The Pittsburgh Phantoms 
[ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article unveiling the Phantoms ]
After losing game #1 of the first round to Chicago 9-8, they came back with a vengence in game #2 winning 23-5. A "mini-game" went to the Phantoms 1-0, earning them a trip to the second round where they eventually fell to the Minnesota Arctic Blast. Solid efforts earned several players invitations to Penguins training camp at the end of that year. Unfortunately, none impressed enough to be offered contracts. Made up predominantly of players from the East Coast and Central Hockey Leagues, the Phantoms also dressed several former Penguins including Alain Lemieux, Warren Young, and Bryan Trottier. Also on the team was Erin Whitten, the only the second female goalie ever to play in a professional men's ice hockey league. One memorable regular season matchup pitted Whitten against Manon Rheaume of the New Jersey Rockin' Rollers. Whitten outplayed Rheaume, but the Phantoms' comparatively porous defense let her down in the losing effort. The Phantoms ranked 15th in the 24 team league in attendance with an average of 3,587 fans per game, which was more than 700/game below the league average. Their offence was the second most prolific with an average of 9.41 goals per game, ranking behind only to Minnesota. As mentioned above, their defense was as inept as the offense was spectacular. Their average of 8.77 goals against per game was third worst. At 57.0, their powerplay ranked them second in the league overall and ranked first at home with a 66.7 success rate. Despite their woeful defense, the Phantoms penalty killing was the fouth best in the league, killing off 59.2 percent of opponent power plays. The Phantoms went on "hiatus" after the season, with Baldwin publically exploring options to keep the team going, including the creation of another professional roller hockey league. The Phantoms never returned however, and it seems unlikely that the Phantoms, or even the sport itself will return to Pittsburgh. Although I thought the same thing about indoor lacrosse... Thanks to Erik Johnson for some of the information found here.
Joshua Atkins
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