We're getting JVR!

I just got the text msg from the Flyers:

"The Flyers have signed prospect James van Riemsdyk to an entry level contract. Van Riemsdyk, the second overall pick in 2007, will report to the Phantoms."

Phantoms at Lake Erie 1-11-09: Recap and Box Score; Briere will Rehab with Phantoms

Here is the link to the game recap from Sunday's game.

And here is the link to the box score.

Now, for the surprise of the day. According to the Flyers' website, Daniel Briere will spend two games rehabbing with the Phantoms. We've never been tasked with augmenting the recovery of the Flyers' best player before, so that's a nice thing. Besides -- not only will it give Briere some extra time to see if he's completely game-ready, it also buys our GM some time to make additional moves to clear salary cap space.

So here's to seeing these next couple of Phantoms games be mutually beneficial to both Briere and the Phantoms. Goodness knows we could use all the offense we can get, if his health's up to providing it. And if all goes well, then heck, Flyers, go crazy -- leave him with us for all THREE games he's eligible to play. :) We won't mind. Honest.

It's official: Munroe and Nodl are recalled to the Flyers

The Flyers have recalled Scott Munroe and Andreas Nodl. Click here for the article on Yahoo Sports.

Phantoms at Toronto Marlies 1-3-09: Recaps and Box Scores and Callups, oh my!

I was not able to watch Saturday's Phantoms/Marlies game online. However, the unfortunate results were that we gave up a hat trick to Max Taylor en route to a 6-1 loss. None of the numbers in this game are pretty. Not the final score, not the number of shots we gave up, not the fact that Aubin's first game time since he got injured in late November involved his giving up three goals in the first period, and replaced by Munroe at the start of the second. Here's the link to the recap on the Phantoms site. And if you need to see hard statistics, then here's the link to the box score.

But the fun doesn't stop there. I was looking at some Flyers-related articles on Yahoo! earlier today. All I can say is, "Here comes the test of our goaltending and of the guys in front of the goalie."

Flyers Injuries Article 1

Right wing Joffrey Lupul will miss at least two weeks with a pulled abdominal muscle he sustained in Friday’s win over Anaheim, and backup goaltender Antero Niittymaki will miss at least a week with a strained a groin muscle he sustained in a 2-1 shootout loss at Los Angeles on Saturday.

Furthermore:
Flyers Injuries Article 2

The latest news concerns goalie Antero Niittymaki. According to Holmgren, Niittymaki suffered a groin injury in the shootout loss in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The injury was not disclosed right away and he did not leave the game, playing injured in the overtime and shootout. But he is doubtful for tomorrow night in Washington and the team will not say anything more before today at the earliest. Scott Munroe will be called up from the Phantoms to take Niittymaki's place on the bench, but for how long no one knows.

Aubin has no choice but to get his rear in gear ASAP. He was fighting the puck in more games than not BEFORE he got hurt. Then he missed a good six weeks due to injury. His return to the ice last Saturday was somewhat less than stellar, as he gave up three goals on 12 shots in the first period of the game. Following that, it was Munroe who led the team out of the tunnel to start the second and third periods.

Well, now Aubin has got to pull himself together, and backstop a decimated Phantoms lineup out of this losing streak. Yes, we've been hit hard by the injury and callup bugs. Yes, the Flyers keep freakin' calling up our guys and then breaking them (Powe, Kalinski, AND Giroux are all hurt). Time to muddle through and get some ugly wins, preferably of the low-scoring variety since so much of our firepower is either on the IR, or with the Flyers (and on the IR).

If I didn't think he could do it, I wouldn't be writing this post. But this is one of those "crunch time" moments in an athlete's career. It's the sort of challenge that kids dream of conquering, and anyone in any sort of competition has nightmares about falling short in. Here's hoping that J-S comes through on the "conquering" side of the equation.

I presume we will see Teslak returned here for the duration of Munroe's callup, particularly since he got moved to the Sea Wolves where they didn't exactly have a goalie shortage to begin with.

Phantoms at Norfolk Admirals 12-27-08: Recap, Box Score; We're Getting Help on the Blueline

Here's the link to the recap of the frustration that was last night's Phantoms/Admirals game, from the Phantoms site.

And here, if still more frustration is what you're after, is the link to the official box score.

But fortunately, I'm not only bearing bad tidings here. I have some good news, as well. According to this article, the Flyers have assigned Ryan Parent to the Phantoms, after a long recuperation from surgery that he had in October.

Parent could be just what the doctor ordered on our D, particularly with Guenin out injured. We haven't got the most experienced team this year, so anyone who can help bolster us in that regard will be a big help. Welcome back, Ryan!

Phantoms Weekly Release #11

Click HERE to access the current Phantoms Weekly Release.

Transactions that we've had this week have included call-ups, send-downs, and signing of players to PTO/ATOs. The list is as follows:

12/26/2008 Billy Ryan (C) Philadelphia ADD Signed to ATO
12/26/2008 Chris Zarb (D) Philadelphia ADD Reassigned by Philadelphia (NHL) from Mississippi (ECHL)
12/26/2008 Claude Giroux (RW) Philadelphia DEL Recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL)
12/26/2008 Jonathon Kalinski (LW) Philadelphia DEL Recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL)
12/26/2008 Rob Sirianni (RW) Philadelphia ADD Signed to PTO
12/23/2008 Andreas Nodl (RW) Philadelphia DEL Returned on loan to Philadelphia (NHL)
12/23/2008 Andreas Nodl (RW) Philadelphia DEL Recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL)
12/23/2008 Jonathon Kalinski (LW) Philadelphia ADD Returned on loan from Philadelphia (NHL)
12/22/2008 Jeremy Duchesne (G) Philadelphia DEL Returned on loan to Mississippi (ECHL)
12/22/2008 Michael Teslak (G) Philadelphia DEL Returned on loan to Elmira (ECHL)
12/21/2008 Jonathon Kalinski (LW) Philadelphia DEL Recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL)
12/20/2008 Randy Jones (D) Philadelphia DEL Recalled from loan by Philadelphia (NHL)

So in other words... Zarb is up with the Phantoms. Duchesne and Teslak are returned to their ECHL clubs. Jones is back with the Flyers. Kalinski, Nodl, and Giroux are up with the Flyers. And we've signed Billy Ryan and Rob Sirianni to tryout contracts. Mercy sakes, our front office has been busy!

Tonight, we have the opportunity to close out our 2008 home schedule on a high note. We are playing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, against whom we have played very well recently.

Go Phantoms!

Ups and Downs -- the Flyers make some roster moves

We've had a few adjustments to the Phantoms roster today.

Scott Munroe and Andreas Nodl were returned to the Phantoms. Josh Gratton was called up.

The Phantoms play tonight at home; the Phantoms and Flyers BOTH play at home on Saturday. Fortunately, however, the games are at different times. The Flyers game is in the afternoon, and the Phantoms game is in the evening. But the long and short of it is that we'll be able to see all three of these players in action tonight and/or tomorrow.

Randy Jones remains on a rehab stint with the Phantoms. He is eligible to play up to two more games with us before returning to the Flyers. Again, tonight and tomorrow are likely to comprise those two games.

We'll be hosting the Lowell Devils tonight. Norfolk, including former Flyer/Phantom Steve Downie, will be here tomorrow night. Mark your calendars if you're interested in seeing a few fisticuffs, as it's highly likely that Clackson and Downie will go. They fought multiple times during training camp, and they were on the same TEAM then. Now that they're one another's opponents in earnest, I won't be the least bit surprised to see a couple pairs of gloves hit the ice on Saturday night.

But first things first. Our task today is to demolish the Devils. We can think more about tomorrow after tonight's game is finished. Go Phantoms!

Flyers need some Muny, recall Scott Munroe

According to this article, Martin Biron will miss tonight's Flyers game with the flu, and therefore Scott Munroe has been recalled from the Phantoms.

Go get 'em, Muny! :)

The Flyers recalled Darroll Powe and sent back Jonathon Kalinski

According to the Flyers' PR blog page, Darroll Powe has been recalled, and Jonathon Kalinski has been returned to the Phantoms.

It makes me wonder if Powe was only sent to the Phantoms on a short-term basis, so he could get his game legs back after being out injured for a few weeks.

In any event, we'll see Kalinski in the Phantoms lineup tonight. That will help make up for the loss of Powe, who was great for us in the brief time he was back in our lineup.

Wednesday's Recap

Here's the article from the Phantoms site recapping Wednesday's game in Wilkes-Barre.

The box score from the game is also available.

In other news, due to the return of Darroll Powe to our lineup, Chase Trull was released from his PTO on Tuesday.

Darroll Powe reappears on the Phantoms roster

I spy with my little eye something that starts with Powe. On a tip from a fellow fan, who said he'd read that Powe was medically cleared to play and sent down but couldn't recall where he'd seen the info, I took a look on the Phantoms site.

There's no announcement, at this moment, of Powe's return. However, Powe is on our active roster.

I'll keep an eye out for any additional information that comes along. With luck, it'll be in tonight's Pregame notes.

Welcome back, Darroll, and I look forward to watching you go POW on the Phantoms again. :)

Edit: This article in the Inky could be what my fellow fan saw. It's got a progress report on Claude Giroux's development, as well as a mention of Powe's recoery and assignment to the Phantoms.

Articles: Phantoms vs. Bears; Kalinski's callup

This morning, the Phantoms site features an article on the Phantoms' season series with the Bears, whom we face yet again tonight.

There's also an article on our recent roster moves, including the callup of Jonathon Kalinski to the Flyers, as well as the Phantoms' signing of Tyler Donati and Dominic D'Amour to PTO contracts.

The Phantoms have gone 2-3-0-0 vs. the Bears this season, but in most of those games, we've had a battle on our hands in the third period. In the one case, even going into the final frame with a three-goal lead wasn't enough to ensure a win. So we will have to make sure and put forth a full 60-minute effort if we intend to avoid getting saddled with another L. We can certainly beat the Bears -- we've already done so this season. But it'll be a win we will have to work hard for.

Go Phantoms!

Phantoms/Albany Game Recap, Donati article

I love the headlines we get on the Phantoms site for the game recaps. This one, in honor of our annual School Day game, was, "Munroe takes Rats to School". LOL!

In other news, click HERE for the article on the Elmira Jackals site announcing the callup of Tyler Donati to the Phantoms. He's the Jackals' top scorer and is tied for second in the ECHL in points.

Phantoms vs. Albany School Day Game, 11/19/08: First Period

Not only is Jared Ross back from the Flyers, he's in the starting lineup. Along with our defensive callup D'Amour, for whom I saw a transaction yesterday, we have another new name in the lineup: Donati. He's sitting with the forwards and wearing number 6. (D'Amour is number 4.) I saw no indication online yesterday that we were calling up another player, so I'll have to do a little looking around online when I get home.

We took a penalty early, but through the first minute and a half of our PK, the Rats have not gotten a puck on net.

Just as we returned to even strength, Munroe had to be sharp. Nice work, Muny. :)

D'Amour is paired with Ratchuk. Kalinski just made up for his trip to the sin bin by getting the primary assist on a NICE Phantoms goal by Szwez. :) Ratchuk got the secondary helper. We took the shot, and Szwez was off to the side in perfect position to lob the rebound into a wide-open net. Grand teamwork so far -- we look ten zillion times better than we did on Saturday in the final frame of the Hershey game. Yes, I realize that the River Rats aren't anywhere near as stacked of a team as the Bears are, but still, we aren't showing any after-effects from that brutal drubbing.

I saw on a Flyers message board that Powe is healthy enough to return to play, but I'll have to look around to see official confirmation of that. (Either that, or I can just wait till the next Fyers game and see who's on the roster. ;) )

Ross is on a line with Szwez and Clackson, with D'Amour and Ratchuk on D. I missed the announcement of the scratches, so I'll have to have a look at who's out there and figure out who's missing by process of elimination. Now it's Raduns with Beaulieu and Laliberte, with Bartulis and Curry. Incidentally, Beaulieu is actually taking real shifts in this game, as opposed to Friday when he dressed but didn't play, or Saturday when the only shift I saw him on the ice for was the one in which he took a hooking call. So it's nice to see Beau back.

Guenin and Syvret, our two assistant captains, remain as a D pair. Matsumoto is on a line with Kalinski and Donati. They just generated a really nice rush. Clackson is out with Giroux and Szwez... Now that I think about it, one player I don't see is Kane, who was on a line with Giroux over the weekend. He's neither on the bench nor on the ice. Hersley is also missing from the lineup, but I believe he's injured, as is Bellamy.

We need to get the heck away from in front of our net. Muny has been more than up to the challenge, but we keep having our D dueling with Rats for loose pucks in front of our crease. If we let that happen too often, it'll eventually cost us.

FINALLY, btw, we see Neil Little back where he belongs, as the Eye in the Sky for the first part of the game. He's been off scouting in Parts Unknown in recent weeks.

The forward line combinations are, to put it mildly, not written in stone. Every time I think I know what line is out, I notice someone different is on the ice. Ditto for the D, which I think we have seven of at the moment. Ratchuk is out with his regular partner, DeSantis. We also have D'Amour, Curry, Syvret, Guenin, and Bartulis dressed on D. That's a good way to break in the newest member of the blueline corps. It also means we don't have four full lines of forwards dressed, so someone's going to be double-shifting here and there.

Syvret and Guenin are out as defensemen, but this time it was SYVRET who blocked a shot... Normally, that's Guenin's purview. Speaking of Nasty Nate, he's headed to the box for cross-checking.

The PK is over, and apparently River Rats are allowed to try and run Matsumoto over when the puck is nowhere near him. GRRR...

And AGAIN, in the final minute of the period, a Rat (Petruzalek) tried to throw a check on Guenin, but missed and hit the boards hard. Only problem is, the puck was nowhere near Guenin at the time. Mumble, grumble...

The first period is over, and the Phantoms take a 1-0 lead into the locker room. SOG: Phantoms 12, River Rats, 9.

Dayton Bombers (ECHL) loan defenseman Dominic D'Amour to Phantoms

From the ECHL's transactions:


Bombers Loan D'Amour To Philadelphia November 17, 2008


DAYTON, Ohio - The Dayton Bombers announced that they have loaned defenseman Dominic D'Amour to the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League.

Selected in the third round (88th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and in his fifth professional season, the 24 year old has seven points (3g-4a) and 25 penalty minutes in 12 games for the Bombers.

Team Press Release

Phantoms Weekly Release #6

The latest Phantoms Weekly Release is now available: click here for it.

It mentions the arrival of Chase Trull, but says nothing about the release of Freddy Cabana. I think that we won't be seeing news of Cabana reported on the Phantoms site, as he was recalled to the *Flyers* and released by *them*. That gets the Phantoms off the hook for having to report this unfortunate bit of news. We might not even see it reported on the AHL transactions site, as he was recalled to the Flyers, not the Phantoms, prior to being released. The next transaction we see related to Freddy might be the one that tells us when he's signed with a new team.

Freddy Cabana has been released

I'm sorry to say that I've finally seen an outright statement of Freddy Cabana's status, and he's no longer with the organization. Here is the report from Bill Meltzer:

Cabana released

The Flyers have pared down their NHL contracts to 48. The team released minor leaguer Freddy Cabana.

Darn it. That was absolutely not what I was hoping to see, but at least it's a concrete answer. I wish Freddy the best. He's a good young guy.

Phantoms vs. Hershey, 11-14-08: First Period

Well, that's ONE way to be apprised of a callup. The Phantoms Phan Club has its monthly Secret Phan gift collection in the reception area by the Will Call window. I was dropping off a gift bag, and I had to navigate around a large bag of hockey gear and a bundle of hockey sticks to get in the door.

I thought little of it until I got a better look at the bag. It had Jared Ross's FLYERS number on it, as well as clearly being marked with Flyers logos. In short, it looked pretty darn official.

And it is. Ross is called up to the Flyers. Looks like the Bears get off easy tonight, since one of our best offensive weapons is off the roster.

Our scratches are Ross, Bellamy, and Hersley.

Our starting lineup is Munroe, Bartulis, Curry, Raduns, Clackson,and Kalinski. I can't help but notice the vote of confidence being given to our rookie line, with this selection. :)

Chase Trull, whom we just called up from Mississippi, is wearing number 22.

Two seconds into the game, Clackson immediately squared off with Amadio. It was an active fight, not a hug-fest, and Clackson got the takedown. Way to set the tone for the weekend early, Matt. :)

Another line combo is out: Kane, Giroux, and Szwez.

Drat. With 17:56 left in the period, Hershey scored. It was a rising shot that went in as Scott was headed down into a butterfly, and it found daylight. Hershey has 3 shots on goal, we haven't got any.

Next line combo: Matsumoto, Klotz, and Maroon.

Even-strength D pairs: Curry/Bartulis, DeSantis/Ratchuk, Syvret/Guenin.

Logically, the last remaining line should be Laliberte, Trull, and Beaulieu, as they are our remaining three forwards. However, it's Laliberte, Trull, and Matsumoto on the ice at the moment. I believe Beaulieu is dressed for the first time this season. That is, unless he saw ice time during our road games over the weekend, but I honestly don't think he was in the lineup at that time. Meanwhile Matsumoto is seeing double duty on this line at the moment as well as his own (with Klotz and Maroon).

13:58 left: we have five rookies out at once -- Raduns, Maroon, Kalinski, Ratchuk, and DeSantis.

12:50 It must be fun for the play-by-play guys right about now; both teams' Girouxs are out at the same time. BTW, the Bears have 5 SOG right now, and we have 1.

Laliberte tried unsuccessfully to split two defenders in Hershey's slot. We need to have a word with the young guys about flying solo during these high-risk plays. It's a habit that we really need to discourage.

Oh, what a scoring chance,! We had Matsumoto in the Hershey crease battling for a loose puck. Unfortunately, it squeaked out behind him (with some help from the goalie), and a Bears defenseman took it out of harm's way.

Moments later, SCORE -- Kane from Giroux to tie the score at 1-1. Somehow, this was only our third SOG... That doesn't seem right; I thought we had more than that, but what the hey. As long as one of our shots went IN, that's what matters.

Clackson is about to go off for interference. The Philly fans respectfully disagree. ;)

PK unit: Raduns, Kalinski, Guenin, Syvret. Again, we have rookies being handed a lot of responsibility. So far on this PK, our guys are letting Munroe see the puck clearly, and the Bears' shots have come from out by the point and the blue line. Next PK unit: Kane, Giroux, Syvret, Guenin. Then Raduns, Kalinski, Curry, Bartulis. I would love to see us clear the darn thing out. Oddly enough, all the players from both teams have drifted to the half of the ice on Munroe's right. Whoa, Scotty just stopped a bouncing puck that looked like the animated dot from a karaoke song.

Guenin blocks a shot after laying flat-out on the ice. I swear, if he doesn't lead the league in blocked shots, I'd like to know who's ahead of him and how many aspirin said shot-blocking leader takes in a day Guenin is freakng fearless when it comes to getting in front of a puck.

We successfully killed the penalty, even though we basically spent the entire two minutes in our end.

Laliberte just BURIED the Bears #23. There must be a dent in the boards where he made contact. NICE hit.

Clackson made a nice head's-up move, making sure he was on the Bears side of the red line before dumping the puck deep into the Hershey zone at the end of a shift.

With three minutes left, we have 4 SOG and the Bears have 12.

Maroon had a nice breakout with Matsumoto, but he couldn't get the puck over to him. The Hershey defender was in position to prevent the pass. It was a good try, though, and it's what we want to see our guys do more of. Speaking of breaking out, don't look now but our three rookie forwards are on a three-on-two charging into the Bears end, with a minute remaining in the period. Unfortunately, *NO*-body was anywhere near the rebound, and a Bear eventually got to the biscuit first. I'm a little surprised at this goalie Varlamov -- that was an immense rebound right into the slot. That's not something I'd expect from him.

SOG at the end of the first period: Phantoms: 8, Hershey:12.

Callup(s) from Mississipi

Thanks to a fellow fan's post on the Phantoms Phorum, I was clued in to an article on the Mississipi Sea Wolves site.

Here's the announcement that Phantoms have called up forward Chase Trull from the Mississippi Sea Wolves.

Welcome to Philly, Mr. Trull, and may I point out that athletes named "Chase" seem to do pretty well here. Just ask Mr. Utley. :)

That's the callup that there's no doubt about.

However, again according to the above-mentioned post, these transactions were announced by the ECHL today:

Mississippi:
Delete Frederik Cabana, recalled by Philadelphia (NHL)
Delete Chase Trull, F loaned to Philadelphia (AHL)

There are a few things that are interesting about this. First of all, Freddy Cabana's not in Philly at the moment. Second of all, his transaction describes him as having been recalled by the FLYERS (NHL), not the PHANTOMS (AHL) -- compare it to Trull's transaction. The way this is panning out, it has all the earmarks of a transaction that's the precursor of some other roster move. What that might be, I can't predict. But it will be worthwhile to watch the Phantoms' and AHL's transaction pages for the immediate future.

Yahoo! reports Gratton's recall

Click here for the Yahoo.com announcement that the Flyers have recalled Josh Gratton.