NHL Arena Blog

Final	1	2	3	T	PP	S
Grand Rapids	0	0	1	1	0/7	34
Philadelphia	2	2	0	4	1/7	24

Wachovia Spectrum

GR:	C. Emmerton (02:59 3rd)
PHI:	D. Syvret (04:29 1st), R. Sirianni (16:00 1st), J. Matsumoto (14:19 2nd), J. Kalinski (17:38 2nd)

 

Trip Notes:

Unfortunately my trip turned out to be shorter than planned. I was supposed to leave on Thursday, but of all days in Denver, we were hit by a blizzard that morning. They cancelled the majority of the flights minus mine. I wasn't set to go out until later in the afternoon, but by the time I was going to head out that direction the roads were horrible. I talked with Frontier a few times on the phone trying to figure out what I should do. I ended up rescheduling my flight but unfortunately I couldn't get out for another 2 days. So I ended up missing games in Hershey and Wilkes-Barre. That was a huge bummer but I was mostly concerned about making it to the Spectrum before it was demolished. Fortunately I was able to make that happen. It was the last home game I would've been able to attend.

I arrived late Saturday night and drove to King of Prussia where my hotel was. I chose to stay near Valley Forge since I had stayed there before and really liked it. I didn't want to stay downtown like I did last time. I'd much rather have a car and drive.

I spent the morning touring around Valley Forge. It was beautiful. I can only imagine how beautiful it looks in the summer or the fall when the trees are full and/or the leaves changing colors. I would like to go back sometime and ride a bike through the park as well.

After Valley Forge, I headed into downtown Philly. My first stop ...a Philly cheese steak. I can't go to Philly without eating one. I had never been to Pat's or Gino's. I ended up going to Pat's. I wasn't too impressed with it. They used cheese whiz instead of real cheese so after a few minutes the sandwich was soggy and hard to eat. Plus they put way too much on. I hear Gino's is pretty much the same, but I'll have to try it next time I'm out. So far Jim's Steaks is still my favorite.

After I ate, I headed over to the Spectrum. Parking was easy and when I got there an hour early, not many other people there yet. I walked around the entire Spectrum to take several pictures. Picked up my ticket at Will Call. Speaking of the ticket, the Phantoms ticket office was first-class. After the original final game was cancelled and rescheduled a couple days earlier, they worked with me to find another game that would fit in my schedule. I was going to be in CA the 10th so there was no way I could've made it that far east. Kevin, from the sales office gave me Sunday's game in exchange. He was very nice and worked with me through the blizzard and making sure I got to see a game. Thanks again Kevin!

My seat was located on the lower level center ice. It was a great seat other than every time someone got up or sat down they would obstruct my view of the nets. It made it difficult to take pictures at times. At the first intermission I walked around the concourse. I stopped at all of the merchandise stands to see what they had left. I was looking for a puck, but they were completely out. Most of the stands were pretty empty. I ended up getting one of the final programs and a jersey. Just what I need ..another jersey. LOL. But I couldn’t resist. I love the logo and couldn’t beat the price.

For the second period I headed up to the top level. I sat as high up as I could. They had huge curtains blocking off the highest rows so I sat right below that. It was a great seat. Great view of the ice with no obstructions. I stayed there for the remainder of the game.

Stadium Notes: The Spectrum was definitely an old arena. The bathrooms stood out the most to me. You had to go down two flights of stairs to get down to the stalls. I don't believe I've ever seen that before. There was one main concourse that all levels use. The majority of old stadiums were built this way. There was just over 7,000 people there so the concourse never got too crowded. The top rows of the Spectrum were blocked off by huge curtains. The 4 retired Flyers jersey numbers were still hanging from the rafters, Clark, Parent, Barber, and Ashbee ...the Broad Street Bombers. For hockey, the Spectrum seats 17,380.

 

Game Notes:

Grand Rapids Griffins 1 at Philadelphia Phantoms 4 - Status: Final
Mar 29, 2009 - Wachovia Spectrum

Grand Rapids 0 0 1 - 1
Philadelphia 2 2 0 - 4

1st Period-1, Philadelphia, Syvret 12 (Matsumoto, Maroon), 4:29. 2, Philadelphia, Sirianni 10 (Kane, Ross), 16:00 (pp). Penalties-Matsumoto Phi (hooking), 1:30; Pyett Gr (holding), 14:45; Curry Phi (high-sticking), 16:29.

2nd Period-3, Philadelphia, Matsumoto 27 (Syvret, Kukkonen), 14:19. 4, Philadelphia, Kalinski 8 (Szwez, Raduns), 17:38. Penalties-Lemieux Gr (tripping), 3:26; Pare Gr (delay of game), 6:17; Kane Phi (interference), 6:59; Guenin Phi (hooking), 7:43; Mursak Gr (roughing), 12:17; Haydar Gr (delay of game), 13:01; Kane Phi (interference), 13:42; Lemieux Gr (tripping), 15:11.

3rd Period-5, Grand Rapids, Emmerton 10 (Lashoff, Kindl), 2:59. Penalties-Lemieux Gr (tripping), 5:32; Szwez Phi (holding), 10:18; Matsumoto Phi (hooking), 19:14.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 8-9-17-34. Philadelphia 10-11-3-24.
Power-play opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 of 7; Philadelphia 1 of 7.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Howard 20-16-4 (24 shots-20 saves). Philadelphia, Munroe 29-19-3 (34 shots-33 saves).
A-7,340
Referees-Francis Charron (47).
Linesmen-Richard Leonard (2), Matt McNulty (26).