Phantoms name Carr coach/GM

Special to The Vindicator

YOUNGSTOWN

Curtis Carr has been named head coach and general manager of the Youngstown Phantoms, team president Alex Zoldan announced Thursday.

The announcement came six weeks after Carr was appointed to direct the club on an interim basis.

“Curt has earned this opportunity with his hard work over the past several years,” Zoldan said in a statement. “I believe in his ability to coach and so does this organization.

“More importantly, I also believe Curt will be a leader in these young men’s lives, helping them become not only better hockey players but also better people.”

Carr was promoted from his previous position of associate coach and director of player development on Feb. 16. He replaced former coach and general manager Bob Mainhardt, who he worked under for parts of four seasons.

The first three seasons of Carr’s tenure in Youngstown came with the North American Hockey League’s Mahoning Valley Phantoms, who posted a 142-61-11 record during that span.

“I’m honored and excited to get the opportunity to lead this team,” Carr said. “I’m very fortunate to get this chance and I owe a lot of people who helped me develop along the way, most notably Bob [Mainhardt]. He taught me so much during my first years here and I couldn’t have gotten to this point without him.”

The Phantoms (19-35-4) have shown improvement since Carr took over behind the bench, especially in the last eight games, when they have earned at least a point in five of them.

Youngstown went 3-4-2 in the month of March, capped by a 9-3 win Wednesday in Chicago.

“I’m looking forward to making this a winning organization in the USHL,” Carr said. “I want to repay Alex and [team owner] Bruce Zoldan for their loyalty by presenting a team the Mahoning Valley can be proud of.”