Just Hours Until Game Time

I am writing to you from room 311 at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Chesterfield, Mo. here just a few hours before the first game of the Robertson Cup Championships against the Topeka Roadrunners.

We got into town late Monday, got in a full practice (on the large surface) at the Hardees IcePlex yesterday morning, attended a press conference yesterday afternoon, went to the local mall to get the boys’ legs moving again, and then attended the first official function of the tournament last night – the NAHL Awards Banquet.

The banquet was actually very good… good food, good location, good speakers (especially John Davidson) and special guests – a lot of NHLers, and just a good experience to be a part of. Congrats to all those who won awards. Derek Graham was the lone Phantom player to be honored with his selection to the All-North Division Team.

I would also like say that I am very impressed with the turnout of Phantoms fans, families, and billet families that have made the trip out to St. Louis. If you are here for the first time, my advice is to bundle up at the rink. It is not like the Ice Zone in there, it is rather chilly, even for me up in the press box near the heaters! If in doubt, bring a blanket.

It has been said time and again what we need to do to beat the Bandits… so I won’t go over that again. We showed a week ago, and then even again in Friday’s overtime loss, that we can skate with these guys, we can compete, we can beat, and even that we can dominate. We proved to us and to them, that with a 60-minute effort, we are just as dangerous.

Furthermore, in the last 45 minutes the Phantoms played here in St. Louis, we were convincing in showing that we can play right along with them on the Olympic surface as well. If the Bandits are the team with the target on their backs, with all the experience we have against them (12 games), we have the advantage on both Alexandria and Topeka.

Speaking of Topeka… the Roadrunners have had an impressive year, finishing 39-11-8 on the year – first place in the South, and the second best point total (86) in the NAHL. They are 6-2 in the playoffs, sweeping the Texas Tornado, before going to a Game 5 overtime to knock out the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Sunday. At the banquet last night, they were rivaling the Bandits, and the (absent) North Iowa Outlaws for hardware won.

Their biggest weapon is defenseman, #5 Aaron Gens. In his fourth season in the NAHL, Gens took home the award for the league’s best defenseman, was named to the All-South Division Team and the All-NAHL Team. He led the league in scoring among defensemen with 12 goals and 46 assists, and was league leader in plus/minus with a plus-41 rating. He currently is second on the team in playoff scoring.

Leading the Roadrunners forward lines are #19 Corey Jendras and #10 Josh Kamrass, scoring 69 and 68 points respectively. Jendras is third in team playoff scoring, while Kamrass is first. One other name that Phantoms fans might recognize is that of goaltender Bryce Merriam. A former Phantom, Merriam has played all eight playoff games for Topeka and has a suspect save percentage of .889 in the post-season.

The Phantoms faced the Roadrunners in the last game of each other’s Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota in September. In a penalty-laden game, Mahoning Valley won it 3-2 in a shootout. Winter’s and Graham’s power play goals appeared to be good enough to win, but the Roadrunners scored with just eight seconds left to tie it up, before Graham got the game-winner in the shootout.

One key match up to watch in tonight’s game will be the Roadrunners power play (the best in the NAHL playoffs, at a 26.7% conversion rate) against the Phantoms penalty kill (also the best in the NAHL playoffs, at a 95.5% kill rate).

Alexandria, meanwhile, looks like the odds on favorite to be the first ones out… and that is something that they have played with all season, and something that obviously motivates them. After starting the year 3-14-2, the Blizzard finished 26-11-2 in their final 39 regular season games and third place in the Central.

The Blizzard needed five games in each of the first two rounds to knock off Southern Minnesota and Springfield respectively, and is 3-0 in overtime games this post-season including a Game 5 win to get here.

Luke Nesper (#11) and Mikael Lickteig (#19) are their leading scorers, finishing fourth and fifth respectively in NAHL scoring during the regular season. They are riding the goaltending of Ryan Leets. Leets’ goals-against average is 2.92, and his save percentage is .905 in 10 playoff games. The Phantoms have yet to play Alexandria this year.

Like I said above, with all the games the Phantoms have played here at the Hardees IcePlex, I really think that they have the advantage as far as an opportunity to move on over Topeka and Alexandria. The Roadrunners are 1-2-1 versus St. Louis this year, while the Blizzard is 0-1-1. Neither team has played the Bandits since December 1. The Roadrunners won the only game they played against Alexandria this season, 5-3 – in their first game of the year.

Remember, with the new format this season, the first place team after the round-robin will get the automatic berth into the championship game. Second and third place will battle it out in a semifinal game on Saturday for the right to play for the title, while the fourth place team will go home on Friday.

Thursday’s game against St. Louis is the only 7:30 p.m. CDT start the Phantoms will have this week. Friday’s game against Alexandria is slated for a 3 p.m. CDT start time. Saturday’s semifinal is at 3 p.m. also, and the Championship on Sunday is at 5 p.m. CDT. If you are reading this from Ohio, note that all the times listed above are CENTRAL TIME.

I won’t be calling any of the game action on B2 – the league decided to bring in “neutral” broadcasters for every game at the tournament… but be sure to listen in anyway! I will be doing one last Cameron’s Corner next Wednesday to wrap up the season – hopefully a Robertson Cup Championship season.

If you are here in St. Louis, I’ll see you this afternoon at 3 p.m. for the game against the Roadrunners – or maybe I’ll catch you in the hallway here at the hotel. But remember, bundle up!