Phantoms close to finals

By Greg Gulas

The winner of their Alpena series most likely will earn a trip to the NAHL finals.

BOARDMAN — A year ago, the Mahoning Valley Phantoms posted the North American Hockey League’s best regular-season mark, sweeping through the playoffs before losing their only postseason contest to the St. Louis Bandits.

Unfortunately for the Phantoms, that loss came in the league’s championship game.

The sting of failing to bring home the Robertson Cup after authoring such a model season has created a void within the organization that this year’s squad hopes to erase.

“We’re all a little anxious to get going, but we cannot lose sight of one very important fact and that is that this is a journey; not a sprint to the finish line,” Phantoms coach Bob Mainhardt said. “We need to stay poised and remain on an even keel if we expect to be successful this postseason. That journey begins for us [Friday].

“The playoffs are what you work for all season long,” Mainhardt said. “It’s kind of like Christmas Eve and that great anticipation of the following day. That is where we are right now. Like Alpena, I am sure, we’re both very anxious to get the playoffs under way.”

The Bandits, members of the South Division last season, moved over to the North Division this season and posted the best regular-season record (47-9-2).

They will play host to the Robertson Cup finals in early May, which is why the first-round for both Mahoning Valley (36-18-4) and Alpena (30-23-5) take on added significance.

St. Louis has the automatic ticket to the finals and while there are no guarantees they will win their first-round series with the U.S. Nationals, the winner of the Alpena-Mahoning Valley series would automatically qualify as the fourth entry if St. Louis prevails in its opening-round series.

The Phantoms took eight of 12 contests from the Ice Diggers during the regular season with half of those contests decided by one goal; each team won three of those games.

The key for both teams will be sticking with their respective gameplans while finding a way to break through on the opponents’ home ice.

“Special teams are always important, especially in a short playoff series like this,” Mainhardt said. “Alpena has had a great power play all year long.

“While ours has improved over the course of the season, the team whose penalty kill is clicking and the team that can shut down the other when skating with the man advantage is the one that will end up with the upper hand,” Mainhardt said.

The Phantoms have one of the best one-two punches in goal in Garrett Bartus and Jordan Tibbett.

Also the youngest tandem overall, Bartus was 23-9-3 (2.76 goals against average) this season with two shutouts while Tibbett went 11-9-1 (3.21 GAA).

Mahoning Valley relies on four lines to equally contribute on any given night so depth should favor the Phantoms.

Leading scorer Derek Graham (30 goals, 41 assists, 71 points) paces a line that includes Alden Hirschfeld and Grant Blakey. The other lines have: Chad Boeckman, Miles Winter and Nick Kenny; Kyle Bailey, Kyle Verbeek and Stefan Salituro; and Scott Moser, Brian McGinty and Johnny Meo.

Brent Dexter, Eric Ringel and Derek Carr are likely to contribute to the physical play expected from both teams.

Winter scored 50 points on 25 goals and 25 assists, Hirschfeld added 14tallies (38 points) and Ringel scored 27 points.

“We have to get out to a fast start and set the tone early in the series,” Ringel said. “Alpena has been our toughest competitor all season for one very special reason; they play just as hard when they are up by five or down by five goals. They just keep coming at you and never seem to give up.”

Winter said he expects a very physical series.

“Alpena is big and they hit a lot to say the least. We expect hitting to be a big part of this series but need to use our size and speed to our advantage with the hopes of opening up the ice,” he said.

The Phantoms’ depth pleases Hirschfeld.

“As long as we stick to our game plan we should be alright,” he said. “It’s nice to have four lines rolling right now so with everyone healthy, we’re confident about our chances.”

Ice Diggers coach Kenny Miller, whose team was 15-12-3 on the road this season, including two wins at the Ice Zone, respects Mahoning Valley but isn’t about to concede anything.

“Look at what Mahoning Valley has done the past three years and you cannot help but be impressed,” Miller said. “Coach Mainhardt has a deep squad and puts an excellent product on the ice each and every night.

“Starting on the road doesn’t concern me because as long as we run the system that we have in place, then we feel like we have a shot,” Miller said. “We need to play well in all three zones, however, hoping to slow them down.”