Friday, February 14, 2014
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Noreen
By Tom Williams
Youngstown
In tight games, hockey coaches rarely want to draw penalties. Sometimes, they can’t help themselves.
In last Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the Indiana Ice at the Covelli Centre, Youngstown Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen didn’t hold back in the third period despite a 1-0 score.
The third-year head coach made no apology for an outburst that earned him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
“I thought liberties were being taken the entire game with sticks on our guys,” Noreen said of his frustration. “Enough was enough.”
The Phantoms’ penalty killers skated off the two-minute infraction and the score remained 1-0 until Tyler Pham’s empty-net goal with 51 seconds remaining sealed Indiana’s victory.
“We had a lot of guys who were [hurting] from it and it stopped a lot of Grade-A scoring chances,” Noreen said. “It was one of those things where sometimes as a coach, you have to step up and defend your players.
“You don’t want to take a penalty, but at the same time you’re not going to let that happen.”
Noreen admitted that wasn’t his first penalty of the season and there’s a new behind-the-bench leader in the clubhouse. Noreen said assistant coach Brad Patterson has earned his share of bench penalties.
“Brad was our leader, [but] I’ve passed him,” Noreen said.
Patterson didn’t have a chance last weekend as he was scouting in Michigan.
When he’s absent, Noreen’s role changes behind the bench.
“Brad will do the majority of calling the forward lines, so I had to take that over,” Noreen said, “He also [runs] the power-play unit so I took that over as well.”
Assistant coach Michael Zucker works with the defensemen.
“It puts a little more on my plate, but I’ve done it before,” Noreen said. “As a coach and a player, you’ve got to be flexible.”
Last weekend, the Phantoms went 1-2, defeating the Muskegon Lumberjacks, 5-3, at the Covelli Centre, then dropping a home-and-home series to Indiana. Ice goaltender Hayden Stewart posted two shutouts (3-0, 2-0).
“We’ve just got to find a way to put the puck into the net,” Phantoms forward Luke Stork said. “We battled hard, but we’ve got to find a way to score.”
The Phantoms’ next five games are on the road, beginning with tonight’s contest in Muskegon, Mich., against the Lumberjacks (19-19-4, 42 points). On Saturday, Youngstown (10-26-5, 25 points) will play in Des Moines, Iowa, against the Buccaneers (15-21-4, 34 points).
Next weekend, the Phantoms will play twice in Green Bay, Wis., against the Gamblers then stop in Ann Arbor, Mich., on the way home to play Team USA.
Their next game at the Covelli Centre will be on Feb. 27 against the Dubuque Fighting Saints.