PHANTOMS BEGIN IN C2, PROMPTLY THUMPED

It's been a long offseason, with a trip to Vegas for their success last season, a move up to C2, several new faces and a fairly successful showing in the preseason tournament since you last heard from us. The Phantoms season got off to a start Saturday night with high hopes after some scrimmages against fellow C2 teams and a solid showing at the tournament. They quickly realized more work needs to be done as they were outplayed by the Bulldogs.

While a 7-2 score looks bad, it wasn't quite so much of a blowout. When you take a look at the boxscore, you will need to scroll down a few hundred feet to see the whole thing as apparently opening night was "everyone gets a penalty for free" night in the AHA. USA Hockey recently announced a new initative to cut down on players skating within 3 feet of each other and the AHA refs certainly heard it loud and clear. 26 total penalties were called in the game, with several 5-on-3 chances for both squads.

The penalties were not used as an excuse for the loss by the Phantoms however, sluggish play and costly turnovers did them in. The Phantoms jumped out to the lead when Styba score on (what else?) the power play. The Bulldogs would score the next 7 goals in the game, until Bodick scored late in the game, with an assist from Brian Heroux.