{"id":457914,"date":"2026-02-14T15:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/457914\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T15:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:27:11","slug":"calgary-flames-third-round-pick-maceo-phillips-looking-to-hunt-down-clark-cup-with-green-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/457914\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary Flames’ Third Round Pick Maceo Phillips Looking To Hunt Down Clark Cup With Green Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Green Bay Gamblers<\/a> currently find themselves in third place in the United States Hockey League\u2019s<\/a> Eastern Conference with a record of 27-13-3-1, in what is becoming a sprint to the playoffs. The Gamblers sit two points back of the Dubuque Fighting Saints<\/a> for second place and 10 points back of the Youngstown Phantoms<\/a>, who hold first place in the East.<\/p>\n

With 18 games left to play, the Gamblers\u2019 team is focused on bringing a Clark Cup back to Green Bay for the fifth time in franchise history and first since the 2011-12 season.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe number one goal for us is winning a Clark Cup here in Green Bay. We are just taking it day-by-day, looking to improve every day and taking it game by game,\u201d Gamblers\u2019 defenseman Maceo Phillips said during an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge goal of mine, my teammates and the coaching staff here in Green Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips is determined to win, and in such a highly contested league, he outlined what it\u2019s going to take for the Gamblers to be successful in their quest to be champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take us buying in, everyone playing their roles and playing for the team,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a lot of guts too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Phillips is in his first season with the Gamblers, after spending the two previous years with the USA Hockey National Development Program<\/a>. The USHL has helped Phillips grow his game over the past three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three years have been awesome, it\u2019s a very hard league to play in,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cMy first year coming into the league at 16 years old was a huge wake-up call. I was playing with the National Team, and the competition showed me the level I needed to keep working towards to stay with the pace. I\u2019ve learned more and more every single year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through 29 games played with the Gamblers this season, the 18-year-old defenseman has posted one goal and six assists, to go along with a plus-minus rating of plus-one. The transition to Green Bay for Phillips has been a great experience.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s been awesome, I love everything about Green Bay,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cI love my teammates and the staff, it\u2019s been great to play here. I feel like I\u2019ve grown a lot here, and I feel like we have a great team here. It should be a fun final stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June at the 2025 National Hockey League<\/a> Entry Draft, Phillips was selected in the third round, 80th overall by the Calgary Flames<\/a>. Hearing his name called was a continued affirmation of the work he has put in and the support he has received throughout his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a dream that I\u2019ve had my entire life and something that happened due to the hard work that I\u2019ve put in,\u201d Phillips said, \u201cIt was a huge moment for my mom as well and just all the work she put in to allow me to play hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Now a member of the Flames\u2019 organization, Phillips knows that this is just the beginning and that he must keep working to achieve his dream of skating in the NHL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so thankful that they took a chance on me and believe in me,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cNow it\u2019s my time to do the work, stay positive and be a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips has committed to the University of Minnesota<\/a> for the 2026-27 season, joining the Golden Gophers to return home to play hockey in his home state.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m so excited about that. I love everything about Minnesota, especially the program they have there,\u201d said Phillips. \u201cI\u2019m super excited to go there, to keep working hard, play for my home state and hopefully win a National Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gamblers return to action on Saturday evening when they host the Lincoln Stars<\/a>. Puck drop set for 7:05 p.m. EST.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Green Bay Gamblers currently find themselves in third place in the United States Hockey League\u2019s Eastern Conference…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[895,26,5294,2217,896,20658,7519,5,5592,4,2457],"class_list":{"0":"post-457914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary-flames","8":"tag-calgary","9":"tag-calgary-flames","10":"tag-calgaryflames","11":"tag-eastern-conference","12":"tag-flames","13":"tag-green-bay","14":"tag-green-bay-gamblers","15":"tag-hockey","16":"tag-maceo-phillips","17":"tag-nhl","18":"tag-united-states-hockey-league"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116069691810595413","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}