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Emotional finale at Covelli
YOUNGSTOWN
Hockey players are often judged by their toughness.
So when Youngstown Phantoms forward JJ Piccinich couldn’t fight back tears following Saturday night’s season-finale loss to the Sioux City Musketeers, his overwhelming display of emotion was not a sign of weakness.
It was rather the harsh realization of junior hockey.
“I want it all back,” a red-eyed Piccinich said.
The Phantoms finished the season a disappointing 17-37-6, last place in the United States Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. Their 40 points was a franchise low since joining the league in the 2009-10 season when they finished with 44 points.
It was especially difficult for the players who experienced so much success in last season’s run to the conference finals.
Before the calendar turned to 2014, it was evident this year’s team wasn’t going to be returning to the postseason. The Phantoms went winless in seven games in December as part of a season-high 10-game losing streak. Only a home win on Jan. 11 kept them from dropping 17 consecutive games.
Yet there was a Monday morning practice during that stretch where head coach Anthony Noreen realized his team had finally bought in to his message: ignore results and focus on improvement.
“They came out and every guy had a smile on their face, every guy was talking, every guy was in to the game, and that’s a special thing,” Noreen said. “The results didn’t go our way. That’s life. Working hard doesn’t guarantee anything.
“Makes you a better person, makes you a better player, but doesn’t guarantee you results.”
Exhibit A for that was the man who wore the “C” on his chest, Alfred Larsson. He came to the United States two years ago from his home country of Sweden as a teenager who wasn’t sure how he was going to fit in on and off the ice.
He will leave Youngstown as the franchise’s first European-born player to be selected as team captain by his teammates.
“Just being here in a great community, with a great organization, everything they’ve done for me since bringing me in here day one two years ago ... everyone has been great,” the Merrimack College commit said. “From the first game to the last game I feel like I’ve improved my game a lot.”
Like most of his teammates, Larsson struggled to produce for much of the season. He finished an injury-riddled final year with the Phantoms with a two-point effort to give him 16 points in 39 games.
Larsson described the past seven months as a learning experience for the entire team. Noreen had a similar outlook on his third season as both coach and general manager in Youngstown.
“I’ve always said, ‘character is revealed in the toughest times,’ ... and boy did we have a lot of adversity this year,” the 31-year-old Noreen said. “But I wish we were playing on Monday, because this will never happen again. Obviously it starts with me — it starts at the top — but we will improve.”
That promise will have to be fulfilled with some new faces on the roster. The Phantoms are going to have to replace at least 10 players who are committed to Division I college hockey programs for next season.
The new bodies will start coming in May with the USHL Draft. However the leadership won’t be replaced that easily.
That’s going to take time.
“That’s the biggest thing we need to replace,” Noreen said. “ Some guys need to step up because those people walking out that door — those leaders — are as good as you’re going to find in any sport.”
Piccinich is certainly included in that group.
So as he sat in his locker Saturday night, tears still running down his face well after his final shift had ended, Noreen walked over, sat down next to him, and put an arm around his player. It wasn’t as much the gesture of a coach, but rather a friend.
Or family member.
“Obviously, I was overwhelmed and completely upset,” Piccinich said. “I just want it all back. He told me everything happens for a reason and you gotta move on.
“That’s life. It’s just really hard to accept.”