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Inside The Phantoms Not So Special Teams

Adirondack Phantoms' Patrick Maroon controls the puck during their home game against the Springfield Falcons on Friday, October 09, 2009. T.J. Hooker - PostStar.com

Adirondack Phantoms' Patrick Maroon controls the puck during their home game against the Springfield Falcons on Friday, October 09, 2009. T.J. Hooker - PostStar.com


The Adirondack Phantoms have played only eight games this year, but they are going to give coach Greg Gilbert and their fans a lot of gray hairs.  Six of the eight games have been decided by one goal.  The only two goal win for the Phantoms included an empty net goal.  The root of this problem appears to be what everyone thought was going to be this teams strength, its offense, more specifically the lack of a power play.

Star-divide

The Phantoms have managed a league low 19 goals through eight games this season.  They currently rank 19thin the league with only 8 power play goals in 35 chances.  Not much better is the penalty kill, which also ranks 19th in the 29 team American Hockey League.  Captain Jared Ross has only one goal and two assists.  This after having 20-plus goals each of the last two seasons.  Jon Matsumoto and David Laliberte both have just started showing their offensive capabilities over the past weekend.

With all of the problems on offensive, many have not noticed how solid the team's defense has been.  What is a very young group of defensemen has become a solid unit.  Johan Backlund has played very solid in goal for the Phantoms.  He has appeared to have made the transition from the larger European rinks to the smaller NorthAmerican ones with ease.  Nic Riopel got the start last Saturday against Albany and played a very solid game.  None of the three goals he allowed could be blamed on him.  This was a surprise start to most, but Gilbert never mentioned why Backlund did not start a game between two first place teams at the time.

It will be interesting to see how the defense now responds with the loss of Randy Jones.  He was a very solid defensemen, as expected with NHL experience, and added credibility to a young core of defensemen.  Jones also deserves some credit for never openly complaining about his time in Adirondack.  He was one of the most approachable guys on the team.   

Get ready Philadelphia!  Stefan Legein appears to be the real deal.  His energy last Friday and Saturday was something this team seemed to lack.  He stepped in and was playing on both the power play and on the penalty kill.  He had three short handed opportunities on Friday, hitting the post on one.  He did score in the Albany game.  There is just something about him, that you can tell he will not be an AHLer for long.

The Phantoms are once again carrying three goalies.  Michael Teslak was recalled from Elmira of the ECHL.  Teslak was 3-0 with a GAA just over 3.00 for the 5-0 Jackals. 

The Phantoms are currently in 4thplace in the East Division with a 4-3-1 record, good for 9 points.  They play Friday in Toronto and on Sunday, at home versus Syracuse.  Syracuse handed the Phantoms their worst loss of the season, 6-1, on October 10th. 

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I have a question:

Since the AHL stats are rather thin, I’m wondering who has impressed more between Bourdon and Marshall. All I can gather is that Marshall has played 8 games to Bourdon 5, but Bourdon is a +2 with two assists, while Marshall is +1 with a goal.

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by Geoff Detweiler on Oct 29, 2009 9:23 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

You have two different d-men here. Marshall seems to be more of a traditional stay at home d-man, while Bourdon is more likely to jump in an think offense. Both seem to be solid prospects. As a whole the entire defense has been solid, minus one game in Syracuse and a few moments early in the season. They looked really green in the first few games, but have become solid as of late. Good goaltending doesn’t hurt either.

So to answer your question, I guess it depends on what you are looking for, a classic defensmen or more of a offensive minded defensemen.

The Adirondack Phantoms: Bringing the AHL back to the Mountains!

by Dan Morency on Oct 30, 2009 7:31 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I’ll take both.

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Oct 30, 2009 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Teslak

So I know this is coming a little late, but this seemed like the only appropriate thread to post on.

I saw Teslak play last night for the Jackals. I had no idea that he was there; the Jackals are an Ottowa farm team, so I was amazed to see the guy in goal have all this Flyers stuff on his helmet.

He made some incredible saves early on. A few really nice sprawling glove saves, and he had great rebound control. The biggest problem he had was his defense was non existant. 13 shots on him in the first period compared to Jackals six.

The worst part of it all was that the Jackal’s were playing the Wheeling Nailers, a Pittsburgh farm team… so I had to sit there and watch a Flyers goalie get beat by Pittsburgh yet again!

by NoalB on Nov 28, 2009 9:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs


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