Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Lehigh Valley Phantoms
CityAllentown, Pennsylvania
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceEastern
DivisionAtlantic
Founded1996
Home arenaPPL Center
ColorsBlack, orange, electric blue, white
       
Owner(s)The Brooks Group (Robert and Jim Brooks)
General managerAlyn McCauley (de facto - Assistant General Manager, Philadelphia Flyers)
Head coachIan Laperrière
CaptainGarrett Wilson
MediaThe Morning Call
WFMZ-TV channel 69
WAEB (AM) – AM 790
WSAN – AM 1470
Service Electric Cable TV2 Sports
AHL.TV (Internet)
AffiliatesPhiladelphia Flyers (NHL)
Reading Royals (ECHL)
Franchise history
1996–2009Philadelphia Phantoms
2009–2014Adirondack Phantoms
2014–presentLehigh Valley Phantoms
Championships
Division titles1 (2017–18)
Current season

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.[1]

The Phantoms have been the top minor league affiliate for the Flyers since the 1996–97 season, playing in Philadelphia as the Philadelphia Phantoms from 1996 until 2009, then in Glens Falls, New York, as the Adirondack Phantoms from 2010 until 2013, and in Allentown as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms since 2014.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms play their home games at PPL Center, an 8,500 capacity, $282 million indoor arena that opened in downtown Allentown on September 10, 2014.

History

[edit]
See also: List of Lehigh Valley Phantoms players and 2019–20 Lehigh Valley Phantoms season

In March 2011, plans were announced for a new arena, the PPL Center, in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania. Demolition at the arena site began in January 2012.[2] In February 2012, it was announced that the Adirondack Phantoms, a franchise that originated as the Philadelphia Phantoms, would relocate to the PPL Center in Allentown from Glens Falls, New York. The franchise originally intended to begin play in Allentown in 2013, but due to litigation over the construction of PPL Center, the team did not play until the 2014–15 AHL season. The purple color used since the team's inception was replaced by electric blue when the team relocated to the Lehigh Valley.[1]

The arena has been consistently full. During the 2015–16 season, the PPL Center was filled at a 97.9% capacity on average, and had 24 sellouts in the 38 Phantoms home games, including the last 13. The Phantoms finished seventh in the AHL attendance rankings with an average of 8,244 fans, surpassed only by teams with larger venues.[3]

Mascot

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On August 13, 2014, the Phantoms introduced their new mascot "meLVin".[4] meLVin wears the number 55, which is LV in Roman numerals. The LV refers to Lehigh Valley. He became the Phantoms' third mascot after "Phlex" (Philadelphia Phantoms) and "Dax" (Adirondack Phantoms).

Season-by-season results

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Calder Cup Champions Conference Champions Division Champions League leader

Records as of May 12, 2024.[5]

Regular season Playoffs
Season GP W L T OTL SOL Pts PCT GF GA Standing Year Prelims 1st
round		 2nd
round		 3rd
round		 Finals
2014–15 76 33 35 — 7 1 74 .487 194 237 4th, East 2015 Did not qualify
2015–16 76 34 35 — 4 3 75 .493 215 222 7th, Atlantic 2016 Did not qualify
2016–17 76 48 23 — 5 0 101 .664 260 219 2nd, Atlantic 2017 — L, 2–3, HER — — —
2017–18 76 47 19 — 5 5 104 .684 260 218 1st, Atlantic 2018 — W, 3–1, PRO W, 4–1, CHA L, 0–4, TOR —
2018–19 76 39 30 — 4 3 85 .559 240 244 5th, Atlantic 2019 Did not qualify
2019–20 62 24 28 — 3 7 58 .468 161 186 7th, Atlantic 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 32 18 7 1[a] 4 2 43 .672 96 92 2nd, North 2021 No playoffs were held
2021–22 76 29 32 — 10 5 73 .480 195 239 8th, Atlantic 2022 Did not qualify
2022–23 72 37 29 — 3 3 80 .556 221 226 6th, Atlantic 2023 L, 1–2, CHA — — — —
2023–24 72 32 31 — 6 3 73 .507 191 217 6th, Atlantic 2024 W, 2–0, WBS L, 1–3, HER — — —
Totals 694 341 269 1 51 32 766 .552 2033 2100 4 playoff appearances
  1. ^ A game between the Phantoms and Binghamton Devils was suspended while tied and not completed, resulting in a 1–1 tie and a point for each team.[6]

Current roster

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Updated December 12, 2024.[7][8][9]

Team roster
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
18 Latvia Rodrigo Abols C L 28 2024 Riga, Latvia Flyers
16 Canada Jon-Randall Avon (A) C L 21 2023 Peterborough, Ontario Flyers
7 United States Louie Belpedio (A) D R 28 2022 Skokie, Illinois Flyers
55 Canada Xavier Bernard D L 24 2024 Mercier, Quebec Phantoms
36 United States Sawyer Boulton F R 20 2024 Huntington, New York Phantoms
91 Canada Elliot Desnoyers LW L 22 2022 Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Flyers
43 Sweden Oscar Eklind LW L 26 2024 Trelleborg, Sweden Flyers
13 United States Brendan Furry LW L 26 2023 Toledo, Ohio Phantoms
31 United States Parker Gahagen G L 31 2023 Amherst, New York Phantoms
22 Canada Rhett Gardner (A) C L 28 2023 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Flyers
56 Canada Jacob Gaucher F R 23 2023 Longueuil, Quebec Flyers
72 Canada Alexis Gendron RW L 21 2023 Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec Flyers
37 Sweden Adam Ginning (A) D L 24 2022 Linköping, Sweden Flyers
8 United States Ben Gleason D L 26 2024 Ortonville, Michigan Flyers
3 Sweden Helge Grans D R 22 2023 Ljungby, Sweden Flyers
15 Sweden Olle Lycksell LW L 25 2022 Oskarshamn, Sweden Flyers
32 Finland Eetu Mäkiniemi G L 25 2024 Vantaa, Finland Flyers
20 United States Cooper Marody C R 28 2022 Brighton, Michigan Phantoms
19 United States Hunter McDonald D L 22 2024 Fairport, New York Flyers
40 United States Cal Petersen G R 30 2023 Waterloo, Iowa Flyers
90 Canada Anthony Richard C L 28 2024 Trois-Rivières, Quebec Flyers
73 Canada Massimo Rizzo C L 23 2024 Burnaby, British Columbia Flyers
5 Canada Ethan Samson D R 21 2023 Delta, British Columbia Flyers
9 Canada Sam Sedley D R 21 2024 St. Mary's, Ontario Phantoms
27 Finland Samu Tuomaala RW R 21 2023 Oulu, Finland Flyers
17 Canada Garrett Wilson (C) LW L 33 2021 Elmvale, Ontario Phantoms
74 Canada Zayde Wisdom C R 22 2021 Toronto, Ontario Flyers

Team captains

[edit]

Team records

[edit]
Lehigh Valley Phantoms take on Laval Rocket at PPL Center in Allentown, January 11, 2020
Lehigh Valley Phantoms play the Hartford Wolf Pack at PPL Center in Allentown, December 14, 2019

As of the 2023–24 season[5]

Single season
Goals: Greg Carey, 31 (2017–18)
Assists: Phil Varone, 47 (2017–18)
Points: Phil Varone, 70 (2017–18)
Penalty minutes: Jay Rosehill, 219 (2014–15)
GAA: Jean-Francois Berube, 2.56 (2019–20)
SV%: Rob Zepp, .917 (2014–15)
Wins: Alex Lyon (2016–17), 27
Shutouts: Dustin Tokarski (2017–18), 5
  • Goaltending records need a minimum 25 games played by the goaltender
Career
Career goals: Greg Carey, 103
Career assists: Chris Conner, 128
Career points: Chris Conner, 199
Career penalty minutes: Garrett Wilson, 554
Career goaltending wins: Alex Lyon, 75
Career shutouts: Alex Lyon, 6
Career games: Greg Carey, 277

Individual awards

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Les Cunningham Award (AHL Most Valuable Player)
Phil Varone 2017–18[10]
First All-Star Team
T.J. Brennan 2016–17[11]
Phil Varone: 2017–18[12]
Second All-Star Team
T.J. Brennan 2017–18[12]

Head coaches

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ a b Kraus, Scott; Assad, Matt (November 14, 2012). "Allentown's hockey team will be Lehigh Valley Phantoms". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  2. ^ Kraus, Scott (March 5, 2012). "More details of Phantoms' Allentown arena, hotel, offices emerge". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  3. ^ Prass, Paul (April 19, 2016). "Phantoms Leave Fans Optimistic For 2016–17 | The Home News". The Home News. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  4. ^ Kraus, Scott (August 13, 2014). "Phantoms' new mascot, meLVin, makes his debut". The Morning Call. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Statistics and History". HockeyDB. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  6. ^ "Game Preview – Phantoms at Devils – Game #22". Lehigh Valley Phantoms. April 26, 2021.
  7. ^ "Roster – Lehigh Valley Phantoms". Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  8. ^ "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster". American Hockey League. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  9. ^ "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Transactions". American Hockey League. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  10. ^ "Phantoms' Varone voted AHL MVP". American Hockey League. April 13, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  11. ^ "2016-17 AHL First, Second All-Star Teams unveiled". American Hockey League. April 6, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "2017-18 AHL First, Second All-Star Teams unveiled". American Hockey League. April 5, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  13. ^ "Phantoms/Flyers Organization Mutually Agree to Part Ways with Phantoms Head Coach Scott Gordon". OurSports Central. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  14. ^ "Ian Laperriere Named Phantoms Head Coach". Lehigh Valley Phantoms. June 5, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
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