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NOT QUITE BONUS HOCKEY
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Phantom Scott Mayfield is projected to be selected in the NHL Draft in June.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Phantom's Scott Mayfield during a game against Team USA on April 1, 2011.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Ty Loney is seen here playing a recent game at the Covelli Centre
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Phantoms Head Coach Curtis Carr
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Phantoms president Alex Zoldan
Injuries, goaltending issues kept Phantoms from the postseason
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
More than any other, the game that encapsulates the Youngstown Phantoms’ 2010-11 season was a 5-4 shootout loss on March 5 at the Covelli Centre.
Competing in their second USHL season, the Phantoms started the game with a seven-point edge on the Waterloo Black Hawks in the race for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.
Three first-period goals had the Phantoms rolling, but the Black Hawks rebounded to force overtime and then earn a precious second point during the shootout.
When the season ended on Saturday, the Phantoms (23-29-7, 53 points) were in seventh place, two points behind Waterloo and a long way from where they started last October when Youngstown won four of its first five games.
“Obviously, it’s very disappointing to not make the playoffs,” Phantoms president Alex Zoldan said on Sunday. “What we stressed to the guys was how this season shows how every goal, every game counts.”
Zoldan said the Phantoms “absolutely” will return for a third USHL season at the Youngstown arena and plans to keep the hockey operations staff led by head coach Curtis Carr intact.
“We’re happy with what they’ve done,” Zoldan said. “The program is on the way up and I think Curt is doing a good job and is getting better. He’s definitely helping the guys become better off the ice.”
So what went wrong after the solid start? Injuries and the inability to secure a stable goaltending tandem were the two biggest factors.
Seven players answered the call for at least 58 of the Phantoms’ 60 games (forwards Cody Strang, Ryan Belonger, Jiri Sekac, Mike Ambrosia and Adam Berkle plus defensemen Ben Paulides and Chris Bradley).
Among the players who missed games while recovering were leading goal scorer Ty Loney, Stuart Higgins, Andrew Sinelli, Quinn Smith and especially goaltender Matthew O’Connor.
When training camp opened last summer, Carr was counting on O’Connor and veteran Jordan Tibbett to tend goal. But in September, Tibbett accepted a scholarship to play for Mercyhurst College.
Matt Green, who had played the season before with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars, became the Phantoms backup. But after O’Connor started the first seven games, Green got his chance in Dubuque and was lifted after 36 minutes of play for surrendering four goals.
Green left the team after the game, prompting the Phantoms to add Greg Lewis from the North American Hockey League.
O’Connor started the next 15 games before Lewis earned a start on Dec. 18 at Muskegon, a 3-2 loss to the Lumberjacks.
Sometime before Christmas, O’Connor suffered a hip flexor but played through the pain to make the final three starts of 2010.
Lewis started the first five games in January while the Phantoms kept O’Connor off the ice until he healed. Lewis’ record was 4-2-2 with a goal-against average of 2.79 when Tibbett returned to Youngstown after being suspended by Mercyhurst in November pending the outcome of a legal case.
The Phantoms reinstated Tibbett on Feb. 4 and when O’Connor was healthy enough to play, Lewis returned to the NAHL.
Tibbett lost three of his first four starts before O’Connor returned on Feb. 12 for a shootout win over Lincoln. Three days later, a collision in practice damaged O’Connor’s knee ligaments, idling him for the rest of the season.
Because the USHL trading deadline had passed, the Phantoms were forced to use Sean Romeo, a high school junior from North Carolina with no junior hockey experience, as their emergency backup.
Tibbett started the Phantoms’ final 19 games, winning eight.
He was among seven Phantoms who played their final USHL game in Saturday’s 8-2 win over the Chicago Steel.
Strang and forward Danny Mattson both will attend Bemidji State. Strang was the team’s most valuable player, not just for his scoring talents. Strang finished plus 19, by far the team’s best. Sekac, Loney and defenseman Kevin Liss were next, each at plus 5.
Carr praised Strang as one of the league’s best all-around players.
Also moving on to college are forward Stuart Higgins (Maine), Berkle (Bowling Green) and Paulides (Miami).
Defenseman Scott Mayfield is projected to be a late first-round pick in the NHL Draft in June. For now, he’s planning to attend the University of Denver.
Carr expects many of this year’s players to return.
O’Connor, who has a scholarship to Boston University, said he might play one more year of junior hockey depending on how many of BU’s current goalies move on.
Loney, who has not yet committed to a college, said, “I don’t know if I’m going to be in college [this fall]. Right now, I’m really not sure.”
Loney’s 23 goals led the Phantoms, followed by Belonger’s 21.
“I take away from it that I’ll be able to put up points for a successful next season,” said Belonger of his hat trick on Saturday against the Steel.
Sekac finished the top scorer with 45 points, followed by Loney and Strang with 42 each.