Tibbett is forced into ironman duty for the Phantoms

By Tom Williams | February 25, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Jordan Tibbett

YOUNGSTOWN

Just when the Youngstown Phantoms had two healthy goaltenders for the first time in more than two months, a freak collision during a practice drill has them dressing Sean Romeo in an emergency role.

Matt O’Connor sat out both of last weekend’s games after re-injuring his hip flexor on his left leg. The initial injury was suffered in Deceember and when it didn’t heal, the Phantoms kept O’Connor off the ice.

Two days before his 19th birthday, O’Connor returned to the Covelli Centre ice on Feb. 12 in a 4-3 shootout victory over the Lincoln Stars. It was his first on-ice action since Jan. 14.

Last weekend, Jordan Tibbett played in the 6-0 win over the Chicago Steel and the 4-2 loss to the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Tibbett will be in goal three times this weekend as the seventh-place Phantoms (16-24-4, 36 points) play their third, fourth and fifth contests of a seven-game homestand.

Tonight and Saturday, the opponent will be the fifth-place USA National Development Team (20-16-3, 43 points). Sunday at 2 p.m., the Phantoms will play host to the eighth-place Chicago Steel (9-27-7, 25 points).

The Phantoms need a strong weekend to keep pace with the sixth-place Waterloo Black Hawks (15-19-7, 37 points) in the race for the final playoff spot in the USHL Eastern Conference. The top six teams in each conference will qualify for the four-round USHL playoffs that begin in mid-April.

Phantoms coach Curtis Carr said that once the USHL trading deadline passed in early February, only goalies can be added to rosters in case of injury.

“The only way Sean can touch the ice is if Jordan gets hurt,” Carr said.

When O’Connor aggravated his injury, Romeo was added to the roster in an emergency role. If O’Connor misses 14 days, the USHL will take off the emergency designation.

“It’s a safety precaution because you have to guard against wearing the only goaltender out,” Carr said.

No one knows how much time O’Connor will need to heal. He’s unlikely to play this weekend or next, so it’s possible Romeo will see his first USHL ice time when the Phantoms play host to the Fargo Force on March 4 or the Black Hawks on March 5.

Team USA uses two squads in USHL play. Carr says the 17-under unit will play both games this weekend and fans will see a strong team.

“In the five years I’ve been involved with the Phantoms, this is one of the top two 17-Under teams I’ve seen,” Carr said. “Last year’s group had five players drafted [by the NHL]. This year’s group is just as good.”

Jiri Sekac, the Phantoms’ leading scorer with 34 points, carries a four-game scoring streak into the weekend. In those games, he’s scored three goals and two assists.