Laberge, Ratcliffe Join Phantoms' As Injuries Continue Pile Up
ALLENTOWN - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (45-19-10) returned to the ice at PPL Center after finishing a largely disappointing four-game road trip on a positive note by defeating Providence 6-3 and clinching first place in the Atlantic Division with two games remaining on their regular season schedule.
The timing coincides perfectly with the Phantoms' addition of two forwards drafted in the second round by the Philadelphia Flyers in each of the past two NHL entry drafts Monday when they announced 2016-2nd round selection Pascal Laberge (36th overall) and 2017-2nd round selection Isaac Ratcliffe (35th overall) were signed to amateur tryout contracts (ATO).
With the #1 seed in the division already guaranteed, head coach Scott Gordon told Inside AHL Hockey Tuesday afternoon that both Laberge and Ratcliffe will play and make their pro debuts this weekend against Bridgeport on Friday and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.
"They'll get their opportunity to play two games," Gordon said after Tuesday's practice. "Hopefully they have a positive showing so that if we need to use those bodies they are there and ready for us.
The latest moves put the Phantoms' roster up to 30 players now - four goaltenders, 10 defensemen and 16 forwards.
Inside AHL Hockey caught up with both Pascal Laberge and Isaac Ratcliffe Tuesday.
Phantoms Roster
Up to four ATO players now on the roster: David Drake and Carsen Twarynski were added earlier this month.
Goalies: #1 John Muse,#34 Alex Lyon, #35 Dustin Tokarski, #41 Anthony Stolarz
Defensemen: #3 Sam Morin, #5 Phil Myers, #8 Will O'Neill, #20 Max Lamarche, #25 Frank Hora, #37 Mark Friedman, #39 David Drake, #40 James de Haas, #43 T.J. Brennan, #44 Reece Willcox
Forwards: #9 Cole Bardreau, #12 Tyrell Goulbourne, #13 Colin McDonald, #14 Corban Knight, #15 Mikhail Vorobyev, #16 Nicolas Aube-Kubel, #18 Danick Martel, #21 Mike Vecchione, #22 Chris Conner, #24 Carsen Twarynski, #26 Phil Varone, #29 Pascal Laberge, #36 Alex Krushelnyski and #42 Isaac Ratcliffe
Lines from Tuesday's practice
Greg Carey - Phil Varone - Pascal Laberge Isaac Ratcliffe - Mike Vecchione - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Tyrell Goulbourne - Cole Bardreau - Colin McDonald Danick Martel - Corban Knight - Alex Krushelnyski Chris Conner - Radel Fazleev - Carsen Twarynski
T.J. Brennan - Mark Friedman Will O'Neill - Max Lamarche David Drake-Frank Hora Sam Morin/James de Haas - Reece Willcox
Dustin Tokarski-Alex Lyon-John Muse
Injured and not skating: Anthony Stolarz, Phil Myers and Mikhail Vorobyev Limited no-contact yellow jerseys: Sam Morin and James de Haas
Injury Report
GM Ron Hextall confirmed that Anthony Stolarz's latest injury is a new one and not related to his previous surgery. Stolarz is expected to begin ramping up his on-ice participation this week.
While there's no official word on Mikhail Vorobyev's (upper body) status moving forward, the outlook isn't promising for him to play this week and his status for the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs is much in doubt after he was absent from the on-ice practice and seen in the locker room after during post-practice media interviews.
Sam Morin practiced with the team in a yellow, no-contact jersey Tuesday for the first time since leaving January 20th's AHL Outdoor Classic in Hershey in what has been an injury riddled season for the big defender. Hextall reiterated Tuesday that Morin is still another 10-14 days away from returning and hopes he is able to play in the AHL playoffs. Head coach Scott Gordon mentioned Morin's recovery has taken a little longer than initially expected.
James de Haas also skated in a yellow jersey though he did not finish the practice on-ice, instead doing some extra workouts off-ice.
Corban Knight and Chris Conner were both full participants in practice Tuesday. It appeared as though Knight - and perhaps even Conner - needed to stay out for some extra skating after practice.
