Season, playoffs drag on too long

Some teams, including the host Phantoms, haven't played in quite a while.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- With a temperature approaching 80 degrees, it's not exactly ice hockey's prime season.
Which explains why some of the visiting coaches here for the North American Hockey League's Robertson Cup Tournament are glad the puck has finally dropped on the season finale.
"As a league, we need to do it earlier," Texas Tornado coach Tony Curtale said of finishing in mid-May. "But I think it's the same for all the teams -- it's hard to keep young guys' attention.
"They've qualified and they want to get here and play," Curtale said. "But it's the same for all teams so I don't see that being a factor."
Pat Cullen, the coach of the Southern Minnesota Express, said, "In all the years that I've played and coached, this is as late as I have ever been going.
"To top it off, we swept our last series in four straight so we were done a weekly earlier than we potentially could have been," Cullen said.
Before Wednesday's game against Texas, the Express hadn't played since they swept Fargo on April 22.
Phantoms last played April 9
Sitting even longer has been tournament host Mahoning Valley Phantoms, who lost their opening-round series to the Cleveland Barons on April 9.
Tonight at 7:30 at the Ice Zone, the Phantoms face off against Southern Minnesota.
Originally, the tournament was scheduled for the last week in April. But the Robertson Cup Tournament was pushed back two weeks after the Phantoms' request to stage the tournament at Youngstown's Chevrolet Centre was rejected by Youngstown SteelHounds owner Herb Washington.
When Phantoms owner Bruce Zoldan's bid for the junior amateur tournament was accepted by the NAHL, league officials were hoping to use the eight-month-old arena with 5,700 seats for ice hockey.
But the Phantoms eventually found out that Washington's 10-year lease for his minor-league professional team includes a clause that gives the SteelHounds hockey exclusivity.
Needed time to get ready
After Washington's rejection, the NAHL and Phantoms chose to keep the tournament in the Mahoning Valley. The league slowed down the pace of its two playoff rounds which gave Zoldan an extra two weeks to install more permanent seats into the Ice Zone.
After a month of practice, Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt says his players are glad the other four teams -- Southern Minnesota, Texas, Cleveland and Bozeman -- are here.
"I'm relieved more than anything that it's time to play hockey and put all the off-ice chores aside," Mainhardt said.
Mainhardt watched from the stands Wednesday as top-seeded Bozeman defeated Cleveland, 2-1, and Southern Minnesota surprised Texas, 7-3.
"For me, it's an opportunity to see teams I haven't seen for a while since the [NAHL] Showcase. It's giving me a chance to see what we're in store for [tonight]," Mainhardt said.
Cullen said the expansion team Express took "some time off to heal, but we haven't taken that much time off because we've tried to stay sharp."
It helps being in a state of puck fanatics.
"Being in a hockey-rich area, we were able to put together some scrimmages last week to try and stay sharp," Cullen said.
Backs against wall again
The Barons, who qualified for the tournament after rallying from a 3-1 best-of-seven series deficit against the U.S. National team, again have their backs against the wall.
"They just never quit, never gave up," Cleveland coach John Fritsche said. "In both series, I never saw a letdown."
Fritsche said the week off before this week's tournament presented the challenge of deciding how much time off is a good thing.
"How do you pull them down without losing focus? You want to make sure the guys are fresh, that they get their legs back, but the bumps and bruises are gone."
Although the Barons are about 90 minutes from home, they chose to stay in Boardman rather than commute.
Fritsche said some his players noted the irony of when they finally qualified for a national tournament, it's in a place they've already visited about 10 times since October.
"Some guys mentioned that they didn't get to go away -- I think that was part of our decision to stay here. We had discussed going back and forth because we are so close but we said let's stay.
"It gives the guys some experience and the chance to watch the other teams, be a part of the atmosphere," Fritsche said. "That's why were are here."
williams@vindy.com