Hockey Fervor: Penguins’ standout Fedotenko visits Ice Zone

He accompanied his stepsons to a Youngstown Phantoms’ tryout before leaving for Detroit and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

By John Kovach

BOARDMAN — Young hockey hopefuls trying out for the Youngstown Phantoms this week got a special treat on Wednesday — a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins was at the Ice Zone as his stepsons took part in the tryouts.

Ruslan Fedotenko, who plays on the same line with Penguins’ star and fellow Russian-native Evgeni Malkin, was able to take in Wednesday’s practice before the team heads to Detroit for Friday night’s deciding Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

The Phantoms are a 16-20-year-old franchise in the United States Hockey League, which will play a 32-game home slate at the Covelli Centre starting in October.

“I want them to play in the USHL because it is a high quality league and they will learn a lot, and that is where I started with the Sioux City, Iowa, team of the USHL [in 1998-99],” said Fedotenko at the Ice Zone, where he and his wife, Debbie (Heelan) accompanied stepsons Larkin (18) and Derek (19) Jacobson.

Fedotenko, 30, who hails from Kiev, Ukraine, and is in his eighth NHL season and first with the Penguins, was greeted at the Ice Zone by Alex Zoldan, the new Phantoms’ president, and Brian Wojtowicz, head of team’s corporate sales department.

“It is great if you can have a Penguin visit the tryouts before the biggest game of his life and watching his stepsons try out for the team, “ said Zoldan.

Fedotenko said he and his wife have another stepson, Kyle (22), who played club hockey for the University of Iowa and just recently graduated.

“They all already were playing hockey as young boys when I met Debbie about 10 years ago,” said Fedotenko. “The family had been interested in hockey for a long time. Their grandfather, Charlie Heelan, played college and minor league hockey.”

Fedotenko said Larkin and Derek played for the Pittsburgh Hornets under-18 team last season.

“It’s a good league and one of the top 20 youth programs in America, but I wanted them to try out for the Phantoms because the USHL is a higher level of hockey,” said Fedotenko, who had 16 goals and 23 assists for the Penguins during the regular season. He’s added seven goals and seven assists during the postseason.

He called playing on the same line with Markin “unbelievable. He’s a great player and the team’s MVP.”

Fedotenko (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) played for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers during the 1998-99 season, and then three years later made it to the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers. He spent two years with the Flyers, four with the Tampa Bay Lightning and one with the New York Islanders before joining the Penguins before this season.

Fedotenko’s best season was in 2005-06 with Tampa Bay when he had 26 goals and 15 assists, He scored 12 goals in the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs, helping the Lightning to the NHL championship in a seven-game series against the Calgary Flames.

Fedotenko is hoping to help bring the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh for the first time since 1992.

“Everybody dreams about winning the Stanley Cup [but] “I’m not making any predictions about Game 7 Friday,” he said tactfully.

Plans for the Phantoms’ 2009-10 season are well underway.

Wojtowicz said the Phantoms have begun selling luxury suites at the Covelli Centre.

“The luxury suites’ ticket sales were extremely positive,” said Wojtowicz. “Season tickets will go on sale in a couple of weeks.”

Wojtowicz is optimistic that the Youngstown Phantoms will outsell the Mahoning Valley Phantoms, the franchise’s forerunner that played at the then-Chevrolet Centre last season.

“We will surpass them in ticket sales by a great amount because of the high talent level of the players and because we will be a team the city can get behind,” he predicted.

Paul Teeple, the team’s director of broadcasting and media relations, said that the USHL is the top league in the U.S. for the 16-20 age group, and supplied the most NHL draft picks (28) last year.

“So fans watching the Phantoms play will be seeing the stars of the future,” said Teeple.

Also on hand at the Ice Zone Wednesday was Brad Patterson, a former Youngstown Steelhounds’ player who will be joining the Phantoms’ front office.

kovach@vindy.com