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Category: Game Recap
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The Phantoms drop a 3-1 game to Muskegon but no one cares we lost, we're just thankful to see some hockey.It's A Great Day For Hockey! - The Phantoms drop a 3-1 game to Muskegon but no one cares we lost, we're just thankful to see some hockey.
Please bear with me while I try to remember how to do this. It's been a while. I guess I'm not the only one who is rusty, after a couple weeks off due to cancelled games and some other reasons (you can guess) that have kept a good portion of the team off the ice for practice, the Phantom looked like they were just a step off in their home opener against Muskegon. But with 12 players on the scratch list, only Cade Lemmer suspended, and 3 '03 affiliates in the lineup, it was going to be a rough night anyway.

The Lumberjacks got off to a good start and dominated play. The Phantoms, for their part, were on their heels pretty much from the drop of the puck and had a hard time trying to get out of first gear. Their transition game, especially their lack of ability to move the puck through the neutral zone, was obvious from the start. The 'Jacks scored first, Dylan Wendt ripped a shot on goal, with Sholl making the stop but the long rebound went right to the stick of Cameron Berg to pot a goal in a yawning net at 4:11 of the first. The Phantoms were outshot 14-4 in the first.

The Phantoms were outshot in the second 11-4 but still evened it up. Reilly Funk picked up his 3rd of the season picking off a Danil Gushchin pass just inside the 'Jacks blueline. Funk skated to the crease unobstructed and ripped a shot that beat Christian Stover stick side at the 10:00 mark. The real story of the middle frame was the netminding of Mattias Sholl. Shortly before the Funk goal, he made a save on an odd man rush for the 'Jacks. A give and go play with Tyler Dunbar feeding Philip Tresca made Sholl have to nearly split himself in two but the Phantoms netminder stopped the puck and covered it. Moment after the Funk goal, Ben Strinden got a pair of shots on net from the slot, Sholl making the first save challenging the shot well out of the crease and the second caugh in the glove from a sitting position several feet outside the blue paint. 

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Category: Opinion and Editorial
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The Phantoms are ready to play their first home game since last season cancellation.Hockey Returns to the Covelli! - The Phantoms are ready to play their first home game since last season cancellation.
It almost seems too good to be true, like a dream even. The last game the Phantoms played at the Covelli will have been 272 days from this Friday's scheduled home opener. That's almost 39 weeks ago. Goals by Josh DeLuca, Jayson Dobay, and Trevor Kuntar sealed a 3-1 win over Cedar Rapids. It's a little hard to fathom, with over a month left in the regular season, that would be the last time we saw those players in Phantoms uniforms. Heck, for that matter it will be the last time we saw the RoughRiders until at least next season.

Now we're in the "new normal" which isn't anything close to being normal. In the first month of the current season, the Phantoms (1-2-0-0) have played 3 games and seen 7 games postponed, including the last 4 straight, for reasons related to the pandemic. Since this has been published, it's getting close enough to game day that it looks like we might actually play this week and at home with some fans. We will kick things off against our rivals, the Muskegon Lumberjacks (2-2-0-0) in what might be one of many games against them. I had written a bit about the 'Jacks for last week. The good news for me is their games were postponed as well so all my data is still up to date.

The 'Jacks have a good amount of returning players from last season but might not have had a lot of scoring. That is until the OHL let teams loan players to the USHL. This allowed their leading scorer from last season, Danil Gushchin to return to the 'Jacks for at least part of this season. In the abridged 19-20 season, Gushchin put up 22g, 25a in 42 games. So far this year he's put up 5g, 4a in 4 games. The crafty forward will be a major force as long as he's in the USHL this season. Cameron Berg is another returner expected to score. More of a power forward than Gushchin, Berg has put up the same numbers, 5g and 4a.

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Category: Podcasts
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This is Episode 35 of the Dump & Chase Podcast. Hockey is back in Youngstown! We go over the usual, and then some.

 This may be the best episode we’ve done yet. Seriously, give it a listen!