tried to do a wrap-around, but Munroe was ready for him and hugged the post. It was Bingo's 11th shot on goal.

At the end of the first period, the score is 0-0, and the SOG are Phantoms 5, Senators 11.
____

RATCHUK with the end-to-end rush! Glass made the save, but the Senators took a hooking penalty. 21 seconds into the PP, we scored the game's first goal on a long shot that hit Glass's leg pad so hard, it bounced up and over and went into the net. Rob Sirianni scored, assisted by Ross and Kukkonen. I was surprised at how long it took to announce the goal. Maybe it was as hard to tell from the ice as it was from this angle who should get credit for the goal. In any event, 1-0, Good Guys. :)

Ratchuk was breaking in on the Bingo net with the puck. He and the Senator covering him fell. Somehow this translated into RATCHUK going to the box for tripping. :headdesk: :headdesk: :headdesk: Don't ask me what logic was behind THAT observation, but unfortunately the Sens tied the game on their PP. 1-1.

Guenin was already going to get a penalty, but the scrum at the stoppage in play ensured that more guys would go off. Guenin, Kane, and Yablonski of the Sens all went off for slashing.

This caused our first PK unit to consist of Ross and Raduns, instead of Ross and Kane.

NICE clear, Now we have Matsumoto and Kalinski as our PK unit. Banfield's arm is up again, this time for the Sens. With 17  seconds left in the PK, Bois of Bingo goes off.

Kukkonen turned the puck over, leading to a SH rush by Bingo, but the end result was a Senator in our net, the net against the  back boards, and a whistle stopping play.

With half a minute left on our PP, Munroe made a diving save on another SH attempt that led to the "Unbelievable" song being played. Dang, it's been a while since we've heard that one. This is 90s night, with music from that decade, but we still used to hear the song during games after a good save.

In any event, with seven minutes left in the period and the teams back at even strength, the SOG are Phantoms 13, Sens 19.

Sirianni gave us all a scare by slamming head first into the boards, and coming up holding his arm in a way that suggested an Upper Body Injury. He went up the tunnel with the trainer in tow, but to my surprise, they both came back out near the end of the period.

SOG at the end of the period: Phantoms 14, Sens 21.
____

Sirianni is out for the faceoff to open the third period, which is an excellent sign.

Sean Curry just tried to put a Senator right through the boards. After the last couple of borderline-boarding hits from Bingo went uncalled, I was glad to see that Curry didn't get an infraction either.

We have a broken pane of glass over by the Bingo blue line. Accordingly, the song on the PA is "Walking on Broken Glass". :)

WHOA, Munroe got the puck *under* his pads while in a butterfly split. Needless to say, he froze until the whistle was blown, lest a wrong move inadvertently send the puck into the net.

With 8:51 remaining in the period, the score remains 1-1 and the SOG are Phantoms 15, Senators 28. In other words, we have only gotten one shot in this period so far.

Matsumoto slammed the Sens' number 16 into the boards hard enough to earn a glare from him, but then they both continued playing instead of getting into a scrum.

Clackson is out with Raduns and Kalinski, which is a tweak to that line. (Szwez is normally their other winger).

Guenin blocked a shot.

You know, I would have sworn we got a least one SOG a couple shifts ago, but we didn't get credit for it on the shot clock.

NICE save by Munroe. That was the Sens 29th shot (as opposed to our alleged total of 15).

There. NOW we finally got credit for the shot.

In the final minute, Matsumoto, Nodl, and Maroon are out with Curry and Bartulis, However, the Game will go into OT and each team will earn at least one point.

So the best we can gain on Bingo in the standings is one point tonight. However, we need that point, so I hope the hero is on our side of the scorecard tonight.

SOG at the end of the third period are Phantoms 16, Sens 31.

Bingo just took a one-minute OT penalty for Delay of Game. It's my un-favorite infration, but at least we benefit from it about as often as we get burnt by it, The Phantoms used their time out.

Ross, Kane, Kukkonen, and Sirianni are out (three forwards). for the 4 on 3 PP.

WOW, Bingo just rang one off our post as loudly as a clang from a fire alarm. Geesh, what a blast, but fortunately it stayed out.

Last minute of OT, and so far we have all the OT shots on goal. It won't count as a shot, but Bingo just clanged another puck off the iron,

SOG at the end of OT, Phantoms 22, Binghamton 31.

I FREAKING LOATHE SHOOTOUTS, but that's how we will determine who gets the bonus point.
/
It took us into the sudden death portion of the shootout, but the Senators won the bonus point. So the point that we gained on them in the standings on Wednesday, we just lost again. Drat. We need these four-point-swing games.

We do have two more games vs. the Senators remaining, plus we still have three games in hand on them, So we are still mathematically capable of earning a playoff berth. Here's to postseason play, because we want to keep our team as long as possible.

Phantoms vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-11-09: Game Recap and Box Score

CLICK HERE for the recap of the game on the Phantoms site.

CLICK HERE for the box score from the AHL's site.

What a frustrating, frustrating game, and that's putting it mildly. We got behind the 8 ball early and never recovered from that. The game was a goal-fest for both teams, but it was also a Special Teams Parade. 10 infractions per side? 9 PPs each? 4 PP goals each? Take a look through the box score -- it appears to bear out my suspicion that the special teams were on the ice for nearly as much time as the teams spent at full strength. I wish the ref had let the teams PLAY THE GAME. We could have decided the outcome of the game for ourselves without nine powerplays and nine penalty kills per team.

But we need to stop falling behind early in games. And in particular, this game's kind of start needs to be a complete anomaly from here on out. The Phantoms recap says that we gave up three goals on our first three shots. But I remember seeing 3 shots on goal listed for the Pens well *before* their third goal went in. But it took forever for the fourth shot to be registered on the board (if it ever was). So unless one of those three shots was an error that was allowed to sit on the board until an actual shot on goal took place, we might have given up FOUR shots on goal and three goals-against. Which is, to be sure, no comfort to anyone who plays for or supports the team. Sigh.

But dwelling on the past won't change it. Time to move on to the next games, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday.

Phantoms vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-11-09: Third Period

After Ross's line went of, we got a combo of Kalinski, Beaulieu, and Raduns. So I'm wondering if there is just a small bit of weaking going on out there. We'll have to see. Matsumoto's and Ross's lines were not changed, so I'm thinking about the third snd fourth line combos and wondering what's up there.

Come to think of it, Gratton limped into the tunnel at the end of the second period. I'm not sure what was hurting him, but his gait was not normal. I am currently looking for him on the bench, and I'm not seing him there. I don't know what's amiss, but whatever it is, he appears to have been given the rest of the game off.

One person who IS in the bench area is Neil Little. :) I'm glad they haven't sent him off to Parts Unknown right about now. I'd love to see him sit with both our goalies and make sure that they're where they need to be regarding confidence and fundamentals.

Here we go again with another PP, which is nice. Come to think of it, during the first four minutes of the period, we spent the vast majority of it in the Pens' zone and we were at even strength at the time. So that bodes well for us... Certainly it bodes better than our results at even strength earlier in tonight's game.

The first PP lne out was Matsumoto's.

CRIKEY, our annoucner Keith Jones just got naled with a puck in the mouth/ :( :( :( He's exiting via the Phantoms tunnel with our trainer in tow. Ouch and double ouch. Mike Thornton is in our tunnel, talking on a walke-talkie to I Know Not Whom. I don't see anyone with the headset on just now -- OH! SCOOOORE, so we need to have someone figure out who is going to announce the Phantoms PP goal. Here goes Shawn Hill into the announcers box to take over Keith's duties. Geesh. I can't help but remember a Flyers game where one of our goal judges got injured, where the report in the next day's papers said it's important to have depth in the off-ice officials. Well, the same apparently holds true here. And the goal was by SYVRET from ROSS and KANE. And geesh but I hope Keith's not too badly banged up.

We are still tilting the ice in the Pens' direction, even when we are at 5 on 5. I'm very pleased with that and SCOOOOOORE, Laliberte in the slot SLAMS one home! ALl-freaking-RIGHT! 6-4 and 3 minutes and change left in the period. COME ON, PHANTOMS! Assists from Maroooooon and Matsumoto.

Don't look now, but with 12:33 remaining in the period, The Penguins just got their first shot on goal in the frame. It took until a delayed penalty against us for them to get a puck on net.

PK time. Guenin blocked a shot. Syvret, Kane, nd Ross are also out there. Kane clears it halfway to New Jersey. We had a few more back-and-forth exchanges, including a nice Sh rush from Kalinski who evaded several attempts by Pens to steal the puck from him. However, we had one instance where Aubin was cheating a bit and when he made a leg save and was down on the ice, there was too much space between him and the far post. Our D and the Pens' O duelled for the puck, but the end result was a Wilkes-Barre goal. 7-4 Bad Guys.

Oh, what in the flying blazes is this now? I see Guenin and Matsumoto in the box with minors. At 10:36, it appears that this nitwit ref is about to put us on the PK for a full two-minute 5-on-3. Both get two minutes for slashing. It's about time for us to get the Chicken Dance song. HA HA HA HA, and just as I tuype it, the music guy plays it. LMHO... (For those who haven't seen this, at Phantoms games, the crowd chants, "Hey, Ref! You S*ck!" at the point of the song where the four claps take pace.)

NICE stop by Aubin. Kane, Syvret, and Kukkonen are out. Lasse follows up by blocking a shot. Good work. 50 seconds left on the PK, and we change forwards. Kalinski comes out. The D stay on the ice. I'm a little surprised by that.

15 seconds left in the PK... A rebound from a far-side shot comes out on the near side, and the waitng Pen has the entre net to aim at. 8-4 Pens. We have dug ourselves quite a hole in this game, and for the most part we have ony ourselves to blame, but we can thank the freaking ref for that goal-against. Blankety-blank-blank-blank.

This zebra just has no intention of letting play go at even strength for more than a few moments at a time. Raduns gets called for hooking immediately after the goal. More fargin' PK. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Guenin, and Bartulis are out. Ross, Kane, Kukkonen, and Syvret are next. Kukkonen starts rushing the puck shorthanded, resuting in an offensive-zone draw for us with 34 seconds of PK time left. Guenin comes out and Kukonen goes off. Kalinski and Beaulieu are also out. Syvret stays on. (What the heck is up with the D moves in this game tonight -- there are some non-changes that puzzle me.)

In any event, ow we are at even strengt, don't tell the ref or he'll call something on someone, and we are, again, hemming the Pens in. I wish we had done this earier in the game... We wouldn't be trailing quite this badly now.

Whoops, the ref saw 5 on 5 and decided the ice was too crowded, so he's giving the Phantoms a PP. Curry, Ratdhuk, Ross Kane SIrianni are out and we don;'t take long to cash in the PP goal. 11 seconds into the powerplay, Kane buries a shot, courtesy of Curry and Ross. 8-5 Penguins and there's just under 3 minutes remaining.

Raduns saved us from another goal-against, as the puck went off to the opposite side from the one Aubin was guarding. His quick stickwork prevented a Penguin's shot into a wide open goal. Still 8-5 Bad Guys. 1:30 remains in the period. SOG are Pens 36, Phantoms 22.

There goes the final horn. The Pens win 8-5. SOG at the end of the game: Penguins 37, Phantoms 23. Boyd Kane was the third star of the game.

Phantoms vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-11-09: Second Period

This is, and always will be, a family-friendly blog, but OOOO does that ever mean keeping myself from typing out some vocabuary that's best left unexpressed. We took an early penalty for my UNFAVORITE infraction, Delay of the Game, and gave up a PP goal on the first Pens shot. 5-1, Evil Flightless Waterfowl.

We are currently killing a penalty to Clackson for boarding, and so far that's going as we would like it to. Including the goal against, we have only given up three SOG in two shortanded situations, so that's good.

FINALLY, we get a shot on goal of our own with nearly five and a half minutes gone in the period. I do realize that about three of those minutes were spent shorthanded; however, we really need to start getting pucks on Curry-the-goalie ASAP.

Clackson and a Penguin were jawing with each other, but for whatever reason, it didn't come to anything.

The Penguins scored right off the faceoff, just after this, making it 6-1 Penguins. Geesh, this game is painful. I am, however, a firm believer in not exiting the building until the final horn unless the Fire Marshall is evacuating the building. So I am here for the duration. SOG: Penguins 20, Phantoms 10.

ANOTHER penalty, this time to Guenin for tripping. It would be nice if the zebras would remember for a moment or two that BOTH teams have taken liberties with the rules during the course of the game... It's awfully one-sided so far tonight.

Crud, Matsumoto's stick is broken. He's out there with Laliberte, Kukkonen, and Bartulis. Finally, a clear and we can get a line change. Kalinski, Raduns, Curry-the-Dman, and Syvret. Here we go on a shorthanded rush -- Raduns with Kalinski. Raduns takes the shot, but he's nearly level with the goal line by then and Curry-the-goalie is hugging the post for all he's worth. It does, at least, get us a faceoff in the Penguins' end. Now Kane nd Ross are on the attack, but we're no longer shorthanded. I'm wondering if the Pens are pulling into a bit of a defensive mode. Let's see how these next shifts go.

How they're going so far is that the Pens are the only ones handling the puck, other than Aubin. With 9:39 left in the period, we have only taken one shot in this frame. It's really sad-looking, and I know we are a better team than this.

The ref's arm was up, again, in our zone. When play stopped, and I couldn't see who it was that touched the puck so your guess is as good as mine who the penalty was originally on, Guenin gets into a shoving match behnd our net and there's a conference of all ten skaters at the boards. The end result was matching cross-checking penalties and 4 on 4 hockey.

Ross/Kane conme in on a 2-on-1. Ross passes toward Kane, but it was just a bit too far out of his rech. Had the puck gotten to Kane, he would have had a wide-open net to fire at because Curry-the-goalie was still in position to stop a shot from Ross on the far side.

We are about to embark on 1:07 of a 4 on 3 PP. Minard, who has two goals so far in this game, goes off for the Penguins. We finally get a PECOOOO POWER PLY. Maroon, Laliberte, Matsumoto, and Syvret are out. Finally: a shot. Unfortunately: a save. Fter the faceoff, the same players are out, and we keep getting in place at the crease's edge. But there is a lot of traffic in front, including two or three Pens at any given time, so the pucks are staying out. On the other hand, with 43 seconds remaining in the 5-on-4 PP, the Pens take another infraction and we go back to a two-man advantage. Syvret, Kukkonen, Ross, Kane, Sirianni. SCOOOORE, Kane! Finally all that traffic we have been ge4tting in front has paid off, plus we have 1:38 left of 5-on-4 PP. Assists to Syvret and Kukkonen. (I thought Syvret scored it, but Kanem ust have redirected. Did I mention we had plenty of bodies in front of the net?)

Matsumoto, Laliberte, Maroon, Syvret, Kukkonen are out for the remainder of the PP. Check that, lol, now it's Kalinski, Raduns, Gratton, Curry-the-Dman, and Ratchuk. We don't have a lot of PP time left. Or *do* we? Seems we are cycling the puck and the ref's arm is up. So I presume we have another couple of minutes of PP coming our way. Yep. There we go. Ross, Kane, Sirianni, Kukkonen, Syvret are out again for the PECOOOO POWER PLAY. Argh... Why did we all pinch so far in? No one was at the right pont, so when one of our guys passed back to there, it went out of the zone. With a minute left on the PP, we have Matsumoto's line with Curry-the-Dman and Ratchuk out. Matsumoto shot top shelf, but it went just a few inches high. Too bad -- it would have gone in if it'd been below the crossbar, as Curry-the-goalie wisely ducked when the puck sailed tward his head.

After that PP ends, we get ANOTHER one. Wowie. See what happens when you spend all your time in one zone? The defending team takes one infraction after another. For all these PPs, though, I'm not too happy that we only have five shots in this period. There is still 1:16 left in the period, though -- one less second than there is PK time for the Pens. (Unless, of course, we put in another goal, whioch would be nice. ;)) Aaah, of all the times to go offside... Faceoff otusize the zone. Curry, Ratchuk (whose NICE shot nearly made up for the offside gaffe), Raduns, Kalinski, Gratton. Freaking Curry-the-Goalie made a nice glove save, however.

And there goes the end of the period. The score is 6-2 Penguins, and the SOG are Penguins 25, Phantoms 15. We have one second of PP time left at the start of the third period.

Phantoms vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-11-09: First Period

Scratches: DeSantis, Klotz, Bellamy
Starting Linepup: Munroe, Guenin, Syvret, Ross, Sirianni, Kane.

Miroslav Satan was sent down to Wilkes-Barre and is scratched for tonight. I wonder if he has reported or not? In any event, that's one less threat to the Phantoms in this game.

Say what you will about Petr Nedved's stint in Philly -- when he got sent down for cap space, as Pittsburgh did to Satan, Nedved showed up and played his way back to a big-league contract elsewhere.

Including tonight, we have 10 more games remaining in the Spectrum.

35 seconds into the game, we are on the PECOOOO POWER PLAY. Syvret/Kukkonen are the D, along with Matsumoto, Maroon, and Laliberte. We make Curry-the-goalie freeze the puck, and upon winning the faceoff we started a scramble in front of the net. Laliberte cashed in a rebound, assisted by Maroon and Matsumoto. :) So we have gotten our game off to a great start!

Or maybe not. We give up a goal on the first shift following the PP goal. :( 1-1. Drat and double drat.

Next D pair: Bartulis/Kukkonen. Next lne combo: Matsumoto/Laliberte/Maroon.

We promptly dodged one bullet, a puck that went across the goal line behind Munroe, only to be shot by the bullet that folowed when Bissonette cashed the puck in after it came out on Munroe's other side. 2-1 Evil Flightless Waterfowl.

Next line combo: Szwez, Clackson, Beaulieu. Then Raduns, Gratton, Kalinski. Next D pair, Curry-the-Dman, Ratchuk.

OK, as much as I love Muny, he needs to sit tonight. He just gave up another goal. The Pens ony have four shots on goal, and they have three goals. Here comes Aubin. We are 5:39 into the game and we're already down 3-1. Goodness only knows what the matter is, but here's to seeing him straighten it out and come back solid in his next outing.

So ANYway... Other than the fact that we keep having to face off at center ice, there has been a lot of back-and-forth action in this game. It doesn't really float my boat to see us get into a skating game, since the team really isn't constructed for river hockey (Ross's line on the ice notwithstanding -- Ross won the Fastest Skater competition in the AHL All-Star Skills Competition). But I suppose it beats being hemmed into our own zone for minutes on end.

With 11:17 left, Gratton goes off for slashing, and we are on the PK. Kane/Ross and Guenin/Syvret are out. James from the Pens decided to try a cutesy behind-the-back pass in the slot, but the Phantoms took it and cleared it. I don't appreciate the disrespect of acting like he can just do anything he likes in our zone, regardless of what it says on the scoreboard. Maybe the next time he gets the puck, Guenin or Clackson can give him a nice open-ice check.

Next up on the PK: Kukkonen/Syvret, Matsumoto/Laliberte. We have a Penguin heading to the box with 21 seconds remaining on our PK. So not only do we get 4 on 4 play, we get an offensive zone draw to help shave some time off our penalty. Unfortunaely, we don't win the faceoff so play heads back to our zone. However, as soon as Gratton exits the box, another Penguin gets called for tripping, so we have 5 on 3 for 1:33.

Matsumoto, Laliberte, and Maroon are out with Syvret and... Ross. Four forwards. Paddock is dead set on closing that two goal gap. I havent' seen Ross on the point for a long time, though he was there with regularith last season for PPs. Shucks, Curry-the-goalie made two great stops in a row. We are about to go to 5 on 4 now. Ratchuk/Curry-the-Dman are now out with Kalinski, Kane, and Sirianni. There goes the other penalty, we are at even strength.

With 5:50 left in the period, SOG are even at 9 each.

Kane goes for slashing with 4:38 left. Kalinski, Raduns, Kukkonen, and Bartulis are out. Nice clear. But here come the Pens back again, of course. We dodge a bullet again as another shot creeps across the crease behind Aubin; however, THIS time Raduns slams his stick down to prevent the Penguin at the post from firing the puck home.

Unfortunately, a little later on the same PP, we don't fare as well. The Evil Flightless Waterfowl score again to make the score 4-1. That's Minard's 30th goal of the year... Pittsburgh needs to call this guy up and keep him up. Yeah, that's the ticket. Keep him with Pittsburgh. ;)

At the end of the first period, the score is Penguins 4, Phantoms 1, and the SOG are Penguins 14, Phantoms 9.

Come out angry in the second period, guys. We need you to follow Fred Shero's credo: take the shortest route to the puck, and arrive in ill humor.

Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-27-09: Third Period

Three minutes into the period, Mannino has had a couple of pucks to stop, while Munroe has been ide. THIS is how we need to conduct business in this period. (Even better would be getting pucks on net that Mannino *doesn't* stop ;), but we have to get some freaking offense going. Period.)

Three minutes later, there has been a lot of action in the neutral zone, but nothing much else. This favors Bridgeport, obviously, as they only need to keep us away from their end in order to win. They don't necessarily have to press for more goals. I actually do hope they go into a defensive shell, because I think that even without Ross in the lineup, we have enough scoring on our roster to make a team regret trying the "prevent defense" tactic. SOG Sound Tigers 21, Phantoms 12 with 12:38 left.

MUNY with the point-bank save, as Smith one-times a puck at the crease's edge!

Oooops, LOL. For the first time ever, an in-game host accidentally picked a fan of the visiting team to play a contest. He won the "finish the song" game, and then followed up with "Let's go, Sound Tigers". Good thing it's a substitute host, as our normal guy is over at the Flyers game. (He's a Flyers STH.) I don't think the team would wnt to have to find a new host for our team this ate in the season. ;)

We hit ANOTHER flipping POST! Blast these freaking magnetized pucks! The score remains 3-1, Bad Guys. :headdesk: :headdesk: If the darn post shots had gone in, this game would be tied. Oh, well.

Here comes the "It's a Friday in Lent, so some of us can't participate" hot dog toss. Though really, I've seen these hot dogs... The question is, do they have enough meat in them to actualy qualify as something that should be avoided on a Lenten Friday? ;)

Aaah, Nodl would have had a great scoring chance if the darn puck hadn't rolled on him. Darn thing had a bit too much momentum on its way to his stick blade, and it hit the toe of the blade and kept going. He still managed to give us a boost, however, by BURYING a guy in the corner a little later on the same shift.

CRUD! Crud and double crud. We let someone get the puck RIGHT in front of Munroe. Nobody was anywhere the heck near the guy, and he deked and buried the puck in the net. To add insult to injury, someone in the scorer's booth had a brain cramp and sounded the goal horn, for a goal AGAINST. Geesh. First we get a "Let's Go, Sound Tigers" on the PA and now the darn goal horn celebrates the wrong team's goal. Um, HELLO? Freakin' Friday the 13th was two weeks ago, so we should be well out of Mishap Mode. AAAAnyway... 4-1, Sound Tigers.

Guenin blocked a shot. I knew I'd get to type that before the game was out. ;) Unfortunately, it's the last minute of play, so we haven't got a lot of time left to make up this deficit.There goes the final horn. Sound Tigers 28, Phantoms 16. Matt Clackson was the third star of the game.

Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-27-09: Second Period

The second period got off to an odd start. One of the Sound Tigers, who I believe wears #37, took a strange fall as his team crossed our blueline. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, as it happened so fast, but it sounded odd when he landed. THAT made me take a closer look. Sure enough, he was having trouble getting up, and the ref blew the whistle. His trainer and a teammate helped him off the ice, favoring one leg.

Raduns, Bellamy, and Szwez (a partial line change, as Bellamy is on a different line) gave us our best chance so far, with five minutes gone in the period. Their shot on goal wound up in the slot, where only a diving play by the goalie kept it from gong in.

Two shifts later unfortunately, Bridgeport succeeded in burying another puck on us. 2-0 Bad Guys. SOG Sound Tigers 11, Phantoms 5.

We have been having a real challenge during this period sustaining any offense. We get a little something going in the Sound Tigers end, but we only have two shots to show for it in this frame. Bridgeport keeps on taking the puck and rushing it down to OUR end.

Maybe now we'll have a chance to get something started, as we are on the PP. YES! Laliberte scores from the left faceoff circle! Assists to Matsumoto and Curry, and the Phantoms are on the board! 2-1! SOG Sound Tigers 13, Phantoms 7.

Nuts... The dratted Sound Tigers get it back almost right away. 3-1. SOG Sound Tigers 15, Phantoms 7. We have got to find ways to keep them out of our zone -- we are spending too much time in front of Munroe, and nowehere near enough time in front of Mannino. Nice hit Kane... Speaking of being in front of Mannino, that's where we were when Kane buried a guy behind the Sound Tigers net.

FIGHT. Clackson vs. Rechlicz (sp). It was a LONG bout, whose momentum seemed to swing back and forth repeatedly (a few punches from one, a few from the other, repeat several times over). I'd score it a draw, as there was no clearcut edge to either player for any length of time, but I will note that Rechlicz got the takedown.

NOW we're doing some good stuff and getting in front of Mannino. Maroon's shot missed the net, unfortunately. Kalinski and someone are now having it out in the corner to Mannino's left. I can't see who the other guy is... Ah. Gleed. The flipping popcorn guy keeps walking between me an the action so it's hard to describe the proceedings. Hah... Looks like there were no penalties called on that shoving match. (THAT'S interesting... I'm used to refs who call infractions when guys gare at one another too much.) Fine by me if the officials Let Them Play; I wish it would happen a bit more often.

There has been a lot of back-and-forth in this period. I'm not overly happy when we start playing river hockey, because that's not a style of game that this team is built to thrive in. The other difference is, when the Sound Tigers get in front of Munroe, they have tended to get the puck on net. When we have been on the attack, we have ony gotten three shots in the whole period so far (we have six and a half inutes left in the frame). One of those went in, but STILL. Not good.

Here's an interesting call. Two guys, one from each team, were assessed two mintues for "delay of the game". Hmm. That's the first time I have ever seen coincidental minors for THAT. So we are at 4 on 4 for the time being. Our guy in the Sin Bin is Szwez.

To make a long story less long, the 4 on 4 ended without goals for either team. Now we have 3:35 left n the period. SOG Sound Tigers 19, Phantoms 8.

Nice save, Munroe, on a point blank attempt from the slot. Boy, it's like the ice is tilted the wrong way tonight, the way play keeps migrating to our zone. We have a mintue and a half left in the period, so I hope the coaches offer some feedback during the second intermission that will help us actually sustain some offensive pressure.

AAAH, we just clanged one off the dagnab pipe! Sheesh, we get the darn biscuit on net and the ang thing has a magnet in it.

Ah, now we're up to something. Szwez shoves Gleed to the ice (no call) and Gleed gets up and slashes him (also no call). We respond with two more fantastic shots on goal. Unfortunately, time is not our friend and the period ends while we are on the attack. SOG at the end of the frame: Sound Tigers 21, Phantoms 10. The score is 3-1, Bridgeport.

Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-27-09: First Period

Scratches: Klotz, Gratton, Ross
Starting Lineup: Munroe, Guenin, Syvret, Matsumoto, Laliberte, Maroon

Boy, we started the game on a hair-raising note. We got hung up in our own slot and the Tigers gort a couple of good opportunities before we finally cleared the darn puck. I'm surprised to see only one shoton goal credited to Bridgeport, as they had at least three slarming-lookng attempts before we got the puck out of harm's way.

Kalinski is centering a line with Nodl and Kane. Bartulis and DeSantis are our second D pair. Our third line is Radunsm Clackson, and Szwez. Curry nd Ratchuk are our last D pair. Ratchuk nearly got a clean SOG from the slot, but the puck looks like it might have rolled on him or something because the shot kind of drifted off to the left.

Bellamy, Sirianni, and Beaulieu are our fourth line.

Four minutes into the period, that one shot on goal by the Sound tTgers remains the only time that a puck was credited with reaching the net.

Paddock seems to be just rolling the lines in order early on.

NICE keep-in, Oskars! Ditto for a nice move by Curry to bat a puck away from our net, a shift later. I ike to see our D doing good things. Maybe having a dose of Kukkonen helped everyone turn it up a notch... if not from having the chance to play alongside someone with a lot of experience, then because of the knowledge that they will have to make the top six D or sit out. Oh, NICE hit by Beaulieu in the Bridgeport end. He buried someone down at the half-boards.

Crud. With 12:11 left and the SOG 1-1, Bridgeport scores on their second shot on goal. And of course I have a group of eight Sound Tigers fans behind me when it happens, arrrgh. But said group was kind of in the wrong row, so during the ensuing stoppage of play they shifted over to their actual group of seats. 1-0, Bridgeport.

Ah, a Flyers update. They're playing across the street right now, and we ony get updates when things are going well for the Orange and Black. Lupul scored to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead over Montreal.

The Phantoms get the first PP of the game, for the first time in a while. Matsumoto's line is out with Curry and Syvret. The SOG at the time of the infraction was 2-2. Maroon is stationed at the crease's edge, but his attempt to cash in a rebound didn't quite work.

Next up is Kalinski's line, with Ratchuk and DeSantis (four of our five skaters are rookies). After them, Matsumoto's line and Curry/Cyvret came back out. We're trying, but we aren't creating a lot of opportunites this time around. At the endof the PP, SOG were 3-3.

Matsumto and Maroon get a 2-on1. Matsumoto's shot goes of the glass. Drat. Next shift, Beaulieu and Sirianni get the two-on-1 and crash the net. But we didn't get the puck ON net. In fact, with under four minutes remaining in the period, the SOG are still 3-3, the same as they were when our PP ended. That's a good five minutes since anyone gave one of the goaltenders something to do.

Curry gets hold of the puck at the top of the slot, and his attempted shot on goal is causing a scramble down in front of the Sound Tigers crease. Fans down at that end of the ice gave a big AWWWW, so one fo the several attempts must have JUST missed its mark.

With 2:39 left in the period, SOG are 4-4 now. So there's been a wee bit of activity in the offense department. We also have a PK right now, with Clackson sitting. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Guenin, and Syvret are out for us. Halfway through the infraction, we successfully clear the puck and change lines: Raduns, Kane, Bartulis, and Curry. Next up, Nodl, Kalinski, Guenin, Syvret.

The penalty is over, and SOG are Sound Tigers 7, Phantoms 4. There's less than one minute remaining in the period.

At the end of the period, SOG are Sound TIgers 8, Phantoms 4. Ths core is 1-0, Bridgeport.

Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers 2-27-09: Pregame Comments

The good news: Josh Gratton and Jonathon Kalinski are healthy enough to resume playing, and both of them have been assigned to the Phantoms.

The bad news: Glen Metropolit and Ossi Vaananen, who were being waived for the purpose of being sent to the Phantoms, were claimed this morning by Montreal and Vancouver, respectively. So that's a pair of boosts to our roster that were cancelled out before they even happened. Phooey.

Jared Ross is called up to the Flyers, as Daniel Briere is not quite game-ready. (Either that, or our salary cap situation is not quite league-ready. Take your pick.) Lasse Kukkonen has also returned to the Flyers, as his original assignment to us was a 14-day conditioning stint. The Flyers might waive him again in order to assign him to the Phantoms for real, but that isn't going to happen until Timonen returns to the lineup; he's currently battling the flu.

So that's the state of our callups and send-downs as I know it. We need a scorecard to keep track of the scorecard, the way things have been going lately.

I can see that Munroe will be our starter, as he just led the team out of the tunnel for the pregame warmup. The team is wearing special Spectrum-themed third jerseys, which wil be auctioned off in April.

I didn't see Gratton warm up with the team before the game. Jonathon Kalinski, however, was on the ice during the warmup. So was Jason DeSantis, who's been the odd man out on the blueline during the games when Kukkonen was in our lineup.

Phantoms vs. Portland Pirates 2-20-09: Third Period

Just before the third period started, they added an assist on the third Phantoms goal. It should now be Patrick Maroon from David Laliberte.

I wonder if one of Portland's goalies is sick? They swapped goaltenders again to start the third... AAAA, SCOOOORE. Boyd Kane puts one in on our first shot of the period. Assists from Nodl and Ross, 21 seconds into the period.

That's the third time we scored early in the period in this game. Portland is having an overall rough go of it tonight. We are doing the right thing by cashing in on that whenever possible, but I suspect the Pirates will not be the happiest team that ever got on a bus once it's time for them to head out of here. 6-0.

Aaah, phooey, there goes the shutout. 6-1, Phantoms with 16:37 left in the period. Would have been nice to see J-S keep that goose-egg on the board, as a show of how well he has played in his last couple of games. Still, as long as we keep our cool and play for the W, it will be good for the team with or without the shutout. We just have to do OUR job and not relax.

With 9:13 left in the period, the score remains 6-1. SOG are Phantoms 28, Pirates 21.

SCOOOORE, about a minute later -- Ross fires one on the netminder that actually does hit the goalie, but keeps going and bounces into the net. Assist goes to Nate Guenin. 7-1 Phantoms.

Nuts. 7-2, just as I was typing that in. OK, we can't go exchanging goals for the rest of the period. Let's make sure that we don't give up opportunities for the Pirates to get some life.

SOG are now Phantoms 29, Pirates 22. So as soon as I typed in the update at 9:13, both teams scores on their next shot on goal. Hmm.

Aw, for goodness sakes. With under 3 minutes left in the period, Clackson gets called for tripping. We have only had one PP in this game, if my memory serves, but so far we have been killing penalties nicely. I hate being shorthande this late in the game, although at least at this point we have a wide enough margin that it shouldn't make or break our chance at a win.

Such as, for example, right now when Portland just had a goal disallowed for hitting the puck in with a high stick. Interestingly, that was reason enough to move the faceoff all the way to the Pirates' end.

We are at even strength in the final minute of the game. Aaaaand there's the final horn. Phantoms win 7-2. SOG Phantoms 30, Pirates 27. Stars of the game were #3 Laliberte, #2 Kane, and obviously #1 Maroon.

Phantoms vs. Portland Pirates 2-20-09: Second Period

MAROOOOOOON scores, assisted by Laliberte and Kukkonen, 49 seconds into the frame! IT was a nice show of persistence on the Phantoms' part, as Maroon's shot was the third in succession. The goalie stopped the initial shot and the first rebound, but Maroon was right there at the top of the crease to fire in the second rebound.

AAH! MAROOOOON does it again, this time unassisted! THere he was to stuff in a puck at the left post. :) So we have taken four shots on goal in the period, and scored on the third and fourth attempt. 3-0 Phantoms, quite iterally in less time than it took for me to type it.

Ooooopsie... Raduns goes for tripping with 17:01 left in the period. Rossk Nodl, Guenin, and Syvret are out. (Speaking of whom, Ross has an A on his jersey and Guenin does not... These are auction jerseys and they were most likely assembed rior to any changes to the assistant captains that took place last week.)

Matsumoto and Laliberte go barreling up the ice for a SH 2 on 2, but one of the Pirates prevents Matsumoto's pass across to Laliberte. Rats. We tried.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we gave up three shots while we were killing thepenalty, but Aubin was upu to the challenge.

I can't help but notice that w3hen play is down at our end of the ice, the Pirates goalie is IN his net. Literally "in", as though he is impersonating a hermit crab. He's leaned forward in a crouch, watching play, but honest to gosh from his shoulders down he is behind the goal line. That's a stance I can't honestly say I've seen before.

With 12:25 left in the period, and the SOG Phantoms 16, Pirates 10, we have a player in the sin bin. Curry has gone off, so we are going on the PK yet again.

SCOOOORE, Kane fires on net shorthanded and it pings off the goalie's mitt and bounces in. Kukkonen assisted. The Pirates have changed goalies. There is 1:01 left in the PK. 4-0, Phantoms.

OMG, MAROOOON gets his third of the game! Lalberte and Guenin get the assists. THere was a scramble in front, and Maroon's shot deflected off something ast the goalie was trying to move post-to-post. I think it hit a defender's skate or stick, but in any case, it went five-hole on the netminder. 5-0, Phantoms.

Now the Phantoms are absolutely being as aggressive on the rush as they've been this season. They're charging into the Pirates' end like there's a winning Lotto ticket to be had for the next guy to score a goal. The Pirates, meanwhile, are understandably frustrated and it's boiling over right in front of Keith Jones's booth. Somehow, only Clackson gets a roughing minor, which is kind of ridiculous when you consider that all ten skaters were in a shoving match. Not to mention, once play resumed, a red-clad attacker knocked J-S Aubin flat right in the crease. No call. Mumble grumble mumble...

Portland swapped netminders again, btw -- their starting goaltender is back out. I woudn't say he's getting an awful lot of help, given the number of SH scoring opportunities that we've had in this game.

Wth 5:26 left, we're having a promo timeout. The teams are at even strength, SOG are Phantoms 21, Pirates 14, and the score remains 5-0 Phantoms.

Fight between Portland's #17 and a Phantom who I couldn't see at first. The Pirate hit one of our guys from behind, knocking him to the ice. The puck was nowhere near this, as far as I could tell. Next thing I knew, there was an orange-and-back-jerseyed combatant having at him. I would give the edge and the takedown to our guy... Who turned out to e David Laliberte. Serves #17 right for thinking he could take liberties (no pun intended) while our scoring line was on the ice. Laliberte gets five minutes for fighting. His wltz partner got two for interference and five for fighting. So with a bit less than two minutes remaining in the frame, we are going on the PP.

Ross got nailed by an attempted shot on goal as he stood at the crease's edge. He proceeded to head up the tunnel. He looked to be in some pain, but since I couldn't tell just where he was hurting, I hope it's something that will go away by the time the second intermission ends.

At the end of the second period, the Phantoms lead 5-0. SOG are Phantoms 22, Pirates 15. The Phantoms have 18 seconds of PP time remaining when the third period begins.

Phantoms vs. Portland Pirates 2-20-09: First Period

Scratches: DeSantis, Klotz
Starting Lineup: Aubin, Ratchuk, Curry, Matsumoto, Laliberte, Maroon

Ratchuk is the Birthday Boy today. He's 21. They get younger and younger in this league, I swear. My husband has a nutty theory that the players stay in the same age range and it's US getting older every year. But I don't feel a bit older, so that can't be right. Have you ever heard something so ludicrous? No, I insist that it's the players getting younber and soon we'll be4 fielding a team full of Mites on Ice. Yeah, that's the ticket. :D

Best sign of the night so far: "How many pucks would a Ratchuk chuck if a Ratchuk could chuck pucks? & Score?" Hee hee hee!

Frank Miceli's induction into the Phantoms Hall of Fame took place prior to the game, It was a really nice ceremony. The one downer was that, as Darth Luukko was included among the dignitaries from the organization, there was booing on the couple of occasions when his name came up. Fortunately, as other individuals' names were announced shortly thereafter, we could resume cheering in short order.

We only have two scratches tonight: DeSantis and Klotz. I'm presuming that means the team is largely healthy, which is a good thng.

SCOOOOORE! Sirianni scores 2:15 into the first period, with an assist from the Birthday Boy Ratchuk! :) Nice! SOG are Phantoms 5, Pirates 0.

A minute and change later, Guenin gets called for hookng, so we get to put our PKing on display. Raduns, Maroon, Bartulis, and Kukkonen are out. Next up, Nodl, Ross, Syvret, and Curry. Ross clears it all the way to the opposing net, just as we reach the one minute mark of the PK. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Bartulis, and Kukkonen take over. OH, lucky for us the Pirate who tried to cash in a rebound hit the side of the net. At the end of the PK, the SOG are Phantoms 5, Pirates 1.

Ratchuk absolutely buries a guy right by the Phantoms bench. Following that, Szwez lays out and blocks a sot, and his efforts send the puck out of our zone. Nice work, guys. Within a shift or two of this, it's our turn to go onto the PP. Two minutes later, the score remained 1-0, Good Guys, and the SOG were now 8-2 in favor of the Phantoms.

Boy, these auction sweaters have numers that are jolly hard to read at a distance, mosty because of the orage stripes that match the hue of the numbers on the back just a hair too well.

With 4:42 remaining in the period, the SOG are Phantoms 9, Pirates 3.

NICE move by Kane, lying on his side at the red line, to sweep his stick and direct the puck to an attacking Phantom before any Pirates could come and take it away.

At the end of the first period, the score is 1-0 Phantoms, and the SOG are 10-5, also in favor of the Phantoms.

Phantoms vs. Hamilton Bulldogs 2-16-09: Recap and Box Score

Here is the link to the recap on the Phantoms site.

Here is the link to the box score.

How frustrating it was to lose this game based on one darn shot at the start of the third period. But these things happen. The GOOD news is that we did get the goal back shortly afterward. If we can stay away from two-man disadvantages, which cost us game-winning goals on Friday and on Monday, we have otherwise been playing well enough to avoid digging ourselves into holes. That's a good sign, as we keep battling to get into that last playoff berth.

Our next game is on Friday, at home. Our REAL home: The Spectrum.

Go Phantoms!

Phantoms vs. Hamilton Bulldogs 2-16-09: Third Period

ARGH. Hamilton's first shot of the period, at 18 seconds, just barely squeaks past Munroe and in. 3-1, Bad Guys. Steve Gainey needs to be nicer to his former team than that! :sulk sulk sulk:

The Phantoms retaliate by scoring on OUR first shot if the period, however. :) Raduns does the honors, with an assist from Bartulis. 3-2, Bad Guys.

The Phantoms' PK soon afterward, when Clackson got sent off for elbowing, was truncated when Laliberte early got a shorthanded breakaway. Hamilton's defender got called for holding, resulting in some 4-on-4 play. We will have a 35-second PP in a few seconds.

Aaaaaaa, and Maroon's position at the crease nearly allowed him to tie the game. We got a nice little flurry going before Hamilton cleared it. Eventually, we wound up at even strength with SOG of Hamilton 24, Phantoms 20. Coach seems to be tweawith about eight and a half minutes left in the period. Coach looks like he's tweaking the lines a little bit here and there. Sirianni Bellamy and Raduns are out right now. They swap for Ross, Nodl, and Kane, and we end up with a lot of end-to-end movement on this shift. None of the action involves a puck reaching either net, however.

Crowd volume ramps up noticeably when Matsumoto goes charging up the middle, with Laliberte and Maroon in tow. Everyone knows that line is dangerous. :) They get us an offensive-zone faceoff.

SOG are 25-25. Come on, guys. We can tie this.

With 6:44 left, Hamilton called their timeout. We had another offensive zone draw. Meanwhile, someone in my row is a season-ticket-holder who was awarded a game-worn jersey. Hmm. Yoo-hoo, I've been a STH since the first year, just not with the same name from the beginning. I shared another person's multi-seat subscription for the first two years, then had my own subscription under my maiden name for a whie before marrying and using my current name from then on. But I digress. ;)

With 4:53, our alumnus Steve Gainey heads to the sin bin an we get the PECOOOOOO POWER PLAY. This time it's Syvret who keeps heading to the top of the umbrella. Kukkonen is out with him, as are Laliberte, Maroooooon :) and Matsumoto. Freaking Hamilton keeps finding ways to clear the puck. Kane, Ross, Nodl, Ratchuk, and Curry take over. Curry blasts one from the point into the goalie's bread basket. Faceoff time. Ross takes the point an Curry pinches waaay in. THis PP is making me nervous, as we keep having two guys behind the Hamilton goal line and no one at the crease. That's not a PP formation that we've had success with, let's just say that. PP over, 2:23 left, SOG Hamilton 28, Phantoms 27. And so much for even strength -- Kane just got called for slashing. Arrrrrrrgh, so we will end up killing a freaking penalty for nearly all the rest of regulation time. Farg. OK, guys, shorty time. Matsumoto and Laliberte get it down to the Bulldogs' end. Looks like Hamilton is getting called for icing. The forwards are replaced with Ross and Raduns, and the D Syvret and Guenin remain out.

22.4 seconds left. PK over. Phantoms call timeout. We have a faceoff in our end, so Munroe remains in goal. Matsumoto, Laliberte, Kane, Kukkonen, and Syvret are out. As we break out, Munroe gets halfway to the bench before having to stop. Finally he gets off, Ross comes on, and OH we come sooooo close to burying one before the freaking horn sounds. Final score, Hamilton 3, Phantoms 2. SOG 29-29. Stars: 3 Raduns, #2 Denis (Hamilton), #1 Gainey (Hamilton).

Phantoms vs. Hamilton Bulldogs 2-16-09: Second Period

Our PP unit is Kane, Nodl, Ross, Syvret, and Kukkonen. We're cycling, but the one direction we need to get the puck is on net, and that hasn't happened yet. Rats. PP over and the SOG are still 6-5, in favor of Hamiton. Gaaah, now the bulldog comes out of the sin bin and Munroe has to be quick to keep the puck out.

The faceoff is in our zone, and suddenly Hamilton is playing with a LOT of jump in their step. They get several consecutive scoring chances, the last of which lands in our net. Beans. They only got credit for one SOG in that sequence, but the end result is Hamilton 1, Phantoms 0. Darn that we didn't do more to get the puck on Denis when we were on the PP.

BTW... Neither Hersley nor Ryan are listed on our roster. When I have a chance, I wil have to see if there is a transaction listed online for Ryan, as I don't see anything in the Phantoms Game Night program. Hersley is with ECHL REading.

PP: and SCOOOORE just as I was typing the letters "PP", LMHO! Syvret blasts a BOMB from the point that appeared to get nothin' but net. Assists to Nodl and Kane. 1-1 and the crowd suddenly has gotten nice and loud, just the way we like it. :D SOG are 9-9.

We wasted no time cashing in on the PP, which was triggered during a flurry of shots on Hamilton's net. Four of their five skaters had planted themselves between the Phantoms and Denis, but we got the puck on net anyway, and drew that penalty into the bargain.

Bartulis slams Stewart into the boards, and throws him to the ice into the bargain. Stewart takes exception and goes after him, earning the Bettman 17 (2 for instigation and a ten-minute misconduct on top of the 5 for fighting). Bartulis gets 5 minutes for fighting, so we're back on the PECOOOO POWER PLAY.

Ross, Nodl, Kane, Syvret, and Kukkonen are out. Ross wins the faceoff. Kukkonen is at the top of the umbrella and blasts one on goal from the top of the slot. Denis makes the save, which loudly makes contact with his equipment. IT's interesting, when we face off, we have our two D covering the point, but then we shift into the umbrella formation. Kane gets a rebound, but Dens stops it as well as the original shot. It's Kane who is stationed at the crease this time around. Boy, those guys had a long shift: 1:15. Next up: Matsumoto, Maroon, Laliberte, Curry, and Ratchuk.

Wth ten minutes remaining in the second period, the score is 1-1 and the SOG are 12-12. We are exactly halfway through regulation time.

Our As for this game are Guenin and Syvret. To my surprise, I don't see an A on Ross's jersey today.

Boooo, we get two quick penalties to Laliberte and Kukkonen, resulting in a 5-on-3 PK. Guenin blocks a shot. However, just as we get our first guy back, freaking Hamilton scores. At least it was right AFTER the first penalty ended, so we can go back to even strength. SOG: Hamilton 16, Phantoms 12. Took 'em a few moments to realize that they had to clear Kukkonen's infraction off the board, though, so we were treated to the odd sight of a penalty timer winding down while the teams skated at 5 on 5. Ah, there we go, someone realized what was wrong and fixed the clock. 2-1, Bad Guys.

On consecutive shifts, Ross and Maroon had point-blank opportunities to cash in rebounds, but Denis was up to the challenge. We need to keep it up, though, beause if he keeps giving up rebounds, we're going to eventually put one in if we keep getting to the puck first.With two minutes left in the period, the SOG are 16-16. Oh, now it was Szwez's turn, in the final minute, to nearly deflect one in. He was standing right at the crease's edge, and unfortunately the deflection went a bit wide.

At the end of the second period, the score is 2-1, Hamilton, and the SOG totals are Hamilton 17, Phantoms 16.

Phantoms vs. Hamilton Bulldogs: First Period

Our only scratches today are Jason DeSantis and Josh Beaulieu.

Our starters are Scott Munroe (back from a stint as the Flyers' backup over the weekend); Nate Guenin, Danny Syvret; Jonathan Matsumoto, Patrick Maroon, David Laliberte.

Steve Gainey, a former Phantom, is in the starting lineup for Hamilton.

Sorry about the absence of a post about Saturday's Phantoms road game. That discrepancy will be corrected after I get home from this game. Real Life *massively* got in the way of doing anything online over the weekend. Some of it was good (visit from a good friend from California), some of it not so good (trying to help another friend get back her van, with handicapped tags, which had been towed).

In any event, this game was bounced over to the Wachovia Center due to the fact that Monster Jam added an extra days' worth of appearances to their schedule. I'm not sure what Monster Jam entails, but I hope it doesn't result in having the first several rows' worth of seats covered in dust and sand when it departs the Spectrum. (We had that problem with a Moto-X event a few years back... It left the place a right mess, and there was not enough time for the building crew to convert the arena back to an ice rink AND clean off all the seats in time for the next Phantoms home game. What an adventre THAT was.

Kukkonen is paired with Bartulis, which is most likely why Jason DeSantis is sitting. This is Lasse Kukkonen's first home game in a Phantoms jersey. He is with the Phantoms for a two-week conditioning stint, and he played in the Phantoms' two road games on Friday and Saturday. Presumably, Ratchuk/Curry are our third D pair. (LOL, and as I type it, that is who comes over the boards.)

Kane, Clackson, and Raduns are on a line together. Klotz, Sirianni, and Bellamy are out together, as well. MUNROE makes a great stop! At which point we get a penalty for hooking. Syvret goes.

Our first PK unit includes Laliberte, Matsumoto, Kukkonen, and Guenin. We have no shots on goal so far, and Hamilton has three. Ah, check that, Matsumoto just ot a puck on net shorthanded. Next up, Ross, Nodl, Kukkonen, Guenin. Kane, Raduns, Curry, Bartulis, and nice save, Scotty. :) We are about 3/4 of the way through the penalty kll, and I like how we are clearing the puck before the Bulldogs get the opportunity to set up and get anything going. LOL, Guenin not only checks an attacker into the boards, but he punches him in the head for good measure. Can you say "got away with one there?" ;) Kukkonen, not to be outdone, checks another Bulldog into the boards directly behind the net, and leaves him flat on the ice into the bargain.

That penalty is ended, but I see our darn sin bin door opening once again. This time, Szwez will sit. SOG are Hamilton 4, Phantoms 1, and the infraction is hooking.

Syvret, Guenin, Raduns, and Kane are up. Guenin clears the puck all the way to the far boards. Shortly thereafter, we get 1:16 of 4 on 4, as the Bulldogs earn THEIR first penalty of the game. Bartulis, Kukkonen, Laliberte, Matsumoto are out for the faceoff. The Bulldogs get the puck and break out, but they go offside.

More nice work by Munroe, on whom I hope the flu-ridden Fyers did not breathe during the weekend. We don't need the two locker rooms to keep cross-pollinating each other with their strains of flu. Kukkonen gave Scotty a pat on the head for his efforts. :)

We managed to get a couple shots during our abbreviated (14-second) PP, but all too soon, it was over. I liked how we looked during the man advantage, though, so I hope we get an opportunity at a full two-minute one soon.

Instead, Clackson and Stewart are exchanging grouchiness. The only penalty, however, went to Clackson for cross-checking. Guenin dumps Hamilton's #18 behind our net. (Can't see his name.) Whooooah, that was dangerous. The puck came off the back boards and Munroe had to clap his glove onto it, as it strayed into the crease behind him after the ricochet. Had he not kept track of it, there was a risk of seeing it pinball off him and into the net. OK, Clackson's back, so that crisis was averted. SOG are Hamilton 6, Phantoms 3. (Which seems to me to be the same tally that we had going INTO the penalty kill.)

Kane's line is doing a nice job of pinning the Bulldogs into their end. Now it's Ross's line (Ross Szwez, Nodl) trying to create some offense. With 48.9 seconds left in the period, the Bulldogs get a bench minor for having too many men on the ice. We try the umbrella formation, only to see the darn 'Dogs clear it out by way of the boards. Somehow we manage to ice it and get a faceoff in our end... And Kukkonen blocks two consecutive shot attempts, one with his side, and one with his shoulder. When the period ends, the game remains scoreless, and the SOG are Hamilton 6, Phantoms 5. The Bulldogs have gone shotless for a pretty long stretch... I think they haven't put a puck on our net since before Clackson went to the box. Meanwhile, the Phantoms will have 1:12 of PP time remaining when the second period begins.