Apologies for the delay in this, but it was a very high school football-centric day here on the sports desk. Between writing the story that will appear in tomorrow's paper and knocking out some preview work for Super Bowls this weekend, this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and blog.

Let's get started with a personnel update: Brayden Schenn was back at practice after a maintenance day, but Zac Rinaldo got one today. Matt Konan returned from his illness, but Brandon Manning is now battling one of his own. Matt Mangene is still out with an upper-body injury, so some new lines:

McGinn-Schenn-Ford
Zolnierczyk-Couturier-Harper
Roe-Bordson-Holmstrom
Wellwood-Johnston-Testwuide
Ex: Brown

Gustafsson-Bourdon
Syvret-Dimmen
FitzGerald-Eddy
Lauridsen-Konan

Munroe
Heeter

I wouldn't place a lot of stock in those, since they could change when Rinaldo returns to the ice. But McGinn-Schenn-Ford is particularly interesting, given the offensive abilities of Schenn and Ford and McGinn's recent play in front of the net. Here's a quote from Terry Murray that didn't make it into the feature we ran on McGinn, which has been online all day and will run in print tomorrow.

"He's never going to go too far away from your top two lines," Murray said of McGinn. "I think his size, his skill and his hands are going to demand I keep him out there in some offensive-minded situations with skilled players."

Because of some backlog associated with Hurricane Sandy, the story we planned to run tomorrow won't run in print until Friday. It takes a look at some of the numbers associated with scoring the first goal of the game, which Adirondack hasn't done this season. They and Milwaukee are the only AHL teams who haven't done it at least once, and that's something Murray hopes to change this weekend.

Also, we're trying something new this season. Inspired by the folks at my old newspaper, The Citizens' Voice, I'm running a season-long trivia contest with the Phantoms. I'll ask each player a question from the same five categories -- hometown, teammates, sports news, sports movies and Adirondack hockey history -- and see which of the players does the best at the end of the year.

It will run on this blog once a week, probably Thursdays or Fridays. Brayden Schenn is first up.

Look for that -- and the story about scoring the first goal -- online later tonight or tomorrow.

Before we go, locked-out Blue Jacket Brandon Dubinsky, an Alaska native, got named the ECHL's Player of the Week for a seven-point performance for the Alaska Aces. Friend of the blog Jason Iacona, a former NCAA basketball player, had reaction worthy of a Quote of the Year nomination.

More after tomorrow's practice,
MC