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Sustr’s ascent to NHL began with Phantoms
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Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr is the first Youngstown Phantom to play in the NHL. The 23-year-old from the Czech Republic signed with the 2004 Stanley Cup champs last March as an undrafted free agent.
Sustr’s ascent to NHL began in the Mahoning Valley
“I’m just taking it day by day and trying to be consistent with my play. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can.”
Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay defensman & ex-Phantom
By Tom Williams
COLUMBUS
In June 2009, hockey player Andrej Sustr of the Czech Republic came to the Mahoning Valley after a season in Alaska, hoping to impress the coaches of the newly created Youngstown Phantoms.
Sustr’s goal at the tryout camp at The Ice Zone was to play well enough to earn a spot on a USHL (tier one) team, then receive a college scholarship.
The National Hockey League? Simply a dream.
But ever since making that first Phantoms team, the 6-foot-8 Sustr has done nothing but exceed expectations. After three years at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, the 23-year-old from Plzen, Czech Republic, is a rookie defenseman with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. He signed with the 2004 Stanley Cup Champions last March as an undrafted free agent.
“It’s been quite a rise since Youngstown,” said Sustr following the Lightning’s 3-2 loss to the Blue Jackets earlier this week at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. “Earning the scholarship to UNO was obviously a huge step for me getting here.”
Sustr is the first Youngstown Phantom to play in the NHL. Chicago’s Brandon Saad, last year’s NHL Rookie of the Year finalist, was a Mahoning Valley Phantom in the team’s final NAHL (tier two) season (2008-09).
Defenseman Scott Mayfield, who played on the Youngstown Phantoms in their first two seasons, is a defenseman with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders. In the 2011 NHL draft, Mayfield and Saad were selected in the second round.
“In a short period of time, he’ll be up in the NHL as well,” Sustr said of Mayfield.
In 38 games with the Lightning this season, Sustr has seven assists and 12 penalty minutes. His plus/minus rating is a respectable +4.
“It’s the best league in the world, a lot of smart skilled, stronger, faster players,” Sustr said of his transition from college to professional. “I’m just taking it day by day and trying to be consistent with my play.
“I’m just trying to learn as much as I can.”
The Lightning has USHL/Youngstown connections. Jon Cooper, who replaced Guy Boucher as head coach last March, was the head coach of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers during Sustr’s season with the Phantoms (2009-10).
In 2010, Cooper was hired by the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League. He guided them to the 2012 AHL Championship.
That season included a 28-game winning streak. The Admirals’ general manager is Joe Gregory, the Cardinal Mooney High School and Youngstown State University graduate who was the CHL’s Youngstown SteelHounds general manager for two seasons.
Lightning defenseman Matt Carle, the Hobey Baker Award winner in 2006, is the older brother of current Phantoms defenseman Alex Carle, who is on injured reserve.
In his one season in Youngstown, Suster played 50 games, scoring one goal and making 18 assists while wracking up 95 minutes in penalties. Bob Mainhairdt was his first head coach, then was replaced by Curtis Carr in midseason.
At age 17, Sustr came to North America, playing one season for Kenai River of the NAHL.
“We had never seen Andrej before,” said Carr, Mainhardt’s assistant coach for that first training camp. “After that first day, I said, ‘That kid was going to make our team.’
“He stood out like a sore thumb.”
“At the pro level, you have to have something unique,” said Carr, now an assistant coach for Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. “His size is unique, but he can skate and doesn’t turn the puck over. That first season, he got better every time he stepped on the ice.”
Sustr’s numbers improved in each of his three seasons with Nebraska-Omaha of the WCHA. In the 2012-13 season, he scored nine goals and set up 16 others in 39 games.
Carr said Sustr began receiving professional offers after his first year at Nebraska-Omaha.
“I was really surprised that no team drafted him with a late-round pick,” Carr said. “[We knew] that was going to cost someone a lot of money.”
After his third season at Nebraska-Omaha ended, the Lightning signed Suster. He played two games for the Lightning then was assigned to the Syracuse Crunch, now the Lightning’s AHL affiliate.
He finished the spring with Syracuse, playing eight regular-season games and 18 playoff games.
“My understanding is that he received 29 [NHL] offers,” Carr said. “He was the best prospect we had in my time with the Phantoms.”
Sustr’s time in the NHL includes growing pains. Last week, Sustr was scratched from two games.
The Lightning had a 2-1 lead heading into the third period against the Blue Jackets, then lost when Columbus scored twice in the third period. Sustr had 10:19 in playing time, including 45 seconds as a penalty killer and four seconds on a power play.
But he took only two shifts in the third period.
“I’m kind of struggling right now,” Sustr said. “I’m working [to get to how] they would like me to play. It’s just a matter of time — I’ve got to make sure to keep working hard and it will turn around.”
Sustr said the USHL style of play is similar to what he later experienced in college.
“And off-the-ice, you make some good friendships,” he said.
Although they played just one season together in Youngstown and were college rivals, Sustr said he and Mayfield (University of Denver) have kept in touch.
“We played against each other when he was at Denver,” Sustr said. “And I spent Christmas with him during my freshman year. We’re pretty close.”
Sustr said going from college to the NHL “felt a little surreal. Obviously, it’s something you’re always dreaming of. When I was in Alaska, [that goal] was really, really far [away].
“[Signing] was definitely satisfying for myself and my family — I’ll always remember it.”
His parents have seen him play with the Lightning twice — the home opener against the Florida Panthers and the day after Thanksgiving against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“That was very special.”