Phantoms open on the road

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Phantoms will open their second USHL season with four road games, then play their home opener on Oct. 16 at the Covelli Centre.

The first home opponent will be the Green Bay Gamblers in a 7:30 p.m. contest. The next day, the Phantoms will be home against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in a 5 p.m. game.

By expanding to 16 teams, the USHL boasts its first 480-game regular season. New to the league are the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Dubuque Fighting Saints.

“As the league fan base, footprint and number of USHL teams continue to expand, creating a schedule becomes more of a challenge each year,” USHL commissioner Skip Prince said Thursday. “I congratulate the member clubs on their effort and cooperation in building a schedule that will feature new teams, old rivalries and the best junior hockey in the world — and still ensure that 90 percent of the games are played on weekend dates both to keep the stands full, and to make sure that the players excel in the classroom as well as on the ice.”

The league will be divided into two conferences.

Joining the Phantoms, RoughRiders, Gamblers and Limberjacks in the Eastern Conference are the Chicago Steel, Indiana Ice, the U.S. National Team and Waterloo Black Hawks.

The Western Conference has the Fighting Saints, Des Moines Buccaneers, Fargo Force, Lincoln Stars, Sioux City Musketeers, Sioux Falls Stampede and Tri-City Storm.

The top six teams in each conference will qualify for the Clark Cup playoffs.

2010-11 PHANTOMS SCHEDULE

October

Friday 1 — at Des Moines, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday 2 — at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

Friday 8 — at Lincoln, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday 9 — at Tri-City, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday 16 — Green Bay, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday 17 — Cedar Rapids, 5:00 p.m.

Thursday 21 — at Fargo, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday 23 — at Dubuque, 8 p.m.

Friday 29 — Green Bay, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 30 — Des Moines, 7:30 p.m.

November

Friday 5 — at Waterloo, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday 6 — at Sioux Falls, 8:05 p.m.

Sunday 7 — at Sioux City, 6 p.m.

Saturday 13 — at Indiana, 7:05 p.m.

Friday 19 — Omaha, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 20 — Dubuque, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday 24 — Indiana, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 27 — at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday 28 — at Muskegon, 5:15 p.m.

December

Saturday 4 — Team USA, 7:30 p.m.

Friday 10 — at Green Bay, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday 11 — at Green Bay, 8:05 p.m.

Friday 17 — at Dubuque, 8 p.m.

Saturday 18 — at Muskegon, 7:15 p.m.

Tuesday 28 — Indiana, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday 29 — Des Moines, 7:30 p.m.

Friday 31 — at Indiana, 7:05 p.m.

January

Friday 7 — Sioux City, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 8 — Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday 9 — at Team USA, 3 p.m.

Friday 14 — at Muskegon, 7:15 p.m.

Saturday 15 — at Team USA, 7 p.m.

Friday 21 — Sioux Falls, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 22 — Waterloo, 7:30 p.m.

Friday 28 — Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 29 — at Muskegon, 7:15 p.m.

February

Friday 4 — Tri-City, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 5 — Dubuque, 7:30 p.m.

Monday 7 — at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday 9 — Indiana, 10 a.m.

Saturday 12 — Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday 13 — at Chicago, 4 p.m.

Friday 18 — Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 19 — Muskegon, 7:30 p.m.

Friday 25 — Team USA, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 26 — Team USA, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday 27 — Chicago, 2 p.m.

March

Friday 4 — Fargo, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 5 — Waterloo, 7:30 p.m.

Friday 11 — at Waterloo, 8:05 p.m.

Thursday 17 — Cedar Rapids, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 19 — at Indiana, 2:05 p.m.

Friday 25 — at Cedar Rapids, 8:05 p.m.

Saturday 26 — at Omaha, 8:05 p.m.

April

Friday 1 — Team USA, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 2 — at Team USA, 7 p.m.

Tuesday 5 — at Des Moines, 8:05 p.m.

Wednesday 6 — at Cedar Rapids, 8:05 p.m.

Friday 8 — Indiana, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 9 — Chicago, 7:30 p.m.