MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-2009-10 Record: 0-0-0-0, 0 points (0-0-0-0 Home, 0-0-0-0 Road), Tied-First Place - East Division

Pre-Season Recap:

The Phantoms completed their three-game pre-season schedule last week with a record of 1-1-0-1.  Adirondack lost to the Lowell Devils 5-4 in a shootout on September 19^th and then on Friday night they chalked up a 2-1 shootout victory over the Albany River Rats in a preview of what should be a massively intense Time Warner Cable Cup rivalry.  Goaltender Johan Backlund was the star of Friday’s game, stopping 26-of-27 shots through 65 minutes of action and then going 4-for-4 in the shootout to earn the win and the game’s First Star honors.  Saturday night the tables were turned as the River Rats ran away with a 5-1 win over the Phantoms to conclude both teams’ exhibition schedules.  The Rats scored two early goals on rookie goalie Nic Riopel and out-shot Adirondack 18-5 in the first period.  Down 3-0 early in the second, Riopel avoided further damage as he stopped a Zach Boychuk penalty shot at 3:18 and then departed for the night at the halfway point of the period.

Week 1 Preview:

Adirondack is ready to commence their inaugural season in Glens Falls on Saturday night as they host the Worcester Sharks for their 2009-10 Season Opener at 7:00 pm at the Civic Center.  This week is the lightest game schedule of the season for the Phantoms, with just one game and no travel involved.  However, the Sharks will not make Opening Night easy as they bring a high-tempo, high-scoring club into the Civic Center.  Worcester closed out their pre-season schedule on Sunday with a 10-3 thrashing of the Hartford Wolf Pack, where team captain and two-time AHL All-Star Ryan Vesce led the way with four assists in the game.

An injury to Flyers backup goalie Brian Boucher suffered during Saturday’s NHL pre-season game at New Jersey prompted the team to recall Phantoms goaltender Johan Backlund.  With the Swedish goalie’s opportunity to head back to Philadelphia, that leaves three goalies currently on Adirondack’s roster: Nic Riopel, Michael Teslak and Jeremy Duchesne.  Late Monday afternoon the Flyers assigned four forwards to the Phantoms: Lukas Kaspar, Jason Ward, David Laliberte and Patrick Maroon, all of whom will provide distinct offensive impacts to the lineup.

Week 1 Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on Classic Hits Q-101.7 FM and can also be heard for free over the Internet atwww.phantomshockey.com and can be viewed via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com.)

Saturday, October 3 – 7:00 pm – Glens Falls Civic Center – Glens Falls, NY

vs. Worcester Sharks (0-0-0-0, 0 pts)

Tied-First Place, Atlantic Division

• The Sharks made the 2009 Calder Cup playoffs in their second year of operations in Massachusetts.  Worcester finished the 2008-09 regular season with a record of 42-35-1-2 (87 points) and went into the post season as the fourth place team in the Atlantic Division.  In the first round the Sharks upset first place Hartford 4 games to 2, but lost to the Providence Bruins in six games in the Division Finals.  Last year Worcester split their two games in Glens Falls against Albany, losing 5-4 on October 17^th and then beating the Rats 3-2 on April 3^rd.  Clifton Park native and former Boston College defenseman Nick Petrecki is currently on the Sharks roster and could potentially make his professional debut at the Civic Center on Saturday.  Petrecki was drafted by San Jose in the 1^st round (28^th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft; one of only two players from the Capital District to be drafted in the first round.

Pre-Season Game Results:

September 19, 2009               Adirondack 4 @ Lowell 5 - SO

September 25, 2009               Albany 1 @ Adirondack 2 - SO

September 26, 2009               Adirondack 1 @ Albany 5

Phantoms Player of the Week: (Pre-Season)

Johan Backlund – G – #31                1 GP, 1-0-0, 0.92 GAA, 0.963 Sv.%, 4-for-4 In Shootout

Goaltender Johan Backlund made his Phantoms pre-season debut on Friday night at the Civic Center in solid fashion.  The Swedish netminder made 26 saves on 27 shots through regulation and overtime, before stopping all four shootout attempts to help Adirondack to a 2-1 shootout win over Albany.  An injury to Brian Boucher in the Flyers’ pre-season game Saturday against New Jersey brought Backlund back up to the NHL club for the short term

Phantoms Quick Hits:

·         BACK UP TOP – Defenseman Joey Mormina was recalled by Philadelphia on Saturday and made his pre-season Flyers debut against the Devils that night in New Jersey.  Mormina, who made his NHL debut with the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2007-08 season, logged 15:06 of ice time and finished the game with an even plus-minus rating.  He was returned to the Phantoms on Monday afternoon.

·         TIME WARNER CABLE CUP PREVIEW – Adirondack and Albany proved that their rivalry will be just that this season.  The two teams that will be battling it out 12 times during the regular season for the Time Warner Cable Cup, combined for 160 penalty minutes in their two pre-season games.  They hade 54 total minutes on Friday night in a very intense contest and then nearly doubled that tally with 106 minutes of penalties Saturday night in Albany.

·         LEADING SCORER – Right wing Andreas Nodl was the only Phantoms player to register a point in each of the team’s two games last weekend.  The Vienna, Austria native made a beautiful pass to set up a Jared Ross power play goal on Friday and then started the play that saw Marc-Andre Bourdon’s pass ricochet off Bryan Marshall’s skate and into the net Saturday at Albany.

·         WATERED DOWN TEAM BUILDING – The Phantoms had scheduled a little team bonding away from the rink on Tuesday and at the same time taking advantage of the nearby Adirondacks.  But the Adirondacks struck back.  The entire region has experienced a very wet summer this year and the rain Tuesday afternoon forced the team to postpone the event.  The players will now be put through the planned rope course team building exercise at the Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course in Bolton Landing on Monday, October 5^th at 2:00 pm.

Phantoms Recent Transactions

September 28 – ADD – Lukas Kaspar (LW) – Assigned by Philadelphia (NHL).

September 28 – ADD – Jason Ward (C) – Assigned by Philadelphia (NHL).

September 28 – ADD – Patrick Maroon (LW) – Assigned by Philadelphia (NHL).

September 28 – ADD – David Laliberte (RW) – Assigned by Philadelphia (NHL).

September 28 – ADD – Joey Mormina (D) – Returned on loan from Philadelphia (NHL).

September 27 – DELETE – Johan Backlund (G) – Recalled to Philadelphia (NHL).

September 27 – DELETE – Ryan McGinnis (D) – Released from training camp roster.

September 27 – DELETE – Michael Mullen (RW) – Released from training camp roster.

September 27 – DELETE – Andrew Lord (C) – Released from training camp roster.

September 27 – DELETE – Anthony Perdicaro (D) – Released from training camp roster.

September 27 – DELETE – Chase Watson (LW) – Released from training camp roster.

September 27 – DELETE – Bryan Marshall (C) – Released from training camp roster.

September 26 – DELETE – Aaron Clarke (LW) – Released from training camp roster.

September 26 – DELETE – Jamie Fritsch (D) – Released from training camp roster.

September 26 – DELETE – Slavomir Tomko (D) – Released from training camp roster.

September 26 – DELETE – Joey Mormina (D) – Recalled to Philadelphia (NHL).Advertisement: Commissioner Bud Selig shaved drug suspensions of players and broke the rules of MLB. Will Manny Ramirez and three others do a year? What will happen to dozens of minor league players whose records, teams, and leagues are affected? Read the whole story at SZ ( www.mlnsports.com ).