Monday's Catch Up & Links 10/2/17
Editor's Note: Monday means it's time to start the work week, but also time to check in and make sure you haven't missed anything in the hockey world - specifically our AHL content here at Inside AHL Hockey. Our weekly Monday story is free for all of our readers!
The American Hockey League's (AHL) preseason schedule is wrapping up tonight with San Diego hosting Ontario at the Honda Center - home to the NHL's Anaheim Ducks. After tonight's preseason finale, the focus for all 30 AHL teams will shift to final preparations (and roster additions from their NHL affiliate!) for the start of the regular season!
The AHL's 2017-18 regular season kicks off this Friday, October 6th and features six games including the defending champion Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit) hosting the Mantioba Moose (Winnipeg) as well as last season's Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay) on the road against rival Rochester Americans (Buffalo).
With the season quickly approaching, there's no better time than now to subscribe to Inside AHL Hockey for the month of October. It's only three bucks and will allow you full access to all of our premium content including but not limited to: coverage of every Lehigh Valley Phantoms road game, weekly Phantoms features, AHL player features across the league, monthly prospect reports, AHL Western Conference coverage and much more!
Give us a month to show what kind of in-depth coverage we are aiming to provide. I'm fairly confident that our staff, which continues to expand, will provide content well-worth 69 cents a week and you'll be committing to a full-year subscription on November 1st. In fact, you can make a quick and easy one-time payment today for $36 and have quality AHL content to read for the next 12 months. Supporting this website will also allow us resources to provide even more AHL coverage as we continue to build from the ground up this season.
And let me tell you, we already have a solid foundation with a current staff of seven dedicated professionals ready to provide you with plenty of content.
Anyway, onto the weekly links for stories you might have missed this past week.
Weekly Links
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia) played a pair of preseason contests over the weekend against the Charlotte Checkers (Carolina). While the Phantoms came up on the losing end in both games, there were still plenty of takeaways from the two matches worth noting. Click on the links below for a recap of each game as well as some insights on which players stood out.
Phantoms Preseason - Game 1 vs. Charlotte
Phantoms Preseason - Game 2 vs. Charlotte
The plan moving forward for our Phantoms coverage is to make all home game coverage free for all readers, but limit our almost entirely exclusive Phantoms road game coverage to subscribers only. Going the extra mile (sometimes several hundred miles) to provide in-depth coverage of the team that you won't find anywhere else has to be worth $3 a month all on its own right?
I also plan on having a weekly Phantoms feature this season. This past week, I featured forward Scott Laughton. Laughton appeared to be an NHL regular before being reassigned to the Phantoms and appearing in 60 games this past season. Clearly frustrated, Laughton was able to work on his game while in the AHL last year, and has made the Flyers' opening night roster for their opener in San Jose on Wednesday night. I caught up with Laughton during camp/preseason to talk about his journey. (Subscribers Only)
Just how different is the AHL's preseason than that of the NHL's in terms of preparing for the upcoming season? Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon went into some detail on the different challenges the preseason poses for AHL teams. (Story unlocked for all readers!)
Welcome the newest member of Inside AHL Hockey's staff - Taylor Sedona Clark! Taylor is a credentialed AHL writer/photographer who will be adding to our Western Conference coverage this season with a focus on the Arizona Coyotes' top prospects playing with their AHL affiliate Tucson Roadrunners. She'll also be chatting up AHL players visiting Tucson this season too - so fans of teams out west should be following Taylor on Twitter and staying tuned for her work!
"I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings. Coming down is the hardest thing." - Tom Petty
