A quiet Friday was followed by a busy Saturday as we made our annual Northern Pilgrimage to Allentown to see the AHL affiliate. The Phantoms are in their tenth season in the Lehigh Valley, the franchise itself was established in Philadelphia proper in 1996 and played for five years in Glens Falls while awaiting the move to the Valley. On this night the Cleveland Monsters (that is correct) were the opposition. Cleveland is another city with a strong AHL tradition, from 1936 to 1973 the Cleveland Barons won nine league championships. The current club began in 2007 as the "Lake Erie" Monsters, they adopted the city name in 2016. Ex-Royals on the current Phantoms roster include forwards Jacob Gaucher, Matt Brown and Zayde Wisdom, defensemen Will Zmolek and Adam Karashik plus goaltender Felix Sandstrom. Offensive highlights were unfortunately in short supply for the Phantoms on this night, the Ohioans scored twice within nineteen seconds in the first period and added an empty-netter in the final minute of the game for a 3-0 win. NHL veteran Cal Petersen took the loss in goal but deserved a better fate. It's about seventy miles from my place to the arena in Allentown, Jenny and her mother were home a little before midnight and I was back in town by 12:30. Sunday was a day to sleep in and do nothing and that's exactly what happened. Take care, thanks for reading.
