NAHL Talented Phantom team set in Alaska

The Mahoning Valley Plantoms open play Thursday against Fairbanks.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- For the second straight year, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms are in the North American Hockey League finals.
They're playing in the Robertson Cup, a four-team tournament which will determine the league champion. The tournament begins Thursday in Fairbanks, Ala., where the Phantoms will be joined by the St. Louis Bandits, the Southern Minnesota Express and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs.
Last year, the Phantoms were the host team for the tournament at the Ice Zone and an automatic qualifier. This year they are the top seed and the team to beat.
"We're excited, but probably more focused at this point," Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said. "We had a set of goals at the beginning of the season, goals that we set as a team. Our sight on the big goal, however, has never changed over the course of the season.
"We have no complaints whatsoever," Mainhardt said. "We finished first in the division, first in the league and then registered two playoff sweeps for the right to head to Alaska.
"This group stepped up all season long and while it might sound like an old clich & eacute;, we're still improving and must do so in order to be at our best."
Beat USA team
The Phantoms clinched their Robertson Cup appearance April 21 when they defeated the USA National Team, 6-2 at the Ice Zone.
Twelve days will have passed since that game and their tournament opener against Fairbanks Thursday at 11:30 p.m.
"It's all in how you look at it," Mainhardt said of the break. "It can be a problem or a blessing. For us, the break is giving us a chance to heal so we'll focus on the positives and not the negatives."
With 283 goals, 473 assists and 756 team points, it's pretty easy to figure out how Mahoning Valley rolled to 47 wins and 95 overall points.
The Phantoms scored 61 more goals better than their closest competitor and they were one of two teams in the NAHL to score at least 90 points more than they allowed. St. Louis was the other.
"Our defense has been a quiet hero for us all season long," Mainhardt said. "We have nine guys that we are comfortable keeping on the ice. They've pushed each other all season long.
"Also, these are the best four lines that I have had. We put the lines together early in the season and haven't needed to adjust them. All four have been allowed to be number one on any given night."
Cloutier top scorer
The Phantoms' first lines is Dustin Cloutier, the team's leading scorer with 83 points in the regular season; Nathan Longpre and Miles Winter; the second line is Derek Graham, Alden Hirschfeld and Chris Fairbanks; the third line is Chad Boeckman, Brent Dexter and Matt Quigley, and the fourth line is Johnny Meo, Drew Satterley and Mike Fillinger.
Fairbanks, the team captain, said depth is the team's biggest strength.
"Our four lines top to bottom are the best lines in the league," Fairbanks said. "We have nine defensemen playing at a high level every night and that is what makes us so successful."
Mahoning Valley started the season with a 6-7-1 record after 14 games, looking for a spark while ridding themselves of those who weren't buying into the system.
When Graham and Cloutier were acquired, the team went on a 19-game winning streak.
Satterley, last season's captain, arrived after the New Year, adding toughness to the team.
Team jelling together
"We have a chemistry right now that is tough to beat," Cloutier said. "Everyone plays an important role and it seems like we have a new hero every night. It doesn't matter who gets the job done, just as long as it gets done."
One steady performer all season long has been goalie Ryan Zapolski. He set the league regular season mark with 42 wins and is 48-8-1 overall.
"This is exciting for everyone, but you have to remember that we've worked pretty hard to get to this point," Zapolski said. "I felt that if given the chance I could reach 40 wins, but give credit my teammates as well because they helped out quite a bit throughout the season."
The Robertson Cup is a round-robin tournament. The two teams with the best records will play in the championship game May 7 at 9 p.m.