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The Phantoms ring in the new year with a trip to Michigan!
Happy Holidays folks, it's... what week is it, again? Things have gotten busy, and with me missing the last preview before a week off, I'm playing catch up on a lot of things, including hockey. The good news is the Phantoms (9-11-1-3) have managed to end a 6 game losing skid with a solid win over the NTDP U18s in Plymouth. The better news is our next stop is back in USA Hockey Arena to play the U17s (1-10-0-0) on Thursday. After that is a New Years Eve game in Muskegon (13-10-1-2) to round out 2021. 

The NTDP U17s. I'll be honest I have not seen enough of them to really say much, they aren't really an impressive group yet. This will eventually change. In the Week 2 Preview I had mentioned Gabe Perreault as a potential top scorer for the team and he's been that with 3g and 8a. Will Smith and Oliver Moore are both just behind him with 3g, 6a each. Will Vote leads the team with 4 goals. Again, I don't have much in the way of scouting reports on anyone in particular, all of them seem to have a well rounded set of skills.

I'd almost skip mentioning the defense but I did that last time. Only one defenseman is on the good side of the +/- column and that is Kai Janviriya who is a +1. The rest range from -4 to Zeev Buium at a (as far as I know) league worst -17 in 11 games played. I did like Aram Minnetian's defensive play and skating ability in the two games earlier in the season despite the Phantoms lopsided victories in those games.

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S4E13 - We’re back and rested after a short holiday break! We look ahead to the return of Phantoms hockey, and we welcome the guys from Thunderstruck: The Unofficial Lincoln Stars Podcast!

 

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The Phatoms travel to Dubuque to play 3 relocated home games.
And just like in some fairytale movies, sometimes the heroes have to travel on a long journey to defeat the villain. Only this isn't a movie and the Phantoms (8-9-1-2) have to take a journey to Dubuque this week because the Covelli Centre kicked us out for Disney on Ice. Three home games that will be played on our opponents ice. I guess the villains are real, the Fighting Saints (11-5-2-2) are tied for second place in the Eastern Conference and third in the USHL. 

The Saints are stacked with veteran players and none more experienced in this league than Stephen Halliday, now in his fourth USHL season. In 175 USHL games he's amassed over 150 points and currently is tied for the most points in the league 15h and 17a (32 points). You don't play that many games in this league without a certain level of work ethic, and hard work is how Halliday scores his goals. Second in scoring is Connor Kurth (13g, 14a) who is in his second USHL season. He's an excellent skater and has a lot of finesse with his puck handling and puck movement, someone you never take your eyes off of when the biscuit is on his stick. Rounding out the top scorers with 22 points is a trio of second year players, Kenny Connors (10g, 12a), Trystan Lemyre (10g, 12a), and Ryan Beck (4g, 18a).  This is a very capable squad of forwards who can score or set up goals when needed.

On defense, the Saints aren't lacking in experience either. Michael Feenstra has 150 games under his USHL belt. Having more than four seasons experience on the blueline is of immeasurable value to any team. Looking over the stats and scouting reports you would almost miss Zane Demsey, 20 games played and a modest 7a on the season. Then you glance over to the +/- column and see he's a +19 so far, with only 20 games played. He's only been in the minus 2 games this season. That usually means you're doing your job well in your own zone. Another name that pops out is Lucas St. Louis, an '05 rookie defenseman. His father Martin was a prolific scoring forward in the NHL, a Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning as well as an Olympic Gold Medal winner for Canada. His brother was a forward for the NTDP. It's odd seeing that name on the back of a dman's jersey. But someone has to play defense on the family team, I guess.

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