The Adirondack Phantoms have announced their opening night roster and it's not all that different from the one we saw in Glens Falls all this week. The Phantoms will begin the season with the same 25 players that survived training camp's first -- and only -- round of cuts, which were made Monday.

There is one change. Defenseman Jeff Dimmen, who won a Calder Cup with the Norfolk Admirals last season, inked an American Hockey League contract with the Phantoms. He had originally been with the team on a try-out basis, one of seven such players the team invited to training camp.

I think the fact that Dimmen, 26, is still here says a lot about his game. His numbers aren't too flashy, but Dimmen already has 13 AHL playoff games on his resume.This will be only his second season in pro hockey.

He joined Portland for their 2011 cup run after wrapping up four years at Maine and then played six playoff games for a Norfolk team that lost only three games after last year's Super Bowl. That kind of experience is invaluable on a young team.

Another big plus for Dimmen? He's a right-handed shot. The team only has two right-shooting right now, the other being Cullen Eddy.

Here's an interesting stat I found when researching this blog post. Did you know the Phantoms have more players (7) with National Hockey League playoff experience than players who have played in the AHL playoffs (6)? That is a product of the lockout, I suppose, and Adirondack hasn't made the playoffs since they've been here.

Defenseman Zack FitzGerald tops all Phantoms with 31 games of AHL playoff experience. He's generally regarded as a tough guy, but he's been in this league for seven years. Next is Scott Munroe with 19 games. Dimmen has his baker's dozen, but none of the other players are in double digits.

Conversely, Danny Syvret, Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn and Eric Wellwood all have 10 or more NHL playoff games under their belt. The latter three got theirs during Philadelphia's run last year.

Probably too early to talk about that sort of stuff. The Phantoms opening night roster (and their jersey numbers) after the jump.


Goalies (2): 33 Scott Munroe, 35 Cal Heeter.
Defensemen (8): 3 Marc-Andre Bourdon, 42 Jeff Dimmen, 20 Cullen Eddy, 13 Zack FitzGerald, 36 Erik Gustafsson, 7 Oliver Lauridsen, 28 Brandon Manning, 5 Danny Syvret.
Forwards (15): 9 Rob Bordson, 18 Tyler Brown, 14 Sean Couturier, 11 Shane Harper, 23 Ben Holmstrom, 15 Andrew Johnston, 25 Matt Ford, 57 Matt Mangene, 16 Tye McGinn, 26 Zac Rinaldo, 27 Garrett Roe, 10 Brayden Schenn, 8 Mike Testwuide, 22 Eric Wellwood, 24 Harry Zolnierczyk.