Phantom Midgets in Buffalo


The under-18 team will be among 12 teams in a national tournament.

BOARDMAN — The Phantom Fireworks Midget Major AAA hockey team will compete in the Tier I Under-18 national championships in Buffalo, N.Y., starting Wednesday.

The Phantoms (45-18-9) will compete in the Amherst Pepsi Center against 11 other teams with the hope of reaching the championship game Sunday at 6 p.m.

The Phantoms, coached by Joe Dumais and assistants Rocky Russo and Otis Plageman, qualified with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Hornets, ranked 21st nationally, in a district tournament in Carmel, Ind., two weeks ago.

Among the Phantoms’ other key victories in the postseason was a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Jr. Barons, then ranked No. 4, in the state championship tournament.

“It’s a huge step for our organization as a whole,” says Phantoms hockey general manager Bob Mainhardt. “It is very important to develop hockey at all levels, and that is one of our first big steps. To be able to take the team to the national championships the first year speaks volumes for what we’ve been able to accomplish in a short period of time.”

Dumais left the team in mid-February to resume his playing career with the Columbia Inferno of the ECHL. After being sidelined with an injury, Dumais will accompany the team to New York.

“I am very proud of them,” says Dumais. “They deserve everything they have gotten so far. They’ve worked hard all year. Throughout the year we’ve been preaching the little things, they have bought in to what we’ve taught them, and it is really paying off.”

Russo said consistency has been the team’s strength.

“Obviously, the Barons game was a big game, they were supposedly the lock for the state championship game, and I think that our leadership did a great job of keeping guys on a steady pace the entire time,” said Russo. “Emotions didn’t get too high or too low, and I think that has been the key the entire time.”

The Phantoms are led by forward Jordan Sims, who has scored nearly 70 points this season. Andy Cramer, Spencer Jordan and J.D. Howard are the team’s other high scorers.

Howard, from Canfield, will play for the Phantoms Junior A team next season. In fact, five of the Phantoms’ six signees for 2008-09 will be playing in the national championships

Goaltenders Tyler Ross and Andrew New have turned in clutch performances at crucial times down the stretch.

“A big thing is going to be our goaltending,” says Russo. “Andrew New was very hot through all the tournaments, and he is going to have an opportunity to help pace the team. If he and Tyler can start well for us, it’s going to be a big key. We also need to stay on this even keel — we can’t get too emotional.”

The tournament begins with three days of round robin games. The Phantoms open Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. against Belle Tire, the Michigan district champion. The Phantoms will play the LA Selects Thursday and the host team, the Amherst Knights Friday. If the Phantoms advance from the round robin portion, they’ll begin single-elimination playoffs Saturday.

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