Through their first 19 games, the Phantoms stand at 9-8-2, good enough for just 12th in the Eastern Conference of the AHL.

It's been a rocky road. After opening the season 4-1-0, the team went into a slide, losing five of their next seven games until pulling out of the spiral with a three-game winning streak. Since that streak, the team has gone 1-2-1 after picking up a much needed win over Norfolk last Saturday.Coach Terry Murray believes that a lot of his young players are having trouble pacing themselves and have found themselves needing to break some bad habits that they've developed not just during this season, but in previous seasons."It's bad habits," said Murray. "You're coming out of juniors and you're probably playing 35 or 40 minutes a night and getting 125 points without really working hard, so, why should I start working hard? You've got to skate to play the game today, whether you're playing right here or playing in the NHL, it's a speed game, a quick game and you don't have to have blazing speed, but you do have to create some separation with the puck on your stick."One player who Murray believes is still finding his way is young Robert Hagg, who is just 19-years old and made his pro debut with the Phantoms this past March and played in 10 games with the Phantoms in their final season in Adirondack."Last year, he was really good. I thought he played those 10 games the right way, with intensity, good composure, poise; He's taken a little bit of a step back this year. I think now that he's officially a pro player, he's probably taken a look at the big picture and thinks 'wow, close to 80 games I've got to play, I've got to pace myself,' and I think a lot of casual play crept in, but it's getting better recently. I still need a little more pace, more energy to his game, get the puck off of his stick a little faster. I always tell the defensemen - as I was a defenseman myself - let the forwards screw up, you don't screw up, so give them the puck. That's the attitude he needs to take more of now," said Murray.One issue that the team has had has been in keeping their intensity throughout the full 60 minutes of play. The team has made a habit of coming out strong in the first period and then just trying to hang on for the rest of the game.In the past couple of games, Murray has shuffled things around and has Blair Jones, Taylor Leier and Zack Stortini on the first-line and it's paid dividends. Murray credits the play of Stortini with jump-starting not just that line, but the intensity of the team throughout the game."It seems that where I play Stortini, good things are happening. That's not to take anything away from Jones or Cousins, but he's a pro hockey player, he plays a man's game and plays in the hard areas, in the pit in front of the net, and you're taking a lot of punishment. He's attracting attention and bringing other people to him in a critical area of the ice and that opens up space and time in other areas," Murray explained.PHANTOMS FACTS: Jason Akeson joined the Phantoms on loan from the Flyers. Akeson played in 12 games, with no goals or assists with the Flyers this season. Brandon Alderson was reassigned to Reading to make room for Akeson… Brett Hextall missed Saturday's game against Norfolk thanks to a one-game suspension earned when he was assessed an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the third period against Albany… Rob Zepp suffered an upper-body injury in warmups for the November 26 game against Springfield and should miss about a week. Anthony Stolarz will see the majority of time in the net, and Martin Ouellette was recalled from Reading to back-up Stolarz… The Phantoms' December 14 game against Albany will be played at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The Albany Devils scheduled two of their games - both against the Phantoms - at Boardwalk Hall. The first was a 4-2 loss for the Phantoms last Friday.