Phantoms enjoy break from grind

Mahoning Valley ((18-8-3) has some players who need to heal.

BOARDMAN — With 12 days off between games and half of the season behind them, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms have been enjoying a break from the daily grind.

Their 12-day hiatus came just before a 19-day break that starts on Sunday — all in all, a 33-day period of rest, interrupted only by a pair of games this weekend against the U.S. Under 17s at the Ice Zone.

The break couldn’t have come at a better time, as the team is suffering from multiple injuries. Defensemen Eric Ringel, Denny Kramarz and Zack Barbis have all missed an extended period of time.

Adam Snead and Trent Bonnett have been playing with nagging aches and pains, and John Houston suffered a leg injury in an 8-2 win over Marquette on Dec. 8 that could keep him out for nearly eight weeks.

“At this point, it is really just what the doctor ordered,” Coach Bob Mainhardt said. “We’re pretty banged up. Just take a look out at our blue line — we just had two defensemen out on the ice last practice. We’ve got some guys that needed to heal up and needed to rest.”

Offensively, the Phantoms (18-8-3, 39 points) are a bit better off. Forward Kurt Washnock has been out nearly a month while recovering from an ankle infection.

Derek Carr and Brent Dexter have also missed time due to injuries, but are now healthy again.

The coaches, meanwhile, have custom-tailored the practice schedule to keep the team focused. Mainhardt says the challenge is less about keeping the team in shape, and more about balancing their schedule.

“We’ve had so many games in a row that the real challenge is making sure that we are giving the guys a little bit of rest and not pushing too hard during their week of rest here,” Mainhardt said. “We just have to have the right equation of rest and hard work.”

“Right now we’re working on having a little bit of fun while staying in shape,” Mainhardt said. “At the end of the day, all of these guys love to play hockey, so as long as you put them in game situations and let them compete against one another, they are going to have fun with it.”

Today and Saturday at 7:15 p.m., the second-place Phantoms host the fifth-place U.S. National team (14-14-2, 30 points). Mahoning Valley is 3-2-1 against the Americans in six games so far this season.