The Lehigh Valley Phantoms' Mascot Is A Stone Cold Killer
Nothing was better than when the Phantoms were still in Philly. You could head down to the Spectrum, get glass seats for like $15, see 3-4 fights per period with at least one bench clearing brawl that ended with a goalie fight, and as a kid it was where you learned all the best curse words. Unfortunately we were too greedy and eventually the team had to move out to Adirondack and now to Lehigh Valley. But the AHL is an incredible product. You have a bunch of guys on the ice who are either a mixture of young kids with a ridiculous amount of talent but just need more experience, or grizzled vets who know the only way they make it back up to the NHL is to fight their way up the depth chart. You can tell how much every shift means to these guys considering they could be one or two shifts away from not having to ride the bus to games anymore.
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And on top of all that, you get mascots going full Bills Mafia and jumping off ladders to put people through tables. And you know what? Good for Melvin. Because just like the rest of the guys on that roster, Melvin is waiting for his call up to the NHL as well. The minesies are more of the show for the mascots than the actual show itself considering they play a bigger role at those games. But you don’t think Melvin is looking for that pay bump? You think he wants to jump off of ladders for fun? Heck no. This is Melvin’s livelihood. All it takes is one NHL mascot to go down and Melvin gets the call he’s been dreaming off ever since he was a little boy putting on his first mascot costume. As much as I’d hate to see him go, the kid has earned his shot.
P.S. – If you ever get the chance to check out the movie “Mascots”, I suggest you do so. It’s not an overwhelmingly spectacular movie or anything. But it’s great for a few laughs on a Saturday/Sunday morning while you’re scrolling through Netflix.