Blog Awards -- End of the Year Edition

So it's time for one last go-round for the Phantoms blog this year, following a heart-breaking finish to the Robertson Cup, and I think the best way to close this baby out is with some end of the year awards to the players who stood out the most in various categories during the 2008-2009 season.

Player of the Year -- Brandon Saad

In terms of pure, unfettered talent, nobody in the NAHL was close to Brandon Saad. Not Kyle Bonis, not Grant Gorczyca, not Austin Block, not DJ Vandercook, not Jordan George... nobody. When Brandon took over a game, he was flat-out unstoppable; the LeBron James of the NAHL. A matchup nightmare at 6'2" 195 (and just 16 years old), the Rookie of the Year and All-NAHL selection was the team's only point-per-game player (29-18-47 in 47 GP) and made plays all year long that made your jaw drop while getting strong shifts on the power play and the PK and maintaining good D-zone responsibility. You will absolutely see in him in the NHL in the next 3-4 years.
Honorable Mention: Jordan Tibbett, Cullen Lundholm, Stefan Salituro

Most Valuable Player -- Jordan Tibbett

With the ability to absolutely steal games and an incredible work ethic all year long, Jordan became a monster in net in '08-'09. In both the regular season and playoffs, when Jordan was on and seeing pucks, he was flat-out unbeatable. Not only that, but as the season progressed--particularly in the playoffs--he took on a particularly vocal leadership role: directing traffic on D-zone faceoffs, talking to referees and otherwise communicating with his teammates and doing the little things you expect from a leader.
Honorable Mention: Johnny Meo, Brandon Saad

Defenseman of the Year -- Carl Nielsen

This award could've gone in a number of different directions, but ultimately Carl was the team's steadiest defenseman from September until May. Speed, size, leadership, heart, toughness and maybe the biggest intimidation factor in the league (courtesy of a pair of legendary beatdowns of then-MCM players Anthony Iaquinto and Kurtis Anton, and an impressive late season rout of All-NAHL defenseman Tyler Elbrecht), Carl really did a lot of everything on the blue line this year--and he did it very very well.
Honorable Mention: Cullen Lundholm, John Houston, Robert Harrison

Best Defensive Forward -- Erik Higby

Big tip of the cap here for Higby. Though all of the team's centers had very strong defensive zone play throughout the season, Erik's quick stick and ability to put strong pressure on the puck made him the toughest out in the corners of the Phantoms' zone all year for opposing forecheckers. He was third among Phantom forwards with a +15 plus-minus rating, and was a top-line penalty killer all season--using his knack to make opposition puckhandlers make mistakes to apply pressure at both ends while his team was shorthanded and run off valuable PK time.
Honorable Mention: Johnny Meo, Nick Shkreli, Jordy Trottier

Best Offensive Defenseman -- Cullen Lundholm

The biggest no-brainer so far, as Lundy was third among league defensemen with 33 points on the year (8-25-33), using his heavy shot and passing ability both at even strength and on the power play to be an offensive beast all year long. I was particularly impressed with his ability to find a good shooting lane, as well, not just content to bury his head and see how hard he could rip a clapper from the point. A very underrated quality that RMU will be thrilled to potentially use on their power play starting next year.
Honorable Mention: David Chaney, Robert Harrison, Carl Nielsen

Most Improved Player -- Brad Smith

Smith started the season as a winger, his natural position at Belle Tire last season, but was thrust into a new role at center when injuries decimated the Phantoms' center corps in early '09. Brad spent the latter part of February learning his new position and was thrust into the fire with eight huge games in March, but got better every game, becoming a reliable center once the playoffs rolled around. Particularly impressive was Smith's improvement in the defensive zone, learning from strong defensive centers like Erik Higby, Johnny Meo and Nick Shkreli to become a solid D-zone player in his own right in April.
Honorable Mention: Michael Gunn, George Saad, Nick Kenney

Playoff MVP -- Jordan Tibbett and Erik Higby

I honestly couldn't pick either one of these guys. Jordan had some incredible games (both Game 5's) and incredible saves (Game 5 vs TC, Game 3 vs USA) and absolutely stole the show some nights, while Higby remained a steady PK contributor while scoring some enormous goals (first goal in Game Five vs USA, GWG vs. NIO at Nationals). You certainly expected this out of Tibbett heading into the playoffs, but Higby took his game to another level in April and May after Coach Mainhardt personally challenged Erik to raise his output for the second season.
Honorable Mention: Johnny Meo, Stefan Salituro, Cole Schneider

Comeback Player of the Year -- Nick Kenney

The 2008 portion of the Phantoms' season was not kind to Nick Kenney as the second-year vet broke his finger in a meaningless fight during a preseason game at Motor City, forcing him to miss the first nine games of the regular season. The next 19 games were similarly rough on Kenney as he posted a mere goal and three assists before New Year's. Things swung quickly, though, in '09 as Kenney tore out of the gates with a three goal, three assist weekend at Traverse City (and a Player of the Week award to boot). He maintained that pace through the end of the season, finishing with 21 goals and 15 assists in 2009; giving him 19-16-35 overall in the regular season and 3-2-5 in the playoffs. An incredible bounce-back for the UW-Stevens Point recruit.
Honorable Mentions: Nick Shkreli, Robert Harrison, Michael Gunn

Hit of the Year -- Carl Nielsen - 4/5/09 vs. Traverse City (Nathan Urbaniak)

Carl's hit on Urbaniak in Game Two against TC in the North Semifinals had everything you want in a big hit: power, viciousness, leadership, intimidation and a little revenge. Urbaniak--who spent a good chunk of Game One draped over Tibbett, much to the supreme aggravation of the Phantoms--was public enemy #1 for the purple and orange and Carl wasted no time sending a message, crushing Urbaniak in open ice moments after the opening faceoff, sending him flying into the corner of the Phantoms' zone, to set an early physical tone in the contest. (We won't mention what happened after that; the hit is all that was important on that shift, right? Right.)
Honorable Mention: Cullen Lundholm - 1/2/09 vs. Traverse City (Kyle Jean)

Goal of the Year -- Brandon Saad - 1/30/09 vs. Alpena

We all remember this goal, right? Who could forget it? In case you suffered a case of amnesia or something, here's my recap from the Weekly Blog Awards of that goal:

Saad was fresh out of the box after getting a coincidental minor with Alpena defenseman Adam Bristol, whose late hits had apparently drawn the ire of the World U-17 First-Team All-Tournament selection. Apparently the IceDiggers wouldn't like Brandon Saad when he's angry, because he grabbed the puck on a clearing pass from Stefan Salituro and zipped up the left-side boards on his ensuing shift. He was 1-on-2 with defensemen Jarrod Hartman and Kyle Hughes, heading into the Alpena end. Hartman drew the early assignment, trying to angle Saad off into the corner, but it was pretty clear that Saad had Hartman beaten from the blue line in. Brandon sped by, drawing Hartman down to the left face-off dot before turning the corner on him toward Graves. This is where the magic happened. Hughes rotated over to try and wipe out Saad and end the rush, but Saad pulled a gorgeous left-to-right toe drag with a slight hop to the right, causing Hughes to miss completely and go skidding into the corner. Free from both defenders, Saad saw Graves commit low early and shoveled a backhand into the top shelf to finish an astonishing play.

Here's the video of the goal (I wish it had my goal call of it... the other team's announcer calling the goal loses a little magic when it's his guys searching for their jock straps in the corner...)
Honorable Mention: Erik Higby - 11/14/08 vs. St. Louis, Johnny Meo - 5/1/09 vs. St. Louis

Chirp of the Year -- Jordan Tibbett - 11/7/08 at Motor City

Little known fact: the Phantoms may have been the team with the best chirps (aka jokes/cracks/verbal barbs) on the ice in the NAHL this season. I have no independent confirmation of this from other divisions, but I know nobody in the North could hang from being at these games and picking up (very faintly) the daggers being hurled back and forth thanks to the close quarters and interesting acoustics our away venues provided this year. The best, in my opinion, came in a game against the team the Phantoms saw the most in the regular season: Motor City. In the two teams' third matchup (out of 13), Motor City had a 2-on-1 heading into the Phantoms' end and the initial puckhandler made the feed across for a wide-open shot and Tibbett--in the process of making the save--just screams a Ric Flair-esque "WOOOOOOOOOOO!" while kicking the puck to the boards--which the Phantoms started back up the ice for their own transition chance. Just a demoralizing kind of chirp; I loved it. It was very hard not to burst out laughing on the air when it happened.
Honorable Mention: The entire Phantoms bench - 1/24/09 vs. Motor City

Game of the Year -- Bandits @ Phantoms, 11/14/08

What a way to make your Chevrolet Centre (or should I call it the Covelli Centre now?) debut for the Phantoms, taking on the arch rival, two-time (now three-time, sigh) defending Robertson Cup champion St. Louis Bandits. The good guys opened the game with goals from Kyle Verbeek and Robert Harrison, leading 2-0 after two periods. The Bandits cut it to 2-1 when then-leading scorer Grant Gorczyca beat Tibbett to get STL on the board, but George Saad's third score of the year made it 3-1 Phantoms. The Bandits, almost predictably, rallied, tying the game on goals from Andrew Hamburg and Kyle Greco--the latter coming on a 6-on-4 power play with 15 seconds left in regulation. With 56 seconds left in overtime, John Houston took a cross-checking penalty, setting up a penalty kill faceoff in the Phantoms' zone... from there, we'll let the video do the talking: mms://208.67.186.193/NAHL/MahoningValley-vs-StLouis-11-14-08-high1.wmv. A truly heads up play from Nielsen and a perfect finish by Higby to send 'em home happy. Just a great, great game.
Honorable Mention: North Stars @ Phantoms - 4/12/09, Phantoms @ USA - 4/25/09, Machine @ Phantoms, 11/30/08

So there you have it, the last blog entry of the season. Thank you to everyone who read, commented on and otherwise enjoyed the blog this season. You've likely seen the stories about the team's future in the Vindicator, so stay tuned to MVPPhantoms.com for the latest news on the Phantoms' next step. Thanks again, and have a great summer!

See you next year,

Paul Teeple

Bonus Blog! Playoff Prognostication

The day has finally arrived, and I feel like a kid on Christmas. The playoffs start tonight and there are some great matchups abound. This won't be too long of a blog, but I want to give you my picks for the first round of the 2009 postseason...

NORTH DIVISION

Team USA over Alpena in three -- One of the few sweeps I'm predicting. Alpena is a talented team, as we've all seen, but the matchups are all wrong against the U-17's. I don't see them taking one away from the Nationals, especially with games one and two at the Ice Cube.

Mahoning Valley over Traverse City in four -- This will be a ridiculously close series that will hinge on the Phantoms' ability to hold serve at the Chevy Centre, where they are 15-4-1 this year. I think after TC took two of three in March at the Centre, the Phantoms will be looking for revenge this weekend and take both games, making only a split necessary at Centre ICE.

SOUTH DIVISION

St. Louis over Springfield in four -- Springfield will invariably steal one of the first two games, just enough to make the Bandits mad and pummel them in the remaining contests of the series.

Wichita Falls over Topeka in five -- UPSET SPECIAL! I've been calling for the Wildcats to be this year's big playoff spoiler since about December, and this series has serious upset potential with Topeka sputtering down the stretch due to the ultimate distraction of the widespread rumors and reports of their owner trying to sell the team. Wichy also matches up well against the Runners, so look for a stunner in the South.

CENTRAL DIVISION

Bismarck over Alexandria in three -- All signs point to this series being a total buttkicking. Bismarck has the most wins in the whole league and Alexandria narrowly avoided going 0-for-March. Gotta like the Bobcats big here.

North Iowa over Owatonna in four -- The Outlaws had a very strong second half and while I like the offense of the Express to overpower NIO once, maybe even in Mason City, I don't think the expansion side's defense will hold up over the course of the series.

WEST DIVISION

Fairbanks over Kenai River in three -- This one seems pretty lopsided, too, with one of the league's top offenses going against the team with the third-worst record league-wide. This one goes to the Dogs (Boo! Terrible joke!).

Wenatchee over Alaska in four -- This one could possibly be a sweep with all five games scheduled for the Town Toyota Center, but I think the Avs will probably get at least one win before the hometown Wild overpower them to move onto the West finals.

***

So there you go! Leave your picks in the comments, I'd love to see what everyone else thinks about these first round matchups.

The Second Season Begins

Happy Wednesday, Phantom Phans! Big surprise, it's Wednesday and it's raining in the Valley.

The blog is back by popular demand after a short sabbatical. I really appreciate all of the emails from fans of the blog emailing me over the past couple weeks... it's nice to know that the efforts here are appreciated by the purple and orange faithful!

Well the playoffs are here, though it's a bit hard to believe that the regular season is already over. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that we loaded up the bus for the Showcase in Minnesota and now it's been six months and 58 games to lead us into the fabled hockey postseason, starting Friday.

No more talk of magic numbers, no more extra points for not losing in the first 60 minutes... wins and losses are the only things that matter; six wins means Mason City and eleven wins (or so... thanks to that ol' round robin) means the Robertson Cup. It's as simple as that, and that's what makes playoff hockey so great.

That... and the trademark intensity, physicality and skill that always seem to surface when the postseason gets underway at pretty much any level of hockey.

The usual grit and intensity of any playoff hockey series will be taken up another notch here in the first round when the Phantoms take on the Traverse City North Stars in the first round. These two teams battled almost the entire season for first place before the late mega-run from Team USA relegated the two combatants to second and third, respectively.

In 13 games, each team took 15 points from the other and each team won four times on their home ice. It's an incredibly even matchup that at various times this season has featured stout defense, incredible goaltending, blistering offense, jaw-dropping skill and, yes, furious fights.

While this is a showdown most had marked down for the second round of the postseason we all get an early Easter present, it seems, as these two heated rivals will take to the ice starting Friday at the Chevrolet Centre.

Don't forget that tickets for this weekend's games are $5.00 and at selected sponsors (see MVPPhantoms.com) you can pick up a voucher for a free T-shirt at Game One, so come on out and PACK THE HOUSE this weekend as the playoffs get underway.

We'll see you at the Chevy Centre Friday night!

A Big Rebound

Happy Wednesday, Phantom Phans!

Before we get started, here is a slight update on last week's post. Through the magic of Microsoft Excel, I was able to create a spreadsheet for every team within their divisions. At the top you'll find the Phantoms' magic number, along with each of the components discussed in last week's post:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p29jaSZQuYoK5pJNcKxzJdg

Now, onto the task at hand...

Last weekend in Motor City was just what the doctor ordered, and I'm not just talking wins. Bouncing back from two straight tough losses for two wins is generally impressive enough but the way that the Phantoms blew the doors off the Machine (a pesky team that rarely gets put away early) was something to behold.

Two different hat tricks from Nick Kenney and Dave Chaney headlined the offensive explosion in Wyandotte that saw the Phantoms out-score the Machine 17-7 over the course of two games. Now someone could easily look at the standings and say "You should beat Motor City by four to six goals regularly," but that would be a bit too much of an outsider's view, especially recently.

Yes, Motor City is in last place with just 10 wins in 48 tries but let's not forget that they play the fourth-toughest schedule in the NAHL (according to the Ken Massey computer ratings) and have played all but nine of those games in the deepest and arguably toughest division in the league. (And, in case you need it, the Machine are 4-5-0 out of division with wins against St. Louis, Fairbanks and Wenatchee)

I would definitely say that Motor City is better than their 10-37-1 record shows and that they walked into a bit of a buzzsaw this year when they entered the super-tough North Division. In fact, if anything the Machine were coming on strong heading into last weekend's showdown in Wyandotte; they'd won four of six and were on a two-game win streak.

I say this to illustrate that the Phantoms didn't drop 17 goals on some punching bag; they dropped 17 goals on a team that had beaten them just one week earlier, on a team that was playing well. It bodes well for the offense to finally be putting everything together coming down the final eight-game stretch.

In just two games at Wyandotte, the Phantoms' power play jumped from 9th to 4th overall (18.0%) in the league while their offense leapt from fifth overall all the way into first in both goals scored (196) and goals per game (3.92).

The defense took a little bit of a hit, giving up a few excuse-me-goals to the Machine, which I ultimately view as a good thing because that gives the team something to work on and improve over the next week-plus of practice, because the defense will be the key to the Phantoms' playoff success.

All in all, a good week, and a perfect time for a bye weekend.

The Phantoms blog would like to pass along congratulations this week to Stefan Salituro for his committment to Robert Morris University!

We'll see you again, same time, same spot, next week!

Weekly Blog Awards - 3/4/09

In addition to the regular weekly posts, I will be giving out little "Blog Awards" every week to point out special efforts on the parts of certain players each week.

These are chosen personally and only reflect my opinion!

Player of the Week - Dave Chaney (3 G, 2A, 2 PPG, 2 GWG, +3), Nick Kenney (4 G, 2 A, +3, PPG), Jordy Trottier (G, 6 A, PPG, +2)

A huge weekend at Motor City for all three of these guys as the line of Trottier-Kenney-Shkreli came alive once again following an hour by themselves of studying game tape following a slight slump over the previous couple weeks. It was also great to see Chaney get his first hat trick (and the first by a Phantom not named Saad or Kenney) on Saturday night. The offense stole the show this weekend and these three guys were at the head of the class.

Defender of the Week - Cullen Lundholm

Cullen continued to provide a solid combination of offense and defense for the Phantoms, finishing +2 on the weekend with a goal and an assist. "Lundy" must be disappointed that the Phantoms-Machine season series is over, as he's scored all three of his power play goals this season against the Motor City PK. Even more impressive than Lundholm's continued power play dominance over the Machine was his physical play in the corners at Yack Arena. Any time a Motor City forward grabbed the puck below the Phantoms' goal line, Lundholm was there to lock the guy up, pinning him to the boards so that defensive partner Trevor Shively and/or the center could swing through and grab the puck to start the breakout.

Biggest Hitter - Robert Harrison

Harrison entered Wyandotte as Public Enemy #1 last weekend following his February 20th fight against Cody Holzworth, and I'm certain that his physical play didn't win him any friends among the Motor City faithful. That said, I was impressed with the way Rob was throwing checks around all weekend, especially hip checks. One particular hit may have single-handedly won Harrison this nod when he hip-checked Holzworth into oblivion in the near-side corner of the Phantoms zone during Saturday's second period. Just an incredible hit.

Most Underrated Play - Cole Schneider

Cole, in his first full series since recovering from a bout of pneumonia, made a classic hockey play in the third period on Saturday night when he passed up a fantastic doorstep scoring opportunity on the power play to dish to Dave Chaney at the point. Chaney was sitting on two goals on the night, one away from his first hat trick at the junior level, when Schneider hit him. As we know, Chaney slipped the long wrist shot past Matthew Delaney for the hat trick thanks to the highly unselfish play by Cole Schneider.

Prettiest Goal - Nick Kenney x3

Honestly, I can't pick just one of Kenney's goals from Friday night, so I'll take all three of them. On his first goal, Nick knocked a rolling pass from Nick Shkreli out of mid-air and past Joe Moore for his first of the night, a great feat of concentration. Next, Kenney streaked into the Motor City zone off the opening face-off of the third period and sniped a perfect top-shelf shot past Moore's replacement Delaney for his second of the night. He would cap off the hat trick on the power play--with maybe my favorite of the three--when a Shkreli rebound was sitting on the other side of the crease from where Kenney was positioned and he laid out, with full extension, and batted the loose puck over Delaney and into the cage for the hatty. Kenney was a a human highlight reel on Friday.

The Magic Number and You

WARNING: MATH AHEAD

If you tune in to the B2 or radio broadcasts, you've been hearing me talk lately about the Phantoms' various magic numbers. You may wonder what this "magic number" is and how the math works out... and if you are indeed curious about this nonsensical math then you are reading the right post, because I'm going to break it down right here for you.

The magic number first became popular in baseball, and I remember it being used as early as 1995 with the Cleveland Indians and the Central Division, though I suspect that it came into existence prior to 14 years ago--that's just when I became a sports stats nerd.

Anyway, since baseball (like basketball and football) works exclusively on wins and losses, it's easy to figure out a first place team's magic number. All you need is the total of games played (162) minus the number of wins of the first place team minus the number of losses of the second place team plus one (a magic number of one at the end of a season yields a tie in any sport). This also works for basketball and football and looks something like this:

MN = TGP - W1st - L2nd + 1

Now that's just those other three sports... in hockey, the magic number is a bit more complex, thanks to the concept of games in hand and the points system of two points for a win, one for an OT loss and none for a regulation loss.

Because of games in hand (like USNTDP has over everyone right now in the North), you need to have a magic number over pretty much every other team in your division/conference/whatever instead of just one over the second place team.

So to arrive at the magic number, the first thing you need is the first place team's point total. That's easy; it's listed in the standings. The next thing you'll need is the other team's point potential (or in other words, how many points they'd have if they won their remaining games); to find this, subtract that team's games played from its total games played (58, for our purposes) and add the team's total points. Now, the magic number is the other team's point potential, minus your team's current points, plus one. Here's how the formula looks in the NAHL (with teams A and B):

MN = PtsB + ((58-GPB)x2) - PtsA + 1

The explanation is actually a lot simpler than the math: take the Phantoms and the North Stars, for example. The Phantoms have 67 points, TC has 60 points through 46 games, meaning they could get 84 points if they win their last 12 games. Here's the math: 60+(12x2)-67+1 = 18.

As such, the Phantoms would need 17 points to, at worst, tie TC, and 18 to clinch over them.

Finally, since the magic number is points based, every point the Phantoms get and every point TC would fail to get would knock off one from that magic number.

So try it out for yourself and have some fun with real actual math in hockey... if you want.

You could also just listen to the radio and/or B2 and let me do the math for you!

Say hello if you see me in Motor City this weekend, if not, see you at the Chevy Centre in two weeks!

Weekly Blog Awards - 2/27/09

In addition to the regular weekly posts, I will be giving out little "Blog Awards" every week to point out special efforts on the parts of certain players each week.

These are chosen personally and only reflect my opinion!

Player of the Week - George Saad
2 G, A

After this award has been dominated in 2009 by George's brother, Brandon, and Nick Kenney, it's nice to see a fresh face in this spot. George had a solid week including a pair of goals on Friday and Tuesday to go with his Thursday assist. His two-way play continued to impress as he finished +1 through a week where most Phantoms found themselves on the minus side of things. Also of note, George's Tuesday goal against USA gives him an impressive ten tallies on the year (10-6-16).

Defender of the Week - Carl Nielsen

Since the Phantoms' second (and final) game against USA U-18 in January, Carl has done an incredible job of staying out of the box (only 2 PIM in 11 games) and his stats have seen a marked upswing in that time, particularly the most important defensive stat there is: plus-minus. In those previously mentioned 11 games, Carl is a combined +13, rocketing him into the top 15 +/- defensemen in the entire league.

Biggest Hitter - Carl Nielsen

The last three games for the Phantoms have been amongst the most physical contests that I've seen so far this season, and once again leading the way was Carl Nielsen. Carl set the physical tone against Motor City, especially in the D-zone corners. He also led the way against Team USA on Tuesday, overpowering the smaller Nationals forwards. The defensive combo of Nielsen & Harrison is looking pretty solid heading into the last 10 games of the season.

Most Underrated Play - Dave Chaney

With the Phantoms trailing 3-1 against USA on Tuesday, the Nationals were set to rush up ice on a 2-on-1 after their breakout worked the puck past the Phantoms forecheck. Chaney was the lone defenseman back against Shane Sooth and Stuart Higgins as the puck came up the boards, intended for Sooth. Instead of hanging back and waiting for the puck to get to Sooth, Chaney jumped the pass, batting it back to George Saad. George turned the play back into the USA zone for a 2-on-1 with Erik Higby, which George would convert into his 10th goal of the year. Just an incredibly heads-up play by Chaney.

Prettiest Goal - Brandon Saad

Interestingly, the Phantoms' best-looking goal of the past week of hockey was their first in that time-span, when Brandon Saad caught a great centering feed on the power play from linemate Alex Lippincott, turned and wired the puck high glove past Motor City goalie Matthew Delaney for an early 1-0 Phantoms lead. It also gave Saad a four-game goal-scoring streak, the highest for any Phantom this season.