Phantoms’ Tibbett earns league honor

BOARDMAN — Mahoning Valley Phantoms goaltender Jordan Tibbett has been named the GDI/North American Hockey League Goalie of the Week after winning his 10th game and posting his first shutout in two years.

Tibbett played both of the Phantoms’ games last weekend as Mahoning Valley swept the U.S. National Team in a home-and-home series,

The award marks the second time this season that Tibbett (10-2-0) has won.

“It’s always a great honor to be Goalie of the Week,” Tibbett said Monday, “but I can’t take all the credit for it. I got a lot of great defensive help from both the forwards and the defense.”

Tibbett secured his first shutout in his two years as a Phantom by stopping 23 U.S. National Team shots on Friday at the Chevrolet Centre as the Phantoms improved to 3-0-0 at their new home.

Tibbett said the shutout was good on both a personal level and a team level.

“It really helps you out stats-wise and confidence-wise,” the 18-year-old native of Indianapolis said. “But I think it was even more important for our team to get a big win.”

The second-year Phantoms netminder is in third place league-wide with a 1.89 goals against average and a 92.9 percent save percentage. His 10 wins ties him with three others for the league lead.

Tibbett also won the Goalie of the Week award on Sept. 22 after going 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average at the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minn. He is the only goalie to win the award twice this season.

Also earning an honor was teammate Brandon Saad. The rookie forward was named honorable mention for the Sherwood NAHL North Division Player of the Week award.

Saad had two power play goals in Saturday’s 6-5 win, plus the decisive shootout-winning goal.

The Phantoms open the NAHL North Division Showcase on Friday at 7:15 p.m. at the Chevrolet Centre with a first-place showdown with the Traverse City North Stars. The two teams are tied atop the North Division with 28 points each.