Mainhardt finds the long rides a challenge

By Tom Williams

YOUNGSTOWN — Adjusting to long bus trips, visiting new cities and finding a way to do what’s best for his players has kept Youngstown Phantoms head coach/general manager Bob Mainhardt quite busy during his first three months in the USHL.

For the past six hockey seasons, Mainhardt coached the Mahoning Valley Phantoms in the North American Hockey League. Those Phantoms played most of their road games in Michigan and bus trips usually didn’t top seven hours.

The USHL is junior hockey’s top tier in the United States and has teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

“The bus trips that I was accustomed to [growing up in Michigan] were the ones we took in the North American league,” Mainhardt said of his youth hockey days. “That’s definitely been another challenge on the general manager side of things.

“Going to 12 new cities, you have to put in same effort to find the right restaurants, making stops at the right time, letting [players] have their naps and leaving time for pregame ritual,” Mainhardt said before Wednesday’s practice at the Covelli Centre. “There is a lot of thought and work that goes into that to make sure the guys are mentally and physically at the top of their game. That definitely has been a huge challenge.”

Mainhardt expects the next season will be easier to navigate.

“In the North American league, we had been to some of those places six years in a row so we knew the restaurants, the hotels,” Mainhardt said. “Every little stop was like clockwork. It’s been a lot of fun as well, setting up the new favorites.”

As in minor leagues, junior hockey teams often spend late nights traveling after games to the next city. Mainhardt said he uses the time to text his wife, Angie, for updates on his three daughters, watch television or talk hockey with assistant coach Curt Carr.

“You try to get yourself so that you have a similar workday as if you were in the office,” Mainhardt said. “It can be difficult but at the same time you still have to return emails and phone calls.

“We find ways to eat up the time. There’s more than enough to do, sometimes even making travel plans for the next trip.”

The biggest lesson the USHL has taught the expansion team is that “you pay much quicker in this league for your mistakes,” Mainhardt said. “You really have to be at the top of your game.”

In a league full of NHL prospects, Mainhardt said Cedar Rapids defenseman Bryce Aneloski has been among the most impressive.

‘He just stood out to me as outstanding player,” Mainhardt said after the Phantoms and the RoughRiders played in Iowa on Dec. 31. “If he continues to develop, he definitely will have an opportunity to play in the NHL.”

williams@vindy.com