Philadelphia Phantoms Weekly

PHANTOMS UNBEATEN IN PRESEASON ACTION
The Phantoms improved to 2-0-1 in 2003 preseason play with a win and a tie last week. On Wednesday, Ian MacNeil and B.J. Abel each scored in a 2-2 tie vs. the Albany River Rats. Antero Niittymaki started in goal for the Phantoms and stopped 10-of-11 shots before Neil Little came on to turn aside 18-of-19 attempts. Philadelphia had opened the 2003 preseason with a 5-3 victory over the River Rats five days earlier.

On Saturday, Niittymaki stopped all 21 shots he faced in a 3-0 triumph over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Rookie defenseman James Laux (Cherry Hill, N.J.) recorded a goal and an assist, while Kirby Law contributed two assists. Boyd Kane and another rookie defenseman Freddy Meyer scored the other goals for Philadelphia.

PRESEASON FINALE SET FOR FRIDAY VS. FLYERS
The Phantoms wrap up their exhibition slate this Friday, Oct. 3 at 7:05 p.m. with a rare game against their parent club, the Philadelphia Flyers, at the Wachovia Spectrum. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet.

The meeting between the Phantoms and Flyers will be the first since Sept. 21, 1999, when the clubs played a benefit game in memory of Flyers defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny, who passed away earlier that summer in a boating accident. The Flyers prevailed in the game, 6-1, in front of 15,462 fans at the Spectrum.

LOCAL MEDIA TO COACH PHANTOMS/FLYERS GAME
Head coaches Ken Hitchcock and John Stevens will have the night off on Friday when the Flyers and Phantoms square off at the Wachovia Spectrum.

It was announced this week that the Flyers will be coached by ESPN and 610-WIP radio announcer Al Morganti, 610-WIP radio announcer and local sportswriter Anthony Gargano and NHL Cool Shots host Dan Moriarty, while the Phantoms will be coached by Philadelphia Daily News beat reporter Ed Moran, Bucks County Courier Times beat reporter Wayne Fish and former Flyer and current 610-WIP radio announcer Keith Jones. Morganti will act as head coach of the Flyers, while Moran will be at the helm of the Phantoms.

SCORELESS STREAK
Phantoms goaltenders Antero Niittymaki and Neil Little have a current scoreless streak of 92:23 this preseason. After Albany’s Erik Jensen scored at 12:37 of the second period in Wednesday’s 2-2 tie, Little blanked the River Rats for the final 32:23 of the game. Niittymaki then shut out the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 3-0, on Saturday.

PHANTOMS GETTING BIBLICAL
Kane and Abel each scored goals for the Phantoms last week. B.J. Abel, a training camp invitee from Minnesota State University Mankato, scored the tying goal in Wednesday’s 2-2 decision against the Albany River Rats. Boyd Kane, a sixth-year pro who played for the Springfield Falcons last season, tallied the second goal in Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

NIITTYMAKI LIKES POLONIA BANK FLYERS SKATE ZONE
Goaltender Antero Niittymaki probably wishes more home games could be played at the Polonia Bank Flyers Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia. Last year as a rookie, he made 25 saves at the rink in a 3-0 preseason shutout of the Norfolk Admirals. Then this past Saturday, he stopped all 21 shots he faced there in a 3-0 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

SATURDAY’S GAME GETS PHYSICAL
Saturday’s 3-0 preseason win over Bridgeport was Philadelphia’s most physical to date, as the game featured seven fights and a combined 120 penalty minutes. Peter Vandermeer and Robert Snowball each dropped the gloves twice, while Wade Skolney, Mike Siklenka and rookie Nick Deschenes all fought once.

PHANTOMS SEEKING UNDEFEATED PRESEASON
On Friday vs. the Flyers, the Phantoms will be attempting to go unbeaten in preseason action for the first time since the 2000-01 season. That year, Philadelphia posted a 3-0-1 record with a pair of wins over the Syracuse Crunch and a win and a tie vs. the Albany River Rats. The Phantoms went 2-1-1 the past two preseasons.

NEW WEB SITE
The Phantoms have further improved one of the American Hockey League’s most popular web sites, as the team last week unveiled its newly designed site at www.phantomshockey.com. Content additions include a Phun Phacts feature on a different player every other week, a front office staff page in the Team section, new wallpaper in the Multimedia section, a display of all the team’s magazine covers over the years in the History section, and an internal search engine and calendar on the homepage.

In addition, a “This Date in Phantoms History” feature debuted on the homepage on Oct. 1, and the new “Game at a Glance” box will break down each home game, complete with a scoresheet, recap, pregame notes, slideshow, audio & video clips, and links to newspaper articles.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets to all Phantoms home games are $19, $18 and $14 for adults, and $8 for all children 14 and under, and are available now at the Wachovia Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations throughout the Delaware Valley. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling (215) 336-2000, (856) 338-9000 or (302) 984-2000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Contact the Phantoms office at 215-465-4522 or log on to www.phantomshockey.com for information on group discounts, birthday packages and the Family Four Pack.

Purple Reign begins October 10, 2003!

Comcast-Spectacor (comcast-spectacor.com) is the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment firm which owns the Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Phantoms, the Wachovia Center, the Wachovia Spectrum, Flyers Skate Zone community ice skating and ice hockey facilities, Comcast SportsNet, and three minor-league affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles - the Bowie Baysox, Delmarva Shorebirds and Frederick Keys. Comcast-Spectacor is also the principal owner of Global Spectrum, the public assembly facilities management firm with more than 35 facilities throughout the United States and Canada; Ovations Food Services, a food and beverage services provider; and Patron Solutions, a full-service ticketing and marketing product for public assembly facilities.

Monday, September 29, 2003