Prospect Info: Phantoms (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL), NCAA, Jrs., Int'l, etc. [April-May 2021 edition]

[mr4tno]

Its likke waching an old age home play. I'd rather watch longshots that totally insignificant veterans. Aboslutely the worst veteran group in the AHL. Sandstrom should be starting both games

 

[FLYguy3911]

York and Zamula have played a good bit of the game together.

 

[mr4tno]

The Phantoms are even slower than the Flyers, if that is possible. Slow hockey is the worst kind of hockey.....

 

[Curufinwe]

Its likke waching an old age home play. I'd rather watch longshots that totally insignificant veterans. Aboslutely the worst veteran group in the AHL. Sandstrom should be starting both games

McIntyre was their best player. Not sure why you would risk injuring Sandstrom by playing him back to back in the last two games of the season.

 

[macleish1974]

Yes McIntyre was their best player last night.

I have to admit they were slower than usual and their puck handling was like they were handling grenades....but you have to remember, as I said and will say for the millionth time!......they have a dearth of really good centers. You know you are trouble when you have to sign Peter Mueller, 36 years old, to an AHL contract just to get through the season plus poor old Bunny as 3rd line center is playing like he does not care if he plays at all. So bad it is at 4th line center that Kase and sometimes Wellman have to play it. So yes center play is not very good and slow. O'Reilly is as slow as molasses but he is one of the good guys. Plays as hard as his feet will allow and makes some pretty good plays most night. Last night was not one of them.

Defensively, Pouliot is as horrid as you can get and on offensive as selfish with the puck as can be. Bigras is ok. Witherspoon of the older players is actually good at defense. Of the youngsters, over the last 10 games or so, definitely Hogberg is the most consistent defenseman. Of course Zamula and York are the flash, but they both have their moments.

Between McINtyre and Sandstrom, this tandem are like 5th or 6th rated in the AHL in save% and GA. Which also means the defensive schemes are holding up most nights But a super fast team like Hershey eats the defensive alive and only the acrobatics of Mc and Sandy them keep in the game.

They did have two fights last night: Allison and Wellman. The officials were god awful.

Absolutely they miss Foerster and badly. In actuality, Foerster is the Phantoms best player and was getting better each game. Man his ascendancy has no bounds. He has only tapped his super powers..........;-))

3pm game on SE2 and SE502. Last game. Devils. The ones that dissed Foerster......

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Woe to you, O Junior Devils
While you were not destroyed;
And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

 

[BernieParent]

Woe to you, O Junior Devils
While you were not destroyed;
And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

Isaiah?

 

[mr4tno]

Yes McIntyre was their best player last night.

I have to admit they were slower than usual and their puck handling was like they were handling grenades....but you have to remember, as I said and will say for the millionth time!......they have a dearth of really good centers. You know you are trouble when you have to sign Peter Mueller, 36 years old, to an AHL contract just to get through the season plus poor old Bunny as 3rd line center is playing like he does not care if he plays at all. So bad it is at 4th line center that Kase and sometimes Wellman have to play it. So yes center play is not very good and slow. O'Reilly is as slow as molasses but he is one of the good guys. Plays as hard as his feet will allow and makes some pretty good plays most night. Last night was not one of them.

Defensively, Pouliot is as horrid as you can get and on offensive as selfish with the puck as can be. Bigras is ok. Witherspoon of the older players is actually good at defense. Of the youngsters, over the last 10 games or so, definitely Hogberg is the most consistent defenseman. Of course Zamula and York are the flash, but they both have their moments.

Between McINtyre and Sandstrom, this tandem are like 5th or 6th rated in the AHL in save% and GA. Which also means the defensive schemes are holding up most nights But a super fast team like Hershey eats the defensive alive and only the acrobatics of Mc and Sandy them keep in the game.

They did have two fights last night: Allison and Wellman. The officials were god awful.

Absolutely they miss Foerster and badly. In actuality, Foerster is the Phantoms best player and was getting better each game. Man his ascendancy has no bounds. He has only tapped his super powers..........;-))
Nice insightful write-up although I will never get the Flyers penchant for playing these vets. True call-ups and injuroes have eaten caused some of this but I'd rather see recent draft picks unless they can skate ana skate hard (see that Saul gut). Based on your handle it sounds like you were around fro the Braod Street Bullies era?

3pm game on SE2 and SE502. Last game. Devils. The ones that dissed Foerster......

 

[Rebels57]

Somehow they did not give this goal to the Phantoms

 

[macleish1974]

Officiating was awful last night.

Actually there were two goals the officials missed. The one which clearly went over the goal line as Rebel57 showed above and the one in which the Phantoms were assessed a penalty for goalie interference when the puck went in. BUT it was the Devils player who snag-ed the goalie's skate and Cormier made it look like a nuclear bomb had hit him.

That is numerous games in which the officials really sucked the big one.

At this point in their careers Hogberg is much steadier and headier than either Zamula and York. Joe Watson type player. Just my meager observation.

 

[deadhead]

Hogberg has 200+ games in the SHL before coming to the AHL, he's used to playing with adults.

Won't surprise me if they give him one more season in the AHL because his game is going to be based on positioning and anticipation, and that comes with game experience. They'd also like him to get stronger, since he'll probably be the "stay at home" guy paired with a puck mover.

It's not that he's a stiff, but he doesn't have the offensive and skating chops of Provorov, Sanheim, York, Zamula.

 

[CapnZin]

Hogberg has 200+ games in the SHL before coming to the AHL, he's used to playing with adults.

Won't surprise me if they give him one more season in the AHL because his game is going to be based on positioning and anticipation, and that comes with game experience. They'd also like him to get stronger, since he'll probably be the "stay at home" guy paired with a puck mover.

It's not that he's a stiff, but he doesn't have the offensive and skating chops of Provorov, Sanheim, York, Zamula.

1/3 of the flyers defenseman have below average skating.

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Hogberg has 200+ games in the SHL before coming to the AHL, he's used to playing with adults.

Won't surprise me if they give him one more season in the AHL because his game is going to be based on positioning and anticipation, and that comes with game experience. They'd also like him to get stronger, since he'll probably be the "stay at home" guy paired with a puck mover.

It's not that he's a stiff, but he doesn't have the offensive and skating chops of Provorov, Sanheim, York, Zamula.

You don't need to have offensive or skating 'chops' to move the puck. Hogberg has shown he's more than capable of moving the puck and considering he sees the ice really well, he knows how to move it. As well, he's never going to be a 'crease clearer' with regards to being a defensive defenseman. You do realize that defensemen can play sound positional defensive hockey without being a smashing type of defender, right? This idea that a defensive defenseman has to be this physical behemoth is such an outdated way of thinking. Yes, it's nice to have physical players, but a smart defenseman capable of making a play by a simple poke check and not taking themselves out of position is much more effective than lining up someone for a hit and removing themselves from the play.

 

[deadhead]

You don't need to have offensive or skating 'chops' to move the puck. Hogberg has shown he's more than capable of moving the puck and considering he sees the ice really well, he knows how to move it. As well, he's never going to be a 'crease clearer' with regards to being a defensive defenseman. You do realize that defensemen can play sound positional defensive hockey without being a smashing type of defender, right? This idea that a defensive defenseman has to be this physical behemoth is such an outdated way of thinking. Yes, it's nice to have physical players, but a smart defenseman capable of making a play by a simple poke check and not taking themselves out of position is much more effective than lining up someone for a hit and removing themselves from the play.

When you look at guys with that kind of skill set, you see a lot marinate in the AHL for 2-3 seasons.
Weegar, for example. He's no behemoth (6'0 200).
But if you can't outskate your mistakes, you need to make less mistakes. And that generally comes with experience.
Hogberg's advantage is his SHL time, which is a level above college play and probably slightly above the AHL.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Officiating was awful last night.

Actually there were two goals the officials missed. The one which clearly went over the goal line as Rebel57 showed above and the one in which the Phantoms were assessed a penalty for goalie interference when the puck went in. BUT it was the Devils player who snag-ed the goalie's skate and Cormier made it look like a nuclear bomb had hit him.

That is numerous games in which the officials really sucked the big one.

At this point in their careers Hogberg is much steadier and headier than either Zamula and York. Joe Watson type player. Just my meager observation.

That's an interesting observation. That makes me skeptical of Zamula if Hogberg plays a headier game. York I'll chalk up to you not having seen him much. His hockey IQ is off the charts.

 

[macleish1974]

I don't see Hogberg as slow. Deliberate yes. Glides and not a choppy style.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Somehow they did not give this goal to the Phantoms

I think I read somewhere that the AHL didn’t/doesn’t have goal reviews this year.

 

[macleish1974]

I think I read somewhere that the AHL didn’t/doesn’t have goal reviews this year.

Yep. Travesty. Officiating was atrocious last night.

 

[macleish1974]

The referee was not where he was supposed to be. Idiot.

 

[TB87]

Hogberg....isn’t slow.


Lies and deceptions!

 

[Strawberry Fields]

I think I read somewhere that the AHL didn’t/doesn’t have goal reviews this year.

This is correct. Was watching one of the Hershey games this season that got televised locally in which Wilkes-Barre blatantly scored and the ref waved it off. The broadcast crew wouldn't show the replay until the next stoppage, well after the call was "confirmed" and cited the lack of video review as the reason. It's because some of the teams are playing in dinky practice rinks instead of their actual arenas.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Gordon has done this shit for years. Giving shitty veterans all the usage; sitting recently signed prospects down the stretch and into playoffs. He’s the only developmental coach who coaches like Ws and Ls are his bottom line — and he ironically plays worse players to achieve it. The organization doesn’t really care because they condone it. Those Hextall AHL seasons were especially a short sighted embarrassment in development and value. To Fletcher’s credit, he hasn’t squeezed the young guys out as much.

As for Millman, he can’t play in the OHL.....he needs actual games.

Ws & Ls are a professional coach’s job or he won’t have one for long.

 

[FLYguy3911]

 

[Redpath]

Ws & Ls are a professional coach’s job or he won’t have one for long.

Good call

 

[Starat327]

But how are the AHL kids going to be ready for AV's stretch pass strategy if they arent learning it from Gordo?