| Current: | 2023–24 AHL season |
| Bg Color: | background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#f58427 5px solid; border-bottom:#000000 5px solid; |
| Text Color: | black |
| Team: | Lehigh Valley Phantoms |
| Logosize: | 250px |
| City: | Allentown, Pennsylvania |
| League: | American Hockey League |
| Conference: | Eastern |
| Division: | Atlantic |
| Founded: | 1996 |
| Arena: | PPL Center |
| Colors: | Black, orange, electric blue, white |
| Owner: | The Brooks Group (Robert and Jim Brooks) |
| Gm: | Alyn McCauley (de facto - Assistant General Manager, Philadelphia Flyers) |
| Coach: | Ian Laperrière |
| Captain: | Garrett Wilson |
| Media: | The Morning Call WFMZ-TV channel 69 WAEB (AM) – AM 790 WSAN – AM 1470 Service Electric Cable TV2 Sports AHL.TV (Internet) |
| Affiliates: | Philadelphia Flyers (NHL) Reading Royals (ECHL) |
| Name1: | Philadelphia Phantoms |
| Dates1: | 1996–2009 |
| Name2: | Adirondack Phantoms |
| Dates2: | 2009–2014 |
| Name3: | Lehigh Valley Phantoms |
| Dates3: | 2014–present |
| Division Titles: | 1 (2017–18) |
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.[1]
The Phantoms have been the top minor league affiliate for the Flyers since the 1996–97 season, playing in Philadelphia as the Philadelphia Phantoms from 1996 until 2009, then in Glens Falls, New York, as the Adirondack Phantoms from 2010 until 2013, and in Allentown as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms since 2014.
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms play their home games at PPL Center, an 8,500 capacity, $282 million indoor arena that opened in downtown Allentown on September 10, 2014.
See also: List of Lehigh Valley Phantoms players and 2019–20 Lehigh Valley Phantoms season. In March 2011, plans were announced for a new arena, the PPL Center, in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania. Demolition at the arena site began in January 2012.[2] In February 2012, it was announced that the Adirondack Phantoms, a franchise that originated as the Philadelphia Phantoms, would relocate to the PPL Center in Allentown from Glens Falls, New York. The franchise originally intended to begin play in Allentown in 2013, but due to litigation over the construction of PPL Center, the team did not play until the 2014–15 AHL season. The purple color used since the team's inception was replaced by electric blue when the team relocated to the Lehigh Valley.
The arena has been consistently full. During the 2015–16 season, the PPL Center was filled at a 97.9% capacity on average, and had 24 sellouts in the 38 Phantoms home games, including the last 13. The Phantoms finished seventh in the AHL attendance rankings with an average of 8,244 fans, surpassed only by teams with larger venues.[3]
On August 13, 2014, the Phantoms introduced their new mascot "meLVin".[4] meLVin wears the number 55, which is LV in Roman numerals. The LV refers to Lehigh Valley. He became the Phantoms' third mascot after "Phlex" (Philadelphia Phantoms) and "Dax" (Adirondack Phantoms).
| Calder Cup Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | League leader |
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | Pts | PCT | GF | GA | Standing | Year | Prelims | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Finals |
| 76 | 33 | 35 | — | 7 | 1 | 74 | .487 | 194 | 237 | 4th, East | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 76 | 34 | 35 | — | 4 | 3 | 75 | .493 | 215 | 222 | 7th, Atlantic | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 76 | 48 | 23 | — | 5 | 0 | 101 | .664 | 260 | 219 | 2nd, Atlantic | — | — | — | — | |||
| 76 | 47 | 19 | — | 5 | 5 | 104 | .684 | 260 | 218 | 1st, Atlantic | — | — | |||||
| 76 | 39 | 30 | — | 4 | 3 | 85 | .559 | 240 | 244 | 5th, Atlantic | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 62 | 24 | 28 | — | 3 | 7 | 58 | .468 | 161 | 186 | 7th, Atlantic | 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 32 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 43 | .672 | 96 | 92 | 2nd, North | 2021 | No playoffs were held | |||||
| 76 | 29 | 32 | — | 10 | 5 | 73 | .480 | 195 | 239 | 8th, Atlantic | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 72 | 37 | 29 | — | 3 | 3 | 80 | .556 | 221 | 226 | 6th, Atlantic | — | — | — | — | |||
| 72 | 32 | 31 | — | 6 | 3 | 73 | .507 | 191 | 217 | 6th, Atlantic | — | — | — | ||||
| Totals | 694 | 341 | 269 | 1 | 51 | 32 | 766 | .552 | 2033 | 2100 | 4 playoff appearances | ||||||
Updated August 20, 2024.[5] [6] [7]
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As of the 2023–24 season[8]
2014–2015
2015–2018, 2019–2021[12]
2018–19 (interim)
2021–present[13]