Still Dominant - But Not Consistent

It looked as though the Phantoms had turned the corner going into Saturday night’s game in Alpena. They were 4-1-1 in their last six games. They had put together their best 60 minutes two games before, and then even a better 60 minutes on Friday in a 6-1 thumping of the Ice Diggers.

But then there was Saturday’s game. What an odd game. The Phantoms didn’t play altogether that poorly. They out shot their opponent for the third time in a row. They had a good amount of scoring opportunities… perhaps even more than Alpena did, but they ended up losing 4-2. It was partly due to great goaltending. Nate Pellegrino played well. We didn’t crash the net, look for rebounds and deflections and play nearly as physically as we did on Friday.

Also, there were no penalties called in Saturday’s game! Not one! On either team! After a combined 27 penalties for 66 minutes, including two separate fights in the third period, are you honestly telling me that there was nothing illegal going on between these two rivals that warranted a penalty? There was no obstruction, no interference? Nary a hook, a slash? Anything? Officiating cannot be blamed for a loss, but when there is nothing called at all, you have to question the commitment of the referees.

Speaking of fighting… Adam Snead and Derek Carr chalked up a couple wins in that department. Carr was particularly impressive. Fighting Russ Anderson, who officially has 9 inches and 42 pounds on Carr, Carr drew blood and gave him a shiner. Snead’s fight was a bit more equal, with Snead coming out on top of Kerry Bence.

Graham’s year is still going strong. Three goals on the weekend. He is now in fifth place amongst NAHL Scorers. Bob Mainhardt is of course happy with Graham’s scoring, but is more impressed with how great of a two-way center he is.

Moser picked up three helpers on the weekend and is third on the team in scoring, and has a team-leading eight goals. Dexter and Graham have seven goals each.

Moser and newcomer Jon Madden lead the team in +/- at +5. Madden has added some stability and depth into a defensive corps that was somewhat lacking earlier, mostly due to injury. The Phantoms have not been out shot since Madden started playing regularly. Another newcomer, Stefan Salituro, now has two points in four games.

Garrett Bartus had a great showing on Friday night. His win moved him to 3-1-1 on the year and into 2nd place in the league in both GAA and Save %. Bartus shows a lot of confidence out there during the games, and usually the team responds in like-kind in front of him. Coupled with Tibbett being in net for the loss on Saturday, it will be interesting to see what the coaching staff does with the goaltending this coming weekend against Traverse City.

B2 Networks –

I hope that a lot of the listeners/viewers of the webcasts are also reading this. I’d like to start off first with – I’m Sorry.

There has been a lot of miscommunication between B2 and myself as to what we are able to do. Supposedly, there are to be two audio feeds (one for the home announcer and another, separate one for the away announcer) at every rink we have traveled to so far.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case, especially in Alpena, where evidently most of the time you were hearing someone other than me. I try to put on a professional broadcast, but the B2 ends of things haven’t worked out yet.

Believe me, I’m getting frustrated too, and I’m doing everything I can to remedy the situation, so that we can get live coverage of the game to you. Without going into too much more detail, I’d like to say please e-mail me at clee@fireworks.com with any questions you have.

North Stars -

Traverse City is only two points behind us in the standings. Of course a sweep would be ideal, as we are only two points out of second place. With the US playing the Bandits this weekend, we can make some headway on someone. Looking at the stats for Traverse City, there is nothing that jumps out at you at all… they seem relatively mediocre.

I can’t wait until St. Louis comes to town in 12 days for the home openers at the Ice Zone. The atmosphere will be great, and the opposition will be tough. Great games to watch.