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]
| Lehigh Valley Phantoms | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Allentown, Pennsylvania |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | Atlantic |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Home arena | PPL Center |
| Colors | Black, 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–present | Lehigh Valley Phantoms |
| Championships | |
| Division titles | 1 (2017–18) |
 Current season | |
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
editIn 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
editOn 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
edit| 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 | ||||||
- ^ 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
editUpdated November 7, 2024.[7][8][9]
Team captains
edit- Colin McDonald, 2015–19
- Cal O'Reilly, 2020–23
- Garrett Wilson, 2023–present
Team records
editAs 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
edit- Les Cunningham Award (AHL Most Valuable Player)
- Phil Varone 2017–18[10]
- Second All-Star Team
- T.J. Brennan 2017–18[12]
Head coaches
edit- Terry Murray: 2014–2015
- Scott Gordon: 2015–2018, 2019–2021[13]
- Kerry Huffman: 2018–19 (interim)
- Ian Laperriere: 2021–present[14]
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Prass, Paul (April 19, 2016). "Phantoms Leave Fans Optimistic For 2016–17 | The Home News". The Home News. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ^ Kraus, Scott (August 13, 2014). "Phantoms' new mascot, meLVin, makes his debut". The Morning Call. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
- ^ a b "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Statistics and History". HockeyDB. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
- ^ "Game Preview – Phantoms at Devils – Game #22". Lehigh Valley Phantoms. April 26, 2021.
- ^ "Roster – Lehigh Valley Phantoms". Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Roster". American Hockey League. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ "Lehigh Valley Phantoms Transactions". American Hockey League. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ "Phantoms' Varone voted AHL MVP". American Hockey League. April 13, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
- ^ "2016-17 AHL First, Second All-Star Teams unveiled". American Hockey League. April 6, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
- ^ a b "2017-18 AHL First, Second All-Star Teams unveiled". American Hockey League. April 5, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
- ^ "Phantoms/Flyers Organization Mutually Agree to Part Ways with Phantoms Head Coach Scott Gordon". OurSports Central. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
- ^ "Ian Laperriere Named Phantoms Head Coach". Lehigh Valley Phantoms. June 5, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.