May 14, 2025 • 27 mins
The Hockey Writers Ink presents:
Phantoms Spot Lite #1 "Hershey Bears beat LV Phantoms 3 - 2 to advance!"
Welcome to the Phantoms Spot Lite a show dedicated to all things Lehigh Valley Phantoms!!
With your hosts Ron "SteelFlyers"!!
This week's guest is no other than RoNece, the VP of steelflyers.com!!
Join us as we break down the final 2 games against The Defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears in a best of 5 game series.
This week's talking points:
1. Thank you to the media directors
2. Phantoms are done
3. What happened
4. Penalties & Energy Levels
5. Goaltending
BIG THANKS to our friends Lower Case Blues for the awesome tunes:
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https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs5gTIpBqPsoG-B_cPMLey0J68hxSouAN
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-hockey-writers-ink
Also catch us at Sports Spyder - https://sportspyder.com/
Follow the show on X @HckyWritersInk
Your Host Lance Green on X @LanceGreen39
Co-Host SteelFlyers on X @SteelFlyers52
Please hit the "Like" and "Subscribe"
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-hockey-writers-ink--4748032/support.
Phantoms Spot Lite #1 "Hershey Bears beat LV Phantoms 3 - 2 to advance!"
Welcome to the Phantoms Spot Lite a show dedicated to all things Lehigh Valley Phantoms!!
With your hosts Ron "SteelFlyers"!!
This week's guest is no other than RoNece, the VP of steelflyers.com!!
Join us as we break down the final 2 games against The Defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears in a best of 5 game series.
This week's talking points:
1. Thank you to the media directors
2. Phantoms are done
3. What happened
4. Penalties & Energy Levels
5. Goaltending
BIG THANKS to our friends Lower Case Blues for the awesome tunes:
Web: lowercaseblues.net
FaceBook: www.facebook.com/lowercaseblues/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lower_case_blues?utm_medium=copy_link
Get all your Hockey Writers Ink information at
https://steelflyers.com/links/hockeywritersink/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs5gTIpBqPsoG-B_cPMLey0J68hxSouAN
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-hockey-writers-ink
Also catch us at Sports Spyder - https://sportspyder.com/
Follow the show on X @HckyWritersInk
Your Host Lance Green on X @LanceGreen39
Co-Host SteelFlyers on X @SteelFlyers52
Please hit the "Like" and "Subscribe"
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-hockey-writers-ink--4748032/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Hockey Writers, Inc. The show where the
writer is fresh off the presses and the ink is
not dry, relaxed, the keyboard is off and the press
boxes closed, with the mic is just getting warmed up.
Join your host, Lance Green, the guardian of the blue
paint turned writer, and your co host Ron steel Flyers,
as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers.
(00:38):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a very special edition of
The Hockey Writers, Inc. With your host Ron steel Flyers. Hey,
how you doing everybody. I'll tell you what, folks, we
got a very special edition of The Hockey Writers Inc.
We're doing a Fantoms spotlight. That's right, folks. The Fantoms
were in the Atlantic semifinals for the five game series
(01:05):
against the Hershey Bears. And that's right. Yours truly was
in the house both at Allentown and at Hershey to
cover both of those games and pretty much the whole
entire series. Was able to cover the whole entire series.
So we have a very very very special guest sitting
in with us tonight. That's right, folks, we got the
(01:28):
vice president of steel Flyers dot Com, the statistician and
the one that keeps it all rocking and rolling. That's right, folks,
Roneye has joined us on Hockey Writers, Inc. For the
first time ever because of the special edition of The
Phantom Spotlight. Welcome Roney's.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Thank you. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Oh man, I can't wait to get into this. We're
gonna talk exclusively about the last two games of the fans.
We're talking about Game four and Game five against the
Hershey Bears. So first of all, if you like what
we do, please hit the like a subscribe man. We
would really appreciate that, and that really helps to keep
us rocking and rolling. Also, big thank you to Jake
(02:12):
and the Boys for Lowercase Blues dot Net. Go over
to Lowercase Blues dot Net. Jake and the Boys the
Lowercase Blues. They are the bomb. They got the music
going for us here at the introduction of the show.
Go over to Lowercaseblues dot Net. Check out all their
upcoming dates. You know, now that the weather's turning and
(02:34):
it's starting to get nice and sunny outside and nice
and long and everything like that, you know, you got
to go out there and check them guys out. They
do a lot of gigs in the areas and around
the beaches and stuff too. So you got to go
over to lowercase Blues dot net. Check them guys out.
Big thanks to Jake. Also big thanks to Speaker for
all they do and for allowing us to get out
(02:55):
to all of the podcasting platforms. Really appreciate that. All right,
here we go. We got game four and game five
the Lehigh Valley Fanos versus the Hershey Bears, the defending
Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears. And after right and and
after dropping game one in in Hershey, they dropped game
(03:21):
one uh, and then came back and won game two
in Hershey uh. And then to Lehigh and played their
two games there in Allentown, and they won the first
one and then lost the second one. And they went
back to Hershey and lost that one too, so they lost.
They won those two games there in the middle, they
(03:43):
lost the series three to two. By the way, all
of the photos that you see scrolling throughout this entire
episode were taken by yours truly. That's right, Well, thank
you very much. Yes like to try to get some
of the action shots, so for sure, thank you all
(04:04):
very much for that. What do you think, Ronie, So
should we get diving in here to this?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Sure? Why not?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Okay, here we go. First of all, I would like
to say a huge thank you to mister Bob Roadtruck,
mister Connor Lawrence for the access that we were granted
this year, the media credentials that they were afforded to
us by those folks from the Lehigh Valley Fantoms. We
(04:34):
really really appreciate that. We hope that we can continue
this relationship in the future. But like I said, big
thank you to Bob Road Truck, to Lehigh Valley Fantoms
and Connor Lawrence for helping us out. Also big help
and props to the Hershey Bears, the Giant Center, Jesse Leeman,
(04:57):
and also mister Zish for helping us to have access
to the Hershey games. So really appreciate that, really, thank
you very much for that opportunity. Look forward to continuing
that relationship as well too, to help maybe cover some
games next year.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
So yeah, you said they were very gracious and and welcoming,
and they made it, you know, made sure, Yeah, everybody
had what they needed.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, I mean Jesse pretty much showed me the ropes
and gave me the tour and you know, the whole
nine hours. It was really great experience and having a
you know, being seen at the rink, you know what
I mean, so and and and covering the Fantoms and
being able to watch some of the Flyers prospects because
(05:48):
there was a lot of ice time that these prospects
were getting here, especially in this series, you know what
I mean, And and well needed much needed ice time
I think as well too. So all right, well, okay,
so look, you know the elephant in the room here
is this Fantoms lost. They they they went up against
(06:18):
the defending champions, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
And it didn't like It's like they started out really
really strong and then they faded it off.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, I'm gonna attribute that to one major aspect here
that I think was a huge contribution to what happened
here to the Fantoms. If you look at the last
two games that were played by the Fantoms and the
(06:53):
Hershey Bears, and who was starting a net Cal Peterson, right,
I think he is the highest paid AHL player going period,
all day long, with a five point five AA five
point five million AAV so I believe his contract comes
(07:17):
off the books this year. But the man let in
ten goals. Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, that is a problem.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's a serial problem. Okay. Now we're we're gonna get
into a couple of the other things too that I
think are are some issues. But that has to be
addressed from jump. When when Parker got hurt and went down, okay,
and cal Peterson came in in relief and didn't allow
(07:47):
a goal, okay, and and had some awesome glove saves
and looked really great. Okay, But he only had to
play like a period and a half and that was it. Okay,
And he did great, But when he had to start,
it just went downhill from there.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah it did.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
When you let in ten goals in two games and
then you only score five, well that's not gonna win
you much, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, the okay, to be fair, of the I think
one of them, I think a couple of them are
unty net goals.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
But you know what I mean, Okay, I'm with you.
But there was still a lot of goals scored against
cal Peterson, and I think that's that's indicative of what
happened to the Fantoms. Okay, I mean I would have
at least started Bijornsen or something A game, Nate. Well,
(08:51):
I mean, okay, I get it. It's it's it's game four,
game five of the series. I understand. I understand the
concept of where you are and who's what's at stake
and who you have to play for. You do you
know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Okay, So with.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That being said, I still think that that was the
major contributing factor to what happened to the Fantoms. I
also think that the disgusting amount of penalties that the
Fantoms took. I mean, they averaged five five and a
half penalties per game.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I know, isn't that ridiculous? And well, we'll talk about it.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
But okay, but I mean when when you average that
amount of penalties and the opposition doesn't two or three. Now, look,
I'm not gonna sit here and say that watching every
single one of these games, there wasn't some bad calls
or calls that weren't made, or calls that should have
been made, or you know, whatever you want to call it.
(09:57):
And there was a lot of that. I can't believe
some of the calls they made.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
So my favorite was, what was it? Who was behind
the net? Was it wisdom?
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Or oh I think it was uh, it was either
Richard Ordone. I think it was Chard that got tackled.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, and then we got a penalty.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
And our guy goes into the box, like.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Uh, that didn't make sense to me.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Excuse you.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You know, I couldn't see, like you know, where I
was sitting, I couldn't see at all. But I just
thought that was a really odd penalty.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I mean, that was just one example. And then when
there's when there's a kafuffle and there's a combination of
all the players, all of the there's two guys going
to the box on on the Lehigh side and nobody
going on the into the box on the Hershey side.
It was like, uh, wait a minute, you mean to
(10:59):
tell me? And to all of that, and Hershey just
came out lily white and all that.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
It was such a huge change from the game that
the Phantoms won against Hershey, the second game they won,
where Hershey was taking a lot of penalties and a
lot of misconducts and a lot of issues with the players. Yeah,
aggressive the Hershey players, And then all of a sudden,
(11:27):
it was all Lehigh Valley or the Phantoms, you know
what I mean, Like, yeah, I don't understand how that
switched like.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
It did seem like there was kind of a different
switch there, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Like, I mean, maybe Hershey kind of got the you know,
like sure from the coast coach to be a little
more disciplined, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Well, Okay, now, look, Todd Nelson, the head coach of
the Hershey Bears, is a heck of a coach. I mean,
three calder Cups in a row. Okay, been with an
been with the organization for some time now, has a
great reputation as a as an awesome coach, as a
(12:14):
Philadelphia Flyer fan, and or whatever. We would covet a
guy like like Nike Nelson to come and coach for
the Flyers, seeing as the Flyers need a coach and
he would be a good coach. He's he's got some
some some some good pedigree under him. I mean, he's got,
you know, three calder Cups in a row and going
(12:36):
for a fourth one. I mean, remember what you said
a little bit earlier about a switch, how it seemed
very different. I'm gonna tell you right now, the energy
level was way different for the Fantoms in the last
years of day one or that they lost. The energy
(12:57):
level was way different for the Fantoms. They they just weren't.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, the first two games they felt I feel like
they were like ramped up, and they were aggressive, and
they were fighting and not fighting. They were fighting, but
you know what I mean, pushing themselves a little bit,
you know what.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I mean, pushing the play. They were pushing the play in.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
The firm they were pressuring the end. Yes, yes, And
I did not see a lot of that in the
last two.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Games, exactly exactly, and and and that was I think
that was the major issue. They got out shot in
almost every single game, even the games that they won.
I still think they got out shot. But yeah, and
they weren't able to capitalize on the power play as
(13:45):
nearly as timely as Hershey was able to and and
hers she didn't even have the best power play this year.
They were like middle of the road, ranked like sixteen,
seventeenth or eighteenth. I think they were ranked this year
for their power play. Which look, if you give a
middle of the road team enough chances on the power play,
(14:06):
and they're gonna score, especially especially two two, especially two
five on threes in a row.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yeah, didn't. There was like two minutes of five on
three in the last game. It was like, you know, like,
here's the other thing. Here's the other thing about power plays.
This is what I saw. The as soon as the
Phantoms started to get a little bit of momentum going,
they would get a penalty which you completely throw them off.
(14:41):
And they couldn't. I think that was the big difference
between the game they won and these last two games
is they couldn't get that momentum. And you know, that's
what I'm looking for.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yeah, they couldn't build that.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yes, and didn't seem like they had It didn't seem
like they had the juice, right they like, they just
didn't have the juice in those last two games. And
but Perrier tried to switch up the lines a little
bit where he kind of had He had dayone a
and and uh uh and Bump and Lichenko on the
(15:27):
same line, right and and and he took he took
Richard off of that line right because Lichenko has been
playing with Richard pretty much the whole time. With Wilson right, well,
they trade they switched that up and put Jet down
with bump and uh, you know what I mean. And
so yeah, but they they switched up the line there.
(15:52):
But they switched up the lines there a little bit
in in that fourth game. Now, he I think he
was juggling lines because of trying to give guys a
break and being out there on the penalty kill a lot,
and being out there on the you know, and and
and everything else like that. So and and he did
use his time outs. Uh, coach Lperier did use both
(16:15):
of his time outs for each game.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
So I mean, okay, well, it just it just kept
going against him. And like I said, they could never
get in a rhythm. They couldn't build any no mental.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Right, they didn't have any jews. It's like they it
seemed like they were out of gas. And it seemed
like what happened was is that it almost seemed like
Hershey just kind of kicked into that next gear and
they they spent more time down in the Phantom's end.
They spent more time pushing the play, and the Phantoms
(16:51):
spent more time chasing. Okay, when you're chasing, you're usually losing.
And and what Hershey did was they came out right
out of the gates and just dropped a three goal
on them. You know, the end of the first period
it was three nothing. It's like, whoa, all right, that's
(17:12):
gonna be yeah, you know exactly, you.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Know, you know, And that's what happened. Friday also her
she scored a couple of goals early and they could
and the Fantoms couldn't catch up, like they couldn't get
exactly the beginning of the second period. They did score
two goals, but that was it. They never quite.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
God exactly in Game four. And I really thought that
second period when they did score those two goals, I thought,
all right, here we go. It was a series where
within one you know what I mean, We're here we go,
right and and then and then it was just, man,
I think that there was a lot of youth compared
(17:57):
to a lot of veterans, right Fantom. The Fantoms had
a lot of guys that have never been there, have
never done that. And Hershey bears most of the guys
on that team. This is their second or third go
round now here at this apple right with this team,
with these group of guys, So, I mean, Hershey is
(18:20):
gonna be a tough team. I somebody asked me when
we were in the press box and I and I said, yeah,
I think if we high can win, then they then
they'll go on. But I said, man, I just don't
Hershey's a tough mountain to climb. Okay. And and the
Fantoms put up a good fight, okay, and and took
(18:43):
them to task, took them to the final game. Right,
And it was just amazing to watch the development of
some of these uh prospects, seeing wisdom grow extensively UH
this past season. Right, we're seeing what we could potentially
see with Luchenko. We're seeing what we potentially could see
(19:06):
with Bump. I mean Luchenko led the the the AHL
with assists. I mean okay, so there is some right
see exactly exactly. So with that being said, this is
(19:27):
the second year in a row now the Fantoms have
made it to the playoffs. And then not only did
they but now they went out in the first of
the best of game, the best of three series. Last
year they lost, but hey, they they took the you know,
defending Calder Cup champions to a five game series. I
say that's improvement.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Okay, Yes, I would say so too.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Exactly And and players improved, and I think Rishard improved
when when when he started getting ice time with Luchenko
because those two guys are really fast and they can
kind of keep up with each other, do you know
what I mean? And so I think there's other little
key matchups that you're going to see as well too,
with the prospects coming up through uh, the fantoms, and
(20:12):
I'm really excited about the draft that's coming up this
June here real soon. So I gotta tell you Ronie's
thank you very much for hopping on here and helping me.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I have some I have some random stats for you.
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Okay? All right? Random random?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, So things I learned as I was watching the
games or reading about it. You mentioned the head coach
Tob Nelson. Todd Nelson is just one of three individuals
to win a Calder Cup as a player, assistant coach
and a head coach in the AHL.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
How about that in.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
The history of the AHL.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Right, just thought that was That's a cool random And
that's another reason why he's why Lance and I covet
him as a coach for the Flyers.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Right, because I mean, he's obviously knows what he's doing right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
He's obviously doing it, doing it all right, you know
what I mean. He's meshing the young guys and the veterans.
You know, they're at Hershey and being able to put
it together, you know what I mean. So congratulations to
the Hershey Bears. Congratulations to the Hershey Bears from moving on.
They're playing Charlotte Checkers.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yes, so here, can I ask you a quick question
before we leave?
Speaker 1 (21:37):
You can't?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, okay, So next season or do you think any
of these players are going to move up to the
Flyers and what do you think they should do to
be successful next season? Like what specific thing do you
think they need to work on for next season.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
I think you're going to see some of the guys
get a shot. I think you're gonna see Emil Andre
I think should probably be more of a regular with
the big club. I think Helgi Grands might potentially have
tried to earn Hi himself a spot as well too. Right,
these guys are all gonna have to show out and
(22:18):
training camp and have a good camp and everything else
like that. Okay, I definitely think we're gonna see Luchenko.
I definitely think we're gonna see him I also think
we're gonna see bump and or a player that we
didn't get to see playing in this series, but Denver Bark,
I think we're gonna see him too. He's currently right
(22:41):
now playing with the London Knights in their Championship Cup
right now as well too with the against the Oshawa Generals,
right that's the HL Finals, right, So I think you're
gonna see those prospects start to chip away at the
(23:03):
and and potentially make the lineup, and then they make
the big club because of the advancements that they've had
this season, because of how well they've done. You might
even see Wisdom cracket with how well he Wisdom became
a force towards the last half of the season, and
(23:25):
then in the playoffs he shown above all else. Right,
he put in three goals, two shorties, right, and he
was a factor in every game.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Okay, yes he was. And in fact, the Friday game,
the third game, he was the one that started the
comeback right in the second exactly the second period, he
you know, knocked it in and he was always trying to,
you know, push it. He was one of the people
(23:57):
that I saw that really one to seem like he
had more energy than the others.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yes, yes it does, and I agree, I agree. I
mean he was noticeable out there on the ice, do
you know what I mean? So all right, I think
there is some future for some of these players, even
with the Flyers, I think. So we'll have to see
how it goes. We'll have to see how the draft goes,
and we'll also have to see how the coaching carousel goes.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, that's going to make a difference.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
That's going to make a huge difference, you know what
I mean. And if if they're waiting around to interview
a guy like coach Nelson for the Hershey Bears, and
they're gonna have to wait a little bit, and I'm
okay with that. I would be okay with waiting for
a coach like that. Does that make sense? But if
you're not going to wait, But if you're not going
(24:49):
to wait for a coach like that, then who you
got on the phone? Who's who's sitting in there for
the interviews? What do you got? Because as soon as
you bring a coach in, the better I think the
organization is going to be. And I think that was
the big mistake that they did. When when when they
waited until two weeks before the draft to bring in
John Tortorella.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, I was gonna say, I hope they don't do
the same thing they do with.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
I'm I'm a firm believer in bringing the coach in
as soon as possible, you know, to get everybody acclimated
and blah blah blah, so he doesn't have to spend
all summer figuring out who these guys are without them
being around, right, you know, and so hey, what do
I know? Anyway?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
And we're getting were venturing into flyer sterritory there, so right, But.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
All in all, big thank you to Lee High Valley Fantoms.
A great season. Second year in a row. They made
it to the playoffs. They made it to a little
bit I'm further in the playoffs this year with beating
the the the daunted de Wilke Spear of Scranton Penguins
in the best of three series there, taking those two
(25:59):
games from there then and then of course pulling the
long straw there against the Hershey Bears and losing the
best of five series three games two. Well, folks, I
got it.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
I would like to say, yeah, I'm sorry. I want
to say one last thing. I think that the Fantoms
have the best mascot in the AHL. I think that
Melvin is hilarious. So I just wanted to put that
out there because if you haven't seen Melvin, you haven't
gone to the Phantoms game, and you have the opportunity,
(26:34):
you should. It's a fun little arena and you have
a good.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Time it is, and that's that's something that Lance and
I have both said on air as well too, that
it's a great experience. It's a great family experience. There's
there's really it's a really good access. You're pretty there's
not a bad seed in the house. There really isn't
a I mean even in the quote unquote nosebleeds those
(27:00):
there's still really good seats anywhere you slice it. There's
a good seat there in the house. And you need
to go down there and check out the PPL Center
there where and check out a Fantom's home game. It's
a really great experience. Once again, thank you to mister
Road Truck and to mister Lawrence and the Lee High
Valley Fantoms for access and media credentials for this season.
(27:21):
We hope we can continue this for next season. If
you like what you we do. Please hit the like
and subscribe. We will catch you all on the next
episode of The Hockey Writers Inc.
Welcome to the Hockey Writers, Inc. The show where the
writer is fresh off the presses and the ink is
not dry, relaxed, the keyboard is off and the press
boxes closed, with the mic is just getting warmed up.
Join your host, Lance Green, the guardian of the blue
paint turned writer, and your co host Ron steel Flyers,
as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers.
(00:38):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a very special edition of
The Hockey Writers, Inc. With your host Ron steel Flyers. Hey,
how you doing everybody. I'll tell you what, folks, we
got a very special edition of The Hockey Writers Inc.
We're doing a Fantoms spotlight. That's right, folks. The Fantoms
were in the Atlantic semifinals for the five game series
(01:05):
against the Hershey Bears. And that's right. Yours truly was
in the house both at Allentown and at Hershey to
cover both of those games and pretty much the whole
entire series. Was able to cover the whole entire series.
So we have a very very very special guest sitting
in with us tonight. That's right, folks, we got the
(01:28):
vice president of steel Flyers dot Com, the statistician and
the one that keeps it all rocking and rolling. That's right, folks,
Roneye has joined us on Hockey Writers, Inc. For the
first time ever because of the special edition of The
Phantom Spotlight. Welcome Roney's.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Thank you. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Oh man, I can't wait to get into this. We're
gonna talk exclusively about the last two games of the fans.
We're talking about Game four and Game five against the
Hershey Bears. So first of all, if you like what
we do, please hit the like a subscribe man. We
would really appreciate that, and that really helps to keep
us rocking and rolling. Also, big thank you to Jake
(02:12):
and the Boys for Lowercase Blues dot Net. Go over
to Lowercase Blues dot Net. Jake and the Boys the
Lowercase Blues. They are the bomb. They got the music
going for us here at the introduction of the show.
Go over to Lowercaseblues dot Net. Check out all their
upcoming dates. You know, now that the weather's turning and
(02:34):
it's starting to get nice and sunny outside and nice
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Big thanks to Jake. Also big thanks to Speaker for
all they do and for allowing us to get out
(02:55):
to all of the podcasting platforms. Really appreciate that. All right,
here we go. We got game four and game five
the Lehigh Valley Fanos versus the Hershey Bears, the defending
Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears. And after right and and
after dropping game one in in Hershey, they dropped game
(03:21):
one uh, and then came back and won game two
in Hershey uh. And then to Lehigh and played their
two games there in Allentown, and they won the first
one and then lost the second one. And they went
back to Hershey and lost that one too, so they lost.
They won those two games there in the middle, they
(03:43):
lost the series three to two. By the way, all
of the photos that you see scrolling throughout this entire
episode were taken by yours truly. That's right, Well, thank
you very much. Yes like to try to get some
of the action shots, so for sure, thank you all
(04:04):
very much for that. What do you think, Ronie, So
should we get diving in here to this?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Sure? Why not?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Okay, here we go. First of all, I would like
to say a huge thank you to mister Bob Roadtruck,
mister Connor Lawrence for the access that we were granted
this year, the media credentials that they were afforded to
us by those folks from the Lehigh Valley Fantoms. We
(04:34):
really really appreciate that. We hope that we can continue
this relationship in the future. But like I said, big
thank you to Bob Road Truck, to Lehigh Valley Fantoms
and Connor Lawrence for helping us out. Also big help
and props to the Hershey Bears, the Giant Center, Jesse Leeman,
(04:57):
and also mister Zish for helping us to have access
to the Hershey games. So really appreciate that, really, thank
you very much for that opportunity. Look forward to continuing
that relationship as well too, to help maybe cover some
games next year.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
So yeah, you said they were very gracious and and welcoming,
and they made it, you know, made sure, Yeah, everybody
had what they needed.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, I mean Jesse pretty much showed me the ropes
and gave me the tour and you know, the whole
nine hours. It was really great experience and having a
you know, being seen at the rink, you know what
I mean, so and and and covering the Fantoms and
being able to watch some of the Flyers prospects because
(05:48):
there was a lot of ice time that these prospects
were getting here, especially in this series, you know what
I mean, And and well needed much needed ice time
I think as well too. So all right, well, okay,
so look, you know the elephant in the room here
is this Fantoms lost. They they they went up against
(06:18):
the defending champions, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
And it didn't like It's like they started out really
really strong and then they faded it off.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, I'm gonna attribute that to one major aspect here
that I think was a huge contribution to what happened
here to the Fantoms. If you look at the last
two games that were played by the Fantoms and the
(06:53):
Hershey Bears, and who was starting a net Cal Peterson, right,
I think he is the highest paid AHL player going period,
all day long, with a five point five AA five
point five million AAV so I believe his contract comes
(07:17):
off the books this year. But the man let in
ten goals. Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, that is a problem.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's a serial problem. Okay. Now we're we're gonna get
into a couple of the other things too that I
think are are some issues. But that has to be
addressed from jump. When when Parker got hurt and went down, okay,
and cal Peterson came in in relief and didn't allow
(07:47):
a goal, okay, and and had some awesome glove saves
and looked really great. Okay, But he only had to
play like a period and a half and that was it. Okay,
And he did great, But when he had to start,
it just went downhill from there.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah it did.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
When you let in ten goals in two games and
then you only score five, well that's not gonna win
you much, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, the okay, to be fair, of the I think
one of them, I think a couple of them are
unty net goals.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
But you know what I mean, Okay, I'm with you.
But there was still a lot of goals scored against
cal Peterson, and I think that's that's indicative of what
happened to the Fantoms. Okay, I mean I would have
at least started Bijornsen or something A game, Nate. Well,
(08:51):
I mean, okay, I get it. It's it's it's game four,
game five of the series. I understand. I understand the
concept of where you are and who's what's at stake
and who you have to play for. You do you
know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Okay, So with.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That being said, I still think that that was the
major contributing factor to what happened to the Fantoms. I
also think that the disgusting amount of penalties that the
Fantoms took. I mean, they averaged five five and a
half penalties per game.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I know, isn't that ridiculous? And well, we'll talk about it.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
But okay, but I mean when when you average that
amount of penalties and the opposition doesn't two or three. Now, look,
I'm not gonna sit here and say that watching every
single one of these games, there wasn't some bad calls
or calls that weren't made, or calls that should have
been made, or you know, whatever you want to call it.
(09:57):
And there was a lot of that. I can't believe
some of the calls they made.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
So my favorite was, what was it? Who was behind
the net? Was it wisdom?
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Or oh I think it was uh, it was either
Richard Ordone. I think it was Chard that got tackled.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, and then we got a penalty.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
And our guy goes into the box, like.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Uh, that didn't make sense to me.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Excuse you.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You know, I couldn't see, like you know, where I
was sitting, I couldn't see at all. But I just
thought that was a really odd penalty.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I mean, that was just one example. And then when
there's when there's a kafuffle and there's a combination of
all the players, all of the there's two guys going
to the box on on the Lehigh side and nobody
going on the into the box on the Hershey side.
It was like, uh, wait a minute, you mean to
(10:59):
tell me? And to all of that, and Hershey just
came out lily white and all that.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
It was such a huge change from the game that
the Phantoms won against Hershey, the second game they won,
where Hershey was taking a lot of penalties and a
lot of misconducts and a lot of issues with the players. Yeah,
aggressive the Hershey players, And then all of a sudden,
(11:27):
it was all Lehigh Valley or the Phantoms, you know
what I mean, Like, yeah, I don't understand how that
switched like.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
It did seem like there was kind of a different
switch there, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Like, I mean, maybe Hershey kind of got the you know,
like sure from the coast coach to be a little
more disciplined, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Well, Okay, now, look, Todd Nelson, the head coach of
the Hershey Bears, is a heck of a coach. I mean,
three calder Cups in a row. Okay, been with an
been with the organization for some time now, has a
great reputation as a as an awesome coach, as a
(12:14):
Philadelphia Flyer fan, and or whatever. We would covet a
guy like like Nike Nelson to come and coach for
the Flyers, seeing as the Flyers need a coach and
he would be a good coach. He's he's got some
some some some good pedigree under him. I mean, he's got,
you know, three calder Cups in a row and going
(12:36):
for a fourth one. I mean, remember what you said
a little bit earlier about a switch, how it seemed
very different. I'm gonna tell you right now, the energy
level was way different for the Fantoms in the last
years of day one or that they lost. The energy
(12:57):
level was way different for the Fantoms. They they just weren't.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yeah, the first two games they felt I feel like
they were like ramped up, and they were aggressive, and
they were fighting and not fighting. They were fighting, but
you know what I mean, pushing themselves a little bit,
you know what.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I mean, pushing the play. They were pushing the play in.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
The firm they were pressuring the end. Yes, yes, And
I did not see a lot of that in the
last two.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Games, exactly exactly, and and and that was I think
that was the major issue. They got out shot in
almost every single game, even the games that they won.
I still think they got out shot. But yeah, and
they weren't able to capitalize on the power play as
(13:45):
nearly as timely as Hershey was able to and and
hers she didn't even have the best power play this year.
They were like middle of the road, ranked like sixteen,
seventeenth or eighteenth. I think they were ranked this year
for their power play. Which look, if you give a
middle of the road team enough chances on the power play,
(14:06):
and they're gonna score, especially especially two two, especially two
five on threes in a row.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yeah, didn't. There was like two minutes of five on
three in the last game. It was like, you know, like,
here's the other thing. Here's the other thing about power plays.
This is what I saw. The as soon as the
Phantoms started to get a little bit of momentum going,
they would get a penalty which you completely throw them off.
(14:41):
And they couldn't. I think that was the big difference
between the game they won and these last two games
is they couldn't get that momentum. And you know, that's
what I'm looking for.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yeah, they couldn't build that.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yes, and didn't seem like they had It didn't seem
like they had the juice, right they like, they just
didn't have the juice in those last two games. And
but Perrier tried to switch up the lines a little
bit where he kind of had He had dayone a
and and uh uh and Bump and Lichenko on the
(15:27):
same line, right and and and he took he took
Richard off of that line right because Lichenko has been
playing with Richard pretty much the whole time. With Wilson right, well,
they trade they switched that up and put Jet down
with bump and uh, you know what I mean. And
so yeah, but they they switched up the line there.
(15:52):
But they switched up the lines there a little bit
in in that fourth game. Now, he I think he
was juggling lines because of trying to give guys a
break and being out there on the penalty kill a lot,
and being out there on the you know, and and
and everything else like that. So and and he did
use his time outs. Uh, coach Lperier did use both
(16:15):
of his time outs for each game.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
So I mean, okay, well, it just it just kept
going against him. And like I said, they could never
get in a rhythm. They couldn't build any no mental.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Right, they didn't have any jews. It's like they it
seemed like they were out of gas. And it seemed
like what happened was is that it almost seemed like
Hershey just kind of kicked into that next gear and
they they spent more time down in the Phantom's end.
They spent more time pushing the play, and the Phantoms
(16:51):
spent more time chasing. Okay, when you're chasing, you're usually losing.
And and what Hershey did was they came out right
out of the gates and just dropped a three goal
on them. You know, the end of the first period
it was three nothing. It's like, whoa, all right, that's
(17:12):
gonna be yeah, you know exactly, you.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Know, you know, And that's what happened. Friday also her
she scored a couple of goals early and they could
and the Fantoms couldn't catch up, like they couldn't get
exactly the beginning of the second period. They did score
two goals, but that was it. They never quite.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
God exactly in Game four. And I really thought that
second period when they did score those two goals, I thought,
all right, here we go. It was a series where
within one you know what I mean, We're here we go,
right and and then and then it was just, man,
I think that there was a lot of youth compared
(17:57):
to a lot of veterans, right Fantom. The Fantoms had
a lot of guys that have never been there, have
never done that. And Hershey bears most of the guys
on that team. This is their second or third go
round now here at this apple right with this team,
with these group of guys, So, I mean, Hershey is
(18:20):
gonna be a tough team. I somebody asked me when
we were in the press box and I and I said, yeah,
I think if we high can win, then they then
they'll go on. But I said, man, I just don't
Hershey's a tough mountain to climb. Okay. And and the
Fantoms put up a good fight, okay, and and took
(18:43):
them to task, took them to the final game. Right,
And it was just amazing to watch the development of
some of these uh prospects, seeing wisdom grow extensively UH
this past season. Right, we're seeing what we could potentially
see with Luchenko. We're seeing what we potentially could see
(19:06):
with Bump. I mean Luchenko led the the the AHL
with assists. I mean okay, so there is some right
see exactly exactly. So with that being said, this is
(19:27):
the second year in a row now the Fantoms have
made it to the playoffs. And then not only did
they but now they went out in the first of
the best of game, the best of three series. Last
year they lost, but hey, they they took the you know,
defending Calder Cup champions to a five game series. I
say that's improvement.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Okay, Yes, I would say so too.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Exactly And and players improved, and I think Rishard improved
when when when he started getting ice time with Luchenko
because those two guys are really fast and they can
kind of keep up with each other, do you know
what I mean? And so I think there's other little
key matchups that you're going to see as well too,
with the prospects coming up through uh, the fantoms, and
(20:12):
I'm really excited about the draft that's coming up this
June here real soon. So I gotta tell you Ronie's
thank you very much for hopping on here and helping me.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I have some I have some random stats for you.
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Okay? All right? Random random?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, So things I learned as I was watching the
games or reading about it. You mentioned the head coach
Tob Nelson. Todd Nelson is just one of three individuals
to win a Calder Cup as a player, assistant coach
and a head coach in the AHL.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
How about that in.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
The history of the AHL.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Right, just thought that was That's a cool random And
that's another reason why he's why Lance and I covet
him as a coach for the Flyers.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Right, because I mean, he's obviously knows what he's doing right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
He's obviously doing it, doing it all right, you know
what I mean. He's meshing the young guys and the veterans.
You know, they're at Hershey and being able to put
it together, you know what I mean. So congratulations to
the Hershey Bears. Congratulations to the Hershey Bears from moving on.
They're playing Charlotte Checkers.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yes, so here, can I ask you a quick question
before we leave?
Speaker 1 (21:37):
You can't?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, okay, So next season or do you think any
of these players are going to move up to the
Flyers and what do you think they should do to
be successful next season? Like what specific thing do you
think they need to work on for next season.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
I think you're going to see some of the guys
get a shot. I think you're gonna see Emil Andre
I think should probably be more of a regular with
the big club. I think Helgi Grands might potentially have
tried to earn Hi himself a spot as well too. Right,
these guys are all gonna have to show out and
(22:18):
training camp and have a good camp and everything else
like that. Okay, I definitely think we're gonna see Luchenko.
I definitely think we're gonna see him I also think
we're gonna see bump and or a player that we
didn't get to see playing in this series, but Denver Bark,
I think we're gonna see him too. He's currently right
(22:41):
now playing with the London Knights in their Championship Cup
right now as well too with the against the Oshawa Generals,
right that's the HL Finals, right, So I think you're
gonna see those prospects start to chip away at the
(23:03):
and and potentially make the lineup, and then they make
the big club because of the advancements that they've had
this season, because of how well they've done. You might
even see Wisdom cracket with how well he Wisdom became
a force towards the last half of the season, and
(23:25):
then in the playoffs he shown above all else. Right,
he put in three goals, two shorties, right, and he
was a factor in every game.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Okay, yes he was. And in fact, the Friday game,
the third game, he was the one that started the
comeback right in the second exactly the second period, he
you know, knocked it in and he was always trying to,
you know, push it. He was one of the people
(23:57):
that I saw that really one to seem like he
had more energy than the others.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yes, yes it does, and I agree, I agree. I
mean he was noticeable out there on the ice, do
you know what I mean? So all right, I think
there is some future for some of these players, even
with the Flyers, I think. So we'll have to see
how it goes. We'll have to see how the draft goes,
and we'll also have to see how the coaching carousel goes.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, that's going to make a difference.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
That's going to make a huge difference, you know what
I mean. And if if they're waiting around to interview
a guy like coach Nelson for the Hershey Bears, and
they're gonna have to wait a little bit, and I'm
okay with that. I would be okay with waiting for
a coach like that. Does that make sense? But if
you're not going to wait, But if you're not going
(24:49):
to wait for a coach like that, then who you
got on the phone? Who's who's sitting in there for
the interviews? What do you got? Because as soon as
you bring a coach in, the better I think the
organization is going to be. And I think that was
the big mistake that they did. When when when they
waited until two weeks before the draft to bring in
John Tortorella.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, I was gonna say, I hope they don't do
the same thing they do with.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
I'm I'm a firm believer in bringing the coach in
as soon as possible, you know, to get everybody acclimated
and blah blah blah, so he doesn't have to spend
all summer figuring out who these guys are without them
being around, right, you know, and so hey, what do
I know? Anyway?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
And we're getting were venturing into flyer sterritory there, so right, But.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
All in all, big thank you to Lee High Valley Fantoms.
A great season. Second year in a row. They made
it to the playoffs. They made it to a little
bit I'm further in the playoffs this year with beating
the the the daunted de Wilke Spear of Scranton Penguins
in the best of three series there, taking those two
(25:59):
games from there then and then of course pulling the
long straw there against the Hershey Bears and losing the
best of five series three games two. Well, folks, I
got it.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
I would like to say, yeah, I'm sorry. I want
to say one last thing. I think that the Fantoms
have the best mascot in the AHL. I think that
Melvin is hilarious. So I just wanted to put that
out there because if you haven't seen Melvin, you haven't
gone to the Phantoms game, and you have the opportunity,
(26:34):
you should. It's a fun little arena and you have
a good.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Time it is, and that's that's something that Lance and
I have both said on air as well too, that
it's a great experience. It's a great family experience. There's
there's really it's a really good access. You're pretty there's
not a bad seed in the house. There really isn't
a I mean even in the quote unquote nosebleeds those
(27:00):
there's still really good seats anywhere you slice it. There's
a good seat there in the house. And you need
to go down there and check out the PPL Center
there where and check out a Fantom's home game. It's
a really great experience. Once again, thank you to mister
Road Truck and to mister Lawrence and the Lee High
Valley Fantoms for access and media credentials for this season.
(27:21):
We hope we can continue this for next season. If
you like what you we do. Please hit the like
and subscribe. We will catch you all on the next
episode of The Hockey Writers Inc.
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