Phantoms Enter 2020-21 Season With "We're All In This Together" Mentality

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - As the American Hockey League (AHL) gets back on the ice for he 2020-21 season, it comes with added precautions and protocols to limit the ability of COVID-19 from spreading around the locker room and putting players and their families at risk.

"We're going to have to be smart and try to not put ourselves at risk when guys are away from the rink," Cal O'Reilly said last week. "Being smart so it doesn't happen to us, because I know it has happened to a lot of teams. We just want to try to avoid that as much as possible."

It has in fact happened to several teams. Entering the weekend, five NHL teams have already had to shut things down and postpone games and several AHL clubs have had COVID-related issues preventing them practicing and playing preseason games.

Lehigh Valley was originally scheduled to have two preseason games, on January 29th at home against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and on January 31st on the road against Hershey.

The Jan 29 game against the Penguins was later moved to February 2nd due a delay in the start of the Penguins' training camp, and then rescheduled again from Feb 2 to Feb 4 due the snowstorm that dumped more than two feet across some parts of the state of Pennsylvania.

The Phantoms' preseason contest in Hershey was canceled and never rescheduled due to what InsideAHLHockey.com was told was a positive test result in the Bears training camp.

Instead, the Phantoms and Binghamton Devils - who both had their weekend preseason games against Hershey canceled - tried to schedule a preseason game on January 28th but that game was later canceled and not rescheduled after COVID-related issues in Lehigh Valley halted their trip to Newark, NJ. A positive test result that was later confirmed to be a false-positive was the cause of the scare, which those close to the situation told Inside AHL Hockey was quite a tumultuous time.

League-wide, canceled AHL preseason games reached double digits in a two-week span leading up to Friday's opening day of the 2020-21 regular season.

The Phantoms themselves begin their season Saturday afternoon in Hershey, and are putting an extra level of trust in their teammates to do the right things to mitigate any possible COVID outbreaks in the locker room.

"It's early in the process here, I think the real test will be down the road here when all of a sudden we're a month into it and there's not really a whole lot going on outside of hockey," Phantoms' head coach Scott Gordon said, adding that there has been some discussion about possibly moving some practices into the afternoon to help break up the day a little bit once the season gets in full-swing.

"They're going to have a lot of time on their hands. Even doing the simplest things as going to a movie or going out to dinner, whatever their normal routine is, it's probably going to be a little different," Gordon added. "You're not going to have that same type of going on the road and getting a little camaraderie that way. All of our trips are going to be short, so there will be an adjustment with that."

Building team chemistry and having a good environment in the locker room is crucial for both the AHL club's success and handling unsuccessful stretches, but also important for the multitude of players on the roster getting their first taste of pro hockey with the Phantoms this season.

"We won't be able to spend as much time together away from the rink - like the road trips and stuff," O'Reilly reiterated. "Just at the rink when we're there being around each other and doing things at the rink is really going to be our time to get to know each other."

The bottom line, according to Gordon, is that the players had plenty of extra time away from the game and hopefully were able to have their fun, whether it was with getting in a few extra rounds of golf, extra time spent with family and loved ones, etc.

Now, it's time to get to work.

"Really, you have to understand why you're here. And put the focus on taking advantage of the four, five months whatever it is  that we are here to get better as a player and advance your career so next year when we come back you're that much further along," Gordon explained. "That's the one thing that I've tried to impress upon the guys in our first discussion to make sure they understand that you kind of have to suck it up, and identify that we're here to play hockey. We have a lot of time on our hands and we have to make sure we are doing all the rights things that we can to make sure that you give yourself the opportunity to play."

"If one guy isn't towing the line and he gets everyone sick, now we're going two weeks without playing - or whatever the time frame is. We have to be a team here, and make sure we follow whatever protocols are laid out for us. If something comes up, it comes up. But we want to put our best foot forward."