Photo Credit: Samantha Wisimer
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will begin their quest for the Calder Cup on Tuesday night in Charlotte at 7pm. Unfortunately, due to geographical distance all three games will be played in Charlotte, as it is a Best of 3 Series: Tuesday 7pm, Thursday 7pm, Friday 7pm.
It’s very unfortunate that the season ticket holders in particular for the Phantoms do not get to see their team play in the first round, rather the first round of the playoffs since 2018 for the Phantoms. Phantoms fans were chomping at the bit and have supported this team through thick and thin all season long, however, the team stumbled in their last three games and fell to sixth place while finishing with 80 points to Charlotte’s 86. They lost their last three games to Bridgeport, Charlotte, and Hershey.
They finished 37-29-6 in regular season. While a promising young prospect Tyson Foerster led the team in points with 48. Another young prospect in the Flyers system Elliot Desnoyers finished with a team high 23 goals, which happens to be a rookie record.
Honestly, it’s amazing that Olle Lycksell finished with a team high 31 assists considering he received multiple recalls to the Flyers at times. Adam Ginning made his NHL Debut about a week ago and he finished with the team high plus 24 for the Phantoms.
The youth really shined for the Phantoms, and Sam Ersson put together a solid season with a 24-17-1 record, a 2.84 GAA, and a .900 Save Percentage. He also went back and forth between Lehigh and Philadelphia, so these stats are pretty promising especially in a high scoring league like the AHL.
Can they pull off the upset against Charlotte? Absolutely why not, thing is possible. Unfortunately, it will just have to be on the road for the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
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