ICE HOCKEY Phantoms prep for busiest month

Mahoning Valley has 12 games slated in January beginning tonight.
BOARDMAN -- With the holidays behind them, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms would sooner look ahead in lieu of reflecting on the first half of the season. But one can't help to look back at the progress made since September.
"We've proven that we've got a pretty nice nucleus, and we've proven that we're going in the right direction," Coach Bob Mainhardt said. "Everybody on the team knows that we still have a lot of room to improve, and that's the game plan for the second half."
Any rust from their 15-day break has been quickly addressed this week as the Phantoms return to practice and prepare for their busiest month of the season -- 12 games in January, beginning tonight and Sunday afternoon at The Ice Zone against the Traverse City North Stars.
After 29 games, the Phantoms are 17-9-3, just ahead of last year's 17-10-2 mark at this point.
Success at home
Possibly the highlight of the first half has been the Phantoms' success at home. They are 9-0-2 at The Ice Zone and remain the only unbeaten team at home in the NAHL. In addition, the Phantoms have produced 53 goals in those 11 games and have scored at least four goals in 10 of those contests.
"We were on the road so much early on. And then the guys just started playing better and we happened to be at home. But there's no doubt, we enjoy playing at home a lot," Mainhardt said.
The home streak was in jeopardy in their last game. On Dec. 17, the Phantoms trailed the U.S. National Under-17 Team 4-2 with five minutes remaining in regulation.
On the bench, co-captain Marc Menzione seized the opportunity to rally his teammates and reiterate their commitment.
"We take pride in [staying unbeaten at home]. Before every game, I remind the team that no one beats us at home. I reminded them again when we were trailing late in the game that night," Menzione said.
They rebounded as Menzione, along with line mates Anthony Ciraulo and Drew Satterley, recorded points on both comeback tallies. Menzione scored the game-tying goal with 1:06 left to force overtime and keep the streak alive.
The task at hand
Leapfrogging ahead from their third-place standing in the North division will be the task at hand for the rest of the season. It also will be a challenge to retain their unbeaten status over their remaining 18 home games. Six of them are against second-place Cleveland and four are versus the division-leading U.S. National Team, including a pair against the vaunted National Under-18 squad on Jan. 20 and Jan. 22. themselves against their division rivals.
At the season's midpoint, four of the five returning Phantoms from last season (Menzione, Ciraulo, Mike Maltese, and Craig Dulman) have already eclipsed their individual scoring totals from last season.
The fifth, Owen Meyer, needs just one point to match the 22 he recorded in the 2004-05 campaign.
"Those five guys are the heart and soul of our team," Mainhardt said. "They've played so well, yet the cynic in me expects even more from them. That's the scary thing; we haven't even seen the best of them yet. Hopefully they'll peak, which, in turn, will help our team peak."