Comcast-Spectacor To Sell The Phantoms

With the demise of the Spectrum this off-season, comes the sad goodbye of the Philadelphia Phantoms as we know them. Sure, they'll most likely be the Flyers' AHL affiliate, but things just won't be the same, and frankly, they can't be the same. There is a tremendous advantage to having an AHL affiliate play right across the way from an NHL team: easy scouting of minor-league talent, no travel expenses for scouting minor-league talent, and the frequency and easiness of moving players to and fro based on needs. From the Philly Inquirer.

The Flyers suffered a setback, club officials agreed, when Comcast-Spectacor reached an agreement yesterday to sell their AHL minor-league affiliate, the Phantoms, to the Brooks Group of Pittsburgh.

The setback has nothing to do with Brooks. It has everything to do with the fact that, after this season, the Flyers' top minor-league team will not practice in the same Voorhees facility as the Flyers - and won't play its games across the parking lot at the soon-to-close Wachovia Spectrum.

Having the two teams next to each other made it easy for general manager Paul Holmgren to scout the minor-league players and reduce travel expenses. The proximity also made it convenient to send players back and forth between the clubs

It is unknown where the Phantoms will re-locate. Possible locations that have been considered have been Atlantic City and Lehigh Valley among others. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Phantoms.

I will always remember as a kid going to Phantoms games and sitting in front row seats at the Spectrum. Having been young then, it is only now that I am beginning to realize just how truly lucky I was to have been able to sit in front row seats at America's Showplace.

And most of all the Phantoms were the reason for the first time I was ever truly angry at a TV station. In the 2005 Calder Cup which the Phantoms won, ComcastSportsnet and CN8 had only signed on to broadcast games 2, 5, 6, and 7. Well, as it turned out, the Phantoms swept the Chicago Wolves and game 4 was not one of the games scheduled to be televised so it was not televised. I was so angry about that, especially considering the times. The Eagles were 5-months removed from losing a Super Bowl and Terrell Owens was beginning his hissy fit, the NHL was in a lock-out, the Phillies were an embarrassment, and the Sixers were failing miserably to try to win a championship with Allen Iverson. The Phantoms were all Philly had to cling their championship hopes on, and that game 4 where the Phantoms clinched the Calder Cup was not televised. That is still to this day the angriest I have gotten over sports and sports media. If only I had a blog then.....


Phantoms' sale likely means move out of the area (Philadelphia Inquirer)