Culture Change: Flyers' AHL Affiliate on the Rise
ALLENTOWN - Gone are the days of a nearly empty cupboard of prospects. Gone are the days of the Philadelphia Flyers trading away top draft picks for rental players at the NHL's annual trading deadline.
It has taken some time, but the Flyers organization's mission to re-stock their system with highly regarded prospects and develop from within is starting to show its success.
Last year, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms made it back to the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time in seven years for the Flyers' AHL affiliate. This year, they won their first Calder Cup Playoffs series just one day prior to exactly 10 years since their last trip to the second round - defeating the Providence Bruins in four games to advance to the Atlantic Division Finals where they will host the Charlotte Checkers in a best-of-seven series beginning next weekend with Games 1 and 2 on home ice.
Since the Flyers relocated their AHL affiliate from Glens Falls, New York back into Pennsylvania - now in downtown Allentown, Pa. - the emphasis put on changing the culture of the Phantoms has been apparent since day one of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms franchise.
The brand new facilities and state-of-the-art equipment at the PPL Center has helped the Flyers draw in some of the top AHL-level free agents in recent seasons - guys like Colin McDonald, Chris Conner, Andy Miele, Greg Carey, T.J. Brennan, Will O'Neill, etc. - to help pair up their top prospects with the kind of quality pros that the young players can develop good habits both on and off the ice.
"Since my first year, there was a lot of talk about trying to change the culture here and I know I was brought in to help with that," Phantoms' captain Colin McDonald told Inside AHL Hockey prior to the conclusion of the Phantoms' regular season. "I know why I'm here - to help with the young guys and right the ship here when need be."
The influx of talent across the board at every position has completely changed the direction of the Flyers' affiliate at the AHL level, shown most visibly in the past two seasons - both of which the Phantoms were in the top-4 in the AHL in terms of regular season standings league-wide.
Let's take a quick look back at recent years of Phantoms hockey, and it's easy to see that there was little to no focus on put on the success/development of the farm system until just recently when the first and second round draft choices began turning pro. Guys like Sam Morin, Phil Myers, Travis Sanheim etc.
Phantoms History
Adirondack Phantoms
2009-10: 32-41-7, 29th in AHL 2010-11: 31-39-10, 28th in AHL 2011-12: 37-35-4, 22nd in AHL 2012-13: 31-38-7, 28th in AHL 2013-14: 30-38-8, 27th in AHL
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
2014-15: 33-35-8, 25th in AHL 2015-16: 34-35-7, 23rd in AHL 2016-17: 48-23-5, 4th in AHL 2017-18: 47-19-10, 2nd in AHL
