Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Last updated
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Lehigh Valley Phantoms logo.svg
City Allentown, Pennsylvania
League American Hockey League
ConferenceEastern
DivisionAtlantic
Founded 1996
Home arena PPL Center
ColorsBlack, orange, electric blue, white
    
Owner(s)The Brooks Group (Robert and Jim Brooks)
General manager Alyn McCauley (de facto - Assistant General Manager, Philadelphia Flyers)
Head coach Ian Laperrière
Captain Garrett Wilson
Media The Morning Call
WFMZ-TV channel 69
WAEB (AM) – AM 790
WSAN – AM 1470
Service Electric Cable TV2 Sports
AHL.TV (Internet)
Affiliates Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
Reading Royals (ECHL)
Franchise history
1996–2009 Philadelphia Phantoms
2009–2014 Adirondack Phantoms
2014–presentLehigh Valley Phantoms
Championships
Division titles1 (2017–18)
Hockey current event.svg 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]

Contents

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

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

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

Calder Cup Champions Conference ChampionsDivision ChampionsLeague leader

Records as of May 12, 2024. [5]

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonGPWLTOTLSOLPtsPCTGFGAStandingYearPrelims1st
round		2nd
round		3rd
round		Finals
2014–15 763335—7174.4871942374th, East 2015 Did not qualify
2015–16 763435—4375.4932152227th, Atlantic 2016 Did not qualify
2016–17 764823—50101.6642602192nd, Atlantic 2017 —L, 2–3, HER ———
2017–18 764719—55104.6842602181st, Atlantic 2018 —W, 3–1, PRO W, 4–1, CHA L, 0–4, TOR —
2018–19 763930—4385.5592402445th, Atlantic 2019 Did not qualify
2019–20 622428—3758.4681611867th, Atlantic2020Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 321871 [a] 4243.67296922nd, North2021No playoffs were held
2021–22 762932—10573.4801952398th, Atlantic 2022 Did not qualify
2022–23 723729—3380.5562212266th, Atlantic 2023 L, 1–2, CHA ————
2023–24 723231—6373.5071912176th, Atlantic 2024 W, 2–0, WBS L, 1–3, HER ———
Totals69434126915132766.552203321004 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

Updated February 16, 2025. [7] [8] [9]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G AgeAcquiredBirthplaceContract
18 Flag of Latvia.svg Rodrigo Abols C L29 2024 Riga, Latvia Flyers
6 Flag of Sweden.svg Emil Andrae D L22 2023 Västervik, Sweden Flyers
16 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jon-Randall Avon  ( A ) C L21 2023 Peterborough, Ontario Flyers
7 Flag of the United States.svg Louie Belpedio  ( A ) D R28 2022 Skokie, Illinois Flyers
55 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Xavier Bernard D L24 2024 Mercier, Quebec Phantoms
36 Flag of the United States.svg Sawyer Boulton F R20 2024 Huntington, New York Phantoms
91 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Elliot Desnoyers LW L23 2022 Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Flyers
43 Flag of Sweden.svg Oscar Eklind LW L26 2024 Trelleborg, Sweden Flyers
13 Flag of the United States.svg Brendan Furry LW L26 2023 Toledo, Ohio Phantoms
31 Flag of the United States.svg Parker Gahagen G L31 2023 Amherst, New York Phantoms
22 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Rhett Gardner  ( A ) C L28 2023 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Flyers
56 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacob Gaucher F R23 2023 Longueuil, Quebec Flyers
72 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alexis Gendron RW L21 2023 Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec Flyers
37 Flag of Sweden.svg Adam Ginning  ( A ) D L25 2022 Linköping, Sweden Flyers
8 Flag of the United States.svg Ben Gleason D L26 2024 Ortonville, Michigan Flyers
3 Flag of Sweden.svg Helge Grans D R22 2023 Ljungby, Sweden Flyers
15 Flag of Sweden.svg Olle Lycksell LW L25 2022 Oskarshamn, Sweden Flyers
32 Flag of Finland.svg Eetu Mäkiniemi G L25 2024 Vantaa, Finland Flyers
20 Flag of the United States.svg Cooper Marody C R28 2022 Brighton, Michigan Phantoms
19 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McDonald D L22 2024 Fairport, New York Flyers
40 Flag of the United States.svg Cal Petersen G R30 2023 Waterloo, Iowa Flyers
80 Flag of the United States.svg Keith Petruzzelli G L26 2024 Wilbraham, Massachusetts Phantoms
90 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Anthony Richard C L28 2024 Trois-Rivières, Quebec Flyers
73 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Massimo Rizzo C L23 2024 Burnaby, British Columbia Flyers
5 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Ethan Samson D R21 2023 Delta, British Columbia Flyers
27 Flag of Finland.svg Samu Tuomaala RW R22 2023 Oulu, Finland Flyers
17 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Garrett Wilson  ( C ) LW L33 2021 Elmvale, Ontario Phantoms
74 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Zayde Wisdom C R22 2021 Toronto, Ontario Flyers

Team captains

Team records

Lehigh Valley Phantoms take on Laval Rocket at PPL Center in Allentown, January 11, 2020 Lehigh Valley Phantoms Laval Rocket January 11 2020 2.jpg
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 Lehigh Valley Phantoms Hartford Wolf Pack December 14 2019 2.jpg
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
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

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

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 "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 February 16, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster". American Hockey League . Retrieved February 16, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Transactions". American Hockey League . Retrieved February 16, 2025.
  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. 1 2 "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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