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Phantoms select Tibbett, Schneider
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Phantoms Cole Schneider (24) gets blocked from making a goal by Andy Yarber (77), Goalie Nick Graves (30) and Ryan Sell (5) Sunday December 28, 2008
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Mahoning Valley Phantoms goalie Jordan Tibbett defends a shot
The new USHL team has chosen 25 players for its initial roster.
By Tom Williams
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN — Two members of the 2008-09 Mahoning Valley Phantoms have been selected to play for the Youngstown Phantoms, an expansion team for a higher-caliber league.
Goaltender Jordan Tibbett, the Phantoms’ main backstop during their final season in the North American Hockey League, was named to the Youngstown roster on Sunday.
Left wing Cole Schneider, Tibbett’s teammate, also was picked by Bob Mainhardt, the Youngstown Phantoms coach and general manager who was the Mahoning Valley Phantoms coach for six seasons.
The Youngstown Phantoms are an expansion team of the United States Hockey League, considered to be the top amateur league in the country for players ages 16-20. Youngstown will play 32 games in the Covelli Centre beginning in October.
Mainhardt picked 25 players after a week-long tryout camp at the Ice Zone that attracted 178 players.
Saying camp opened with his having an open mind, Mainhardt said he thought “it was possible” that two of his former players could make the roster.
“I knew I would come out with 25 best players,” Mainhardt said. “Cole and Jordan came in prepared.”
Two goaltenders, eight defensemen and 15 forwards are on the Youngstown roster.
Seven of the players — defensemen Dan Senkbeil, J.J. Carrabino, Jean-Laurence Beauchemin and Ben Paulides and forwards Michael Henderson, Cody Strang, Andrew Lamont — were among the 18 players that Youngstown selected during last month’s USHL expansion draft.
Mainhardt expects Senkbeil, a 6-foot-4, 185 pound defenseman who turns 18 in September, to be drafted in this weekend’s National Hockey League draft.
“He’ll be playing for us because an NHL team can’t assign him to a minor-league team while he still has junior eligibility,” Mainhardt said.
Last season, Tibbett posted a record of 24 wins, 9 losses, 2 overtime losses during the 36 regular-season games he played. He led the Phantoms two playoff series wins against Traverse City and the U.S. National Team to earn a spot in the NAHL’s Robertson Cup Tournament.
Schneider played 42 regular-season games, scoring 17 goals and 33 points. He finished plus 19 in plus/minus (on ice for more even-strength goals).
Matthew Mahalak, the other goaltender selected, was Youngstown’s top pick in the USHL’s future draft. Although he’s 16, Mainhardt expects him to play.
“We had planned from Day 1 that he would come in and play,” said Mainhardt of Mahalak who grew up in Detroit and played last season for Culver Academy in Indiana.
Forward Brian Dowd played NCAA Division I hockey for Niagara University last season.
Mainhardt expects forward Jefferson Dahl, who has committed to play for the University of Wisconsin, to be a 30 goal, 30 assist player.
Brandon Saad, Mahoning Valley’s top scorer last season before a late-season injury, did not try out because he is now part of the U.S. National Team that also left the NAHL to join the USHL. Mainhardt cited philosophical differences as the reason for Saad’s departure.
Mainhardt said Larkin Jacobson and Derek Jacobson, the stepsons of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko, participated in Sunday’s final scrimmage and were among the last players released.
williams@vindy.com
Youngstown Phantoms | 2009-10 roster
No Name Ht. Wt. Position Previous Team
1 Matthew Mahalak 6’2 185 G Culver Academy Prep
2 Jordan Tibbett 6’1 180 G Mahoning Valley NAHL
3 Jean-Laurence Beauchemin 6’4 187 D Russell Stover AAA
4 JD Carrabino 6’6 230 D Millbrook Prep
5 David Donnellan 6’0 185 D Tri-City USHL
6 Luke Eibler 6’3 175 D Victory Honda AAA
7 Scott Mayfield 6’3 175 D St. Louis Amateur Blues AAA
8 Ben Paulides 6’2 210 D San Jose Jr. Sharks AAA
9 Daniel Senkbeil 6’4 185 D San Jose Jr. Sharks AAA
10 Andrej Sustr 6’6 195 D Kenai River NAHL
11 Adam Berkle 6’4 180 F Northwood Prep
12 Nick Czinder 6’5 215 F Orchard Lake St. Mary’s HS
13 Jefferson Dahl 5’9 175 F Green Bay USHL
14 Brian Dowd 5’11 180 F Niagara University
15 Brett Gensler 5’9 160 F Cedar Rapids USHL
16 Michael Henderson 5’10 185 F South Surrey BCHL
17 Stuart Higgins 5’8 165 F USA NTDP
18 Taylor Holstrom 5’9 170 F Omaha USHL
19 Ryan Jasinsky 6’3 215 F Victoriaville QMJHL
20 Andrew Lamont 5’11 170 F Philadelphia Jr. Flyers AAA
21 Tom Serratore 5’11 190 F Sioux City USHL
22 Cole Schneider 6’2 180 F Mahoning Valley NAHL
23 Cody Strang 5’8 160 F Madison Edgewood HS
24 Richard Young 6’3 210 F Philadelphia Little Flyers AJHL
25 Joe Zarbo 6’1 180 F Tri-City USHL