Huffman Named Phantoms' Interim Head Coach, Murray Returns As Assistant

ALLENTOWN, PA -- Less than 24 hours after the Lehigh Valley Phantoms rallied for four third period goals and a come-from-behind win in Wilkes-Barre, the Lehigh Phantoms made it official that "acting head coach" Kerry Huffman will serve as the team's head coach for the remainder of the 2018-19 season, as Inside AHL Hockey first-learned back on December 22nd. In addition, Terry Murray returns to the organization as an assistant coach alongside Huffman.

Amidst the "turmoil", the "tumultuous times" the Philadelphia Flyers organization has endured in the last month - a fired NHL GM, the subsequent firing of the NHL coach and then an AHL head coaching change when Scott Gordon was promoted to the NHL's interim head coaching position - the Phantoms' players and staff endured a difficult, distraction-filled week before heading into the holiday.

"Kind of similar to what the Flyers are going through right now, there's been a lot of stuff going on," Phantoms' forward Taylor Leier said before the holiday break. "Nothing against [Scott Gordon] - we love Gordo - but sometimes a fresh start you kind of just play a little bit looser and little bit harder. Huffer has sent a really good message to us. I think all the guys responded well, and it's really shown in the games we have had him [as coach]."

Huffman, stepping up as the head man prior to last Wednesday's game against Hershey, sort of issued his team a challenge for the three games before the holiday break.

"I said to them, guys you want to be proud of how you play this week," Huffman explained, adding, "don't become numb to what's going on and kind of coast into the holiday, let's get out there and prove something. And they did, they played hard all three games."

The Phantoms are 3-0-1 in Kerry Huffman's tenure as the team's head coach, which started with a 5-0 shutout win at home against division rival Hershey in a game that goaltender Alex Lyon called the best game he's ever seen the team play in front of him in his time in the AHL. The lone loss in the past four games - a setback in the shootout against Syracuse - saw the Phantoms fire 42 shots on goal and a herculean effort from Crunch goaltender Connor Ingram,  who injured himself in the third period but finished the rest of regulation, the 3-on-3 overtime period and the shootout.

Another lopsided win against the Bears in Hershey before the break, and the come-from-behind win in Wilkes-Barre post-Christmas has Huffman's Phantoms rolling into a pair of games this weekend.

"We wanted to have a good week," Huffman said. "There's a lot of people - everybody's watching what has gone on with the change and watching how our players are reacting to it."

It goes without saying that the main concern with all of the changes to the management and staff team would be how it would initially affect the players - both the younger prospects and the older veteran players. It's only human reaction to begin to wonder, as a player with a new GM in place, where you stand in terms of the organization's plans moving forward.

"Our focus was let's pull together as a team and let's deal with this as a team together instead of worrying about individual things, the change. One guy drafted me but now there's a new a guy and what does he think of me. I said the only thing we can control is what he thinks of you moving forward and how we play from this point on," Huffman said. "Kudos to them they really bought into that."

It became evident pretty quickly that the players not only liked and respected their new head coach, but were willing to do whatever it took to get him the opportunity to be the head man for the rest of the season. No one put it into words better than Greg Carey.

"With all the turmoil that has been going on in the organization, it’s awesome to have at least a little stability to hold on to," Carey said via phone Thursday. "Having Huff take the reigns down here with Gordo moving up top definitely creates a sense of familiarity for a lot of us. I’ve had him for 3 years now, and he brings a sense of [calmness] and patience to the Phantoms. He has knowledge of the game, he played a long time at the highest level. I think for the young guys as much as the older guys, that he’s a great match for us. Four games into his tenure we have done well, but that’s just the start. We’re really happy to have Huff as our head coach for the rest of the season, and I can’t wait to see what we can do as team."