The historic Spectrum (now known as the Wachovia Spectrum, but I refuse to add a corporate sponsor to the name of America's Showplace), now home to the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms and other minor league and minor sport teams, played host to it's last regular season hockey game. But something truly amazing happened last night. The Norfolk Admirals beat the Binghamton Senators and the Phantoms beat the Hershey Bears 5-2. And that means only one thing, the Philadelphia Phantoms have clinched a playoff spot!
The crowd last night was sold out, with 17,380 fans jam packing the Spectrum, and to put that in perspective, in the Phantoms 13-year history, they have only sold out the Spectrum a total of 21 times! The banner documenting the final game at the Spectrum may have been hung last night, but the Spectrum will live to see more hockey.
I'll be keeping close tabs on the Phantoms and the Spectrum.
Well, I'll admit, things got off to a slow-start today, even for me. But seeing as I'm essentially snowed in for the day and there are crazy stories of idiocy breaking everywhere today, let's keep the blogging fun coming. This latest story has so many different stories to it that my head hurts trying to figure out to believe or who to not believe. The accusation: Former Flyer, Steve Downie (yes, this is the same Steve Downie who went airborn on Dean McAmmond) and current member of the Tampa Bay Lightning AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals, intentionally slashed an official! As in a referee! Yes, this guy is crazy! But wait a minute, did he? Was it intentional? Or was it an accident? Here are 3 reports of the incident compiled very nicely by The 700 Level
With the BEARS leading 5-4, Chris Bourque was tackled from behind as he tried to shoot into the empty net, and was credited with his 15th goal at 19:46 although the puck never entered the net. HERSHEY took a 6-4 lead on the goal and essentially clinched the victory. Norfolk forward Steve Downie then returned to center ice for the face-off and slashed linesman Mike Hamilton across the right shin. Referee Jeff Smith assessed a game misconduct on Downie for physical abuse of officials under ruler 41.2 category one. The ruling calls for an automatic 20-game suspension. Norfolk has just 21 games remaining.
Now let's go to the viewpoint of Hershey Bears broadcaster John Walton.
"The two teams came to center ice for the face-off, and Downie stepped into the face-off circle. Linesman (Mike) Hamilton prepared to drop the puck. Instead of trying to win the face-off, Downie took a baseball-like swing with full wind-up and struck Hamilton across the right shin. Watching the replay no less than 20 times myself during the postgame, I was appalled not only at the lack of respect for an official, but the sheer violence from one man to another"
But is it really this cut and dry? Not so fast says Norfolk Admirals GM Mike Butters.
"The linesman was really not even part of this," Butters said. "The centerman across from (Downie) was yapping at him. "(Downie) went to swipe at the stick. He swung in a downward motion and hit the puck. The intent was there to hit the puck. He may or may not have clipped the official's skate."
Those are certainly two rather conflicting reports, aren't they? And of course, at about the time that a YouTube video would come in handy in determining what really happened, no one has posted anything. And where is the official who was slashed in all of this? Where is this replay that Walton saw over 20 times. Is Walton exaggerating to try to get this guy away from hockey forever, because, as we all know, this is not the first time he has done something vicious. Is the Admiral GM just trying to save his player's ass because he knows he is guilty yet since there is no video to prove it, he is just trying to get his guy a lighter suspension? Who's telling the truth? Come on people, what is the truth?
I'll keep you updated on this, but for now, enjoy (or rather, cringe) as Steve Downie knocks Dean McAmmond senseless.
It is safe to say, that he is not missed as a Flyer.
As I was perusing through this morning's Inquirer articles online, I came across an interesting article on why the Phantoms were sold, and the answer is not just because the Spectrum is being torn down. And seeing as other than the A-Rod story that I refuse to shove down your throats any more than is already done by TV news everywhere and other websites, I figured I would share it with you.
The plucky Phantoms minor-league hockey team had trouble earning profits in recent years as attendance dipped, and the franchise faced other economic issues.
The team needed a new ice arena, which would cost $60 million to $80 million.
Meanwhile, the team hadn't found a critical mass of cable viewership because the franchise competed with the popular Flyers in the local television market, a sports media executive close to the situation said.
The most pressing problem was the fact that the Phantoms' home, the famed Wachovia Spectrum, is expected to be torn down for a development of stores, clubs and hotels in 2010.
Peter Luukko, president of Comcast-Spectacor, said yesterday a new ice arena would need public assistance and "there wasn't a local municipality prepared to spend that kind of money and we did not politic for it."
The Phantoms' attendance slipped somewhat in recent years and a modest profit had become a small loss, Luukko said.
Comcast-Spectacor announced last week that it had reached the agreement to sell the Phantoms franchise to the Brooks Group of Pittsburgh. It is not known where the team will move.
Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Flyers and 76ers, brought the Phantoms to Philadelphia in 1996, when the Flyers' and Sixers' new arena opened in South Philadelphia. The minor-league team put the Spectrum to use for about 40 nights a year. Other events in the Spectrum included the circus, concerts, college basketball and Kixx soccer.
With an average ticket price of about $11, the Phantoms offered hockey fans a cheap alternative to the Flyers. Luukko said he was pleased with the Phantoms and he probably would have kept the team going for a few years in Philadelphia if it weren't for the Spectrum redevelopment.
Sorry for the length of that blockquote, I just felt that there was a lot of good stuff in there and I could not really think of a place to cut it off until deep into it. It will be interesting to see where they eventually end up locating and I will follow that story for you and give you word as soon as I find out in the coming months or so.
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.....
