With half the season over already, the Phantoms are finally going to get a chance to rest – a chance to heal. Here is the list of injured players… Eric Ringel, Denny Kramarz, John Houston, Kurt Washnock, and Derek Carr. Zack Barbis has been out with mono. On Monday, there were only two defenseman that participated in practice, while the rest were resting.
From here, there really is only good news. 1) Despite all these injuries, mostly to defensemen, the Phantoms are still 18-8-3 and tied for first place… and 4-1-1 in their last six. 2) The thinking right now is that everyone except Houston could be back in action against the U.S. on December 21. 3) Even if they aren’t, they will get 20 more days to rest right after that. 4) The majority of the remaining games will be played at home.
If you include the pre-season games in New Jersey, the team has been in action every weekend for over three months – with a few Tuesday games thrown in there as well. That’s 14 consecutive weeks, 11 of which have been on the road, and at last there is some time to heal.
Whether it is the official injuries that have kept players out of games, or the daily bumps and bruises that are wearing them down and holding them out of practice, this will finally be a chance to rest.
While the Rangers weren’t as good as I was expecting, they were still a bit above average. Friday’s game wasn’t our best performance. Luckily, it was only a point lost and not two. Three separate one-goal leads were lost, including two back breaking goals – one in the last two minutes of the third period and the other to win it in overtime.
You could tell the Rangers were all psyched up to play the division leaders. I realized for the first time this season that we are the team with the target on our backs that every opponent gets hyped up to play against, and circles on their schedule.
Saturday’s game was more like business as usual for the Phantoms. While eight goals isn’t always expected, our skill level always makes it a decent possibility. It was great to see the way the team responded to both the 1-0 deficit, and when the Rangers made it close again at 4-2. The game was still in doubt when that happened. So the boys just rolled off four more, stepped up with the gloves dropped when called out, and took home a great win.
So, half the season is over, and only two more games remain before the holiday break. I think that 39 points in 29 games, and a share of the division lead is a pretty good start for anyone, especially with the nature of our schedule – 23 of 29 on the road.
If you didn’t catch the broadcasts this weekend, be sure to check out the NAHL.com homepage and take a look at Graham’s goal. He can dangle with the best of them. He had five points on the weekend and finally won Player of the Week, after three honorable mentions. Congrats to Derek.
Blakey continues to come on strong as of late – the rookie is now fourth in team scoring, has a point in each of the last five games, and has 6 goals and 3 assists in that span. Hirschfeld also has nine points in his last five games, moving him into fifth on the team, and averaging just over a point per game for the season. Along with Graham, these three are a dynamite line and compliment each other very well.
The goaltending continues to be strong. Tibbett just keeps gaining more and more confidence and playing better and better, while Bartus has been a wall all season. When the defense gets healthy again, the goaltending stats will only get better, and the team seems primed for success.
