John Stevens had one hand on the Calder Cup and the other wrapped around a beer. Champagne was dripping from his head.
All around him, people jostled shoulder to shoulder for space in the smelly, hot locker room and tried not to get stepped on by Frank Bialowas, who still was wearing his skates.
Across the room, Neil Little and Jim Montgomery were setting a record for getting a postgame buzz going, while Jimmy Buffett's ``Margaritaville,'' played in the background.
For the Philadelphia Phantoms, the work was over and the celebration had begun.
``This is unbelievable,'' forward Mike Maneluk said through the noise. ``This is something I'm never going to forget.''
After 20 games, and four series, the Philadelphia Phantoms last night did what their parent club - the Flyers - have been unable to do in 23 years. They brought a hockey championship to Philadelphia.
By a score of 6-1, the Phantoms dismissed the Saint John Flames in six games and clinched the Calder Cup, earning the 62nd American Hockey League championship. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 17,380 at the CoreStates Spectrum, the largest crowd in AHL playoff history.
``This is the best feeling in the world,'' Montgomery said. ``Being a champion is the best thing you can do in your life, beside your family; this is the most fantastic thing you can do.''
Led by Maneluk, Montgomery and Stevens, their steady veteran captain and defenseman, the Phantoms shut down the Flames just three days after being embarrassed in Game 5 and captured their first title in only their second year in existence.
Montgomery got the Phantoms on the board just 32 seconds into the game, his 13th playoff goal, and they never looked back.
Over and over, Maneluk dazzled, dishing out three assists while hapless defenders chased him around their defensive zone. At the other end, Stevens punished anyone in a red uniform that even approached Little.
In addition to Montgomery, Bruce Coles, Andy Delmore, Shawn McCosh, Sean O'Brien and Paul Healey each chipped in a goal.
Stevens, 32, laid claim to his third Calder Cup championship, Maneluk was awarded the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the playoff MVP, and Montgomery was rewarded for coming back to Philadelphia from Germany, where he played last year.
And Little, who turned aside all but one of Saint John's 27 shots, tied an AHL record for playoff wins set by the Buffalo Sabres Steve Shields, when he was with the Rochester Americans in 1995.
