Bill Meltzer: Commemorating the Phantoms' Calder Cup Twin Anniversaries

I always found it fascinating how guys like Peter White, Mike Maneluk, etc could light up the AHL but were barely NHL level 4th liners. Like baseball minor leaguers who could hit any level fastball but as soon as they faced a major league curveball they wilted like a flower in a drought.

They have a certain great skill, but were weak in enough areas of their game that they couldn't overcome. Be it speed, hands, defensive acumen, hockey sense whatever.

Which players in our own current system could we put in this category?

Discuss
(PLEASE, I want to talk hockey today)

I always found it fascinating how guys like Peter White, Mike Maneluk, etc could light up the AHL but were barely NHL level 4th liners. Like baseball minor leaguers who could hit any level fastball but as soon as they faced a major league curveball they wilted like a flower in a drought.

They have a certain great skill, but were weak in enough areas of their game that they couldn't overcome. Be it speed, hands, defensive acumen, hockey sense whatever.

Which players in our own current system could we put in this category?

Discuss
(PLEASE, I want to talk hockey today)
- MBFlyerfan

I don't think the Phantoms had anyone on their roster this year that could be considered "lighting it up" that would qualify. Their leading scorer this year was Greg Carey with 15g, 15a, 30 pts in 57 games. Next was Frost with 29 pts, but he's an elite prospect with top 3/6 NHL level skill who will be up for good soon enough.

I think in many cases guys don't make it because they just can't think the game at a high enough pace and seem to be a just a step behind the play. I think that was critique of Rubtsov in his games with the Flyers this year.

Not with the Phantoms this year, but Phil Varone definitely fit this mold in recent years.

I always found it fascinating how guys like Peter White, Mike Maneluk, etc could light up the AHL but were barely NHL level 4th liners. Like baseball minor leaguers who could hit any level fastball but as soon as they faced a major league curveball they wilted like a flower in a drought.

They have a certain great skill, but were weak in enough areas of their game that they couldn't overcome. Be it speed, hands, defensive acumen, hockey sense whatever.

Which players in our own current system could we put in this category?

Discuss
(PLEASE, I want to talk hockey today)
- MBFlyerfan

It's why players have to be well-rounded. Only a select few can produce regular offense at the NHL level, no matter what they do at other levels including even the AHL. The pace is a bit faster, the decisions have to be made just a bit quicker, etc. The AHL is still a bit of a grinder's league.

I always found it fascinating how guys like Peter White, Mike Maneluk, etc could light up the AHL but were barely NHL level 4th liners. Like baseball minor leaguers who could hit any level fastball but as soon as they faced a major league curveball they wilted like a flower in a drought.

They have a certain great skill, but were weak in enough areas of their game that they couldn't overcome. Be it speed, hands, defensive acumen, hockey sense whatever.

Which players in our own current system could we put in this category?

Discuss
(PLEASE, I want to talk hockey today)
- MBFlyerfan

Andreoff is a good example of this. Good AHL player but lacks the ability to think the game at the NHL pace of play. I think that is the biggest thing that sets NHL players apart from AHLers; the ability to process the game and make decisions at the NHL speed of play.

i was at both of those games. fun times

It's why players have to be well-rounded. Only a select few can produce regular offense at the NHL level, no matter what they do at other levels including even the AHL. The pace is a bit faster, the decisions have to be made just a bit quicker, etc. The AHL is still a bit of a grinder's league.
- bmeltzer

Agreed.

I think my post was mainly in reaction to those in the fanbase who scream for a callup and criticize the team when they dont bring up said player or automatically insert them on the top line when they do get called up.

I usually look at it the other way. When I watch an AHL game live I can usually tell who's going to fair well because they look like men among boys out there.

i was at both of those games. fun times
- nastyflyergirl

I was at Game 3 in 2005. Bought 3 tickets at arond 4 PM day of the game from the box office, no problem.

Next day, around noon, I tried to get tix for Game 4...sold out. When there's a championship on the line, need to get in tix ASAP because fans will magically appear.

Bill - sorry to take this off topic, but has there been any discussion on how the TV Rights will be handled once game play has resumed.. specifically, i use the NHL.com Streaming App to follow the Flyers from the DC area. Will the round robin tournament be streamed there? What about the playoffs?

Bill - sorry to take this off topic, but has there been any discussion on how the TV Rights will be handled once game play has resumed.. specifically, i use the NHL.com Streaming App to follow the Flyers from the DC area. Will the round robin tournament be streamed there? What about the playoffs?
- sleepy_floyd

I'm assuming the round robin and playoffs will be treated like normal year playoffs with all games available via regular cable channels - NHL Network, NBC, NBCS, CNBC, etc.

Would be really dumb of the NHL to do it any other way.

Don’t remember the dust up, but always good to hear from Pronger.

https://www.crossingbroad...t-with-claude-giroux.html

I'm assuming the round robin and playoffs will be treated like normal year playoffs with all games available via regular cable channels - NHL Network, NBC, NBCS, CNBC, etc.

Would be really dumb of the NHL to do it any other way.
- Scoob

i guess, but you could make the argument that the round robin games and the best of 5 series games considered regular season games? Since they are still seeding teams for the eventual playoffs.

Don’t remember the dust up, but always good to hear from Pronger.

https://www.crossingbroad...t-with-claude-giroux.html
- Pat MaGroin

I remember the rumblings. And I also remember being pissed at the media because in my head in was much more the way Pronger described than it being a mutiny in the locker room like some of the hacks in the local media characterized it.

i guess, but you could make the argument that the round robin games and the best of 5 series games considered regular season games? Since they are still seeding teams for the eventual playoffs.
- sleepy_floyd

See my second sentence. lol

I think in many cases guys don't make it because they just can't think the game at a high enough pace and seem to be a just a step behind the play. I think that was critique of Rubtsov in his games with the Flyers this year.
- Letterkenney

Competitiveness and work ethic being the other make or break qualities. It's not enough to have talent, you basically have to be obsessed with the game and wanting to be constantly better than you were yesterday, otherwise there's just too many other good players who will eat your lunch.

Competitiveness and work ethic are the other two make or break qualities. It's not enough to have talent, you basically have to be obsessed with the game and wanting to be constantly better than you were yesterday, otherwise there's just too many other good players who will eat your lunch.
- Tomahawk

See: Alexander Daigle and Nikolai Zherdev

I know the Phantoms dominated the league in 04-05. Some folks say, "Look at the NHLers the Flyers sent down during the lockout", but the truth is that ALL the team did the same thing.

Having said that, just imagine what our team would have looked like if Carter and Richards had been able to play for us all year, instead of having to play in juniors because they were too young to play in the AHL? Seriously, as soon as the two of them arrived in Philly, they became the two best players on the ice for either team. It's a bummer that they were just barely too young to give us an entire season of watching that.

I do have to say, having been a season ticket holder for the Phantoms both years, the best team in the league really did win the Calder Cup in 1998 and 2005. They worked for it, they earned it, and they deserved it.