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Old, potentially new players at Ice Zone
By Tom Williams
BOARDMAN
The Youngstown Phantoms’ tryout camp mixes the old with the new.
While 120-or-so hopefuls take the ice for two days of scrimmages, Phantoms old and new are behind them on the benches at The Ice Zone while the coaching staff watches from above.
Among those helping out is Alfred Larsson, last season’s team captain who will play at Merrimack College in the fall. Larsson’s brother Ludvig is one of the players trying out for the USHL team. On Tuesday, they flew from Sweden to Ohio.
“He’s a center like me,” Larsson said. “I mostly came because he’s trying out, but I thought it would be nice to see the coaching staff and my old teammates.”
Anthony Noreen, who is preparing for his fourth season as Phantoms head coach, welcomes his former players with open arms.
“It’s a fun couple of days, a long couple of days,” Noreen said. “For us, this is what we love to do. You get a little glimpse of the future, you [can] start to put the puzzle pieces together.”
Among those in town are goaltender Sean Romeo (University of Maine), defenseman Dan Renouf (Maine) and forward Luke Stork (Ohio State).
“It’s like a big family reunion,” forward Josh Nenadal said. “We have guys coming in from two, three years ago. We’re still like brothers.”
More are expected before the camp ends Sunday.
“We want those guys,” Noreen said. “One, we respect our guys’ opinions.”
The players are “coaching because Noreen’s staff wants to know how the tryouts react on the bench. “Would they want them as teammates?” is a popular question.
“Two, we encourage [tryouts] to use [alumni] as resources,” Noreen said. “Our best spokesmen are our alumni and their families.”
Six scrimmages were played on Friday. Three more are set today, then Noreen’s staff will blend his returning players with the best prospects into two teams. Those squads will play tonight at 7:30 and Sunday at 11 a.m. The camp is free and open to the public.
“The pace has been very good, I think all three positions will be strong,” Noreen said.
“We’ve seen some really good puck-moving defensemen, we’ve seen some forwards who can skate and make some plays. Those are the things we are looking for,” Noreen said.
Returning Phantoms also are behind the bench.
“It’s a way different thing,” Nenadal said. “You get to be in Noreen’s shoes for an hour or two. It’s different.”
This camp is Nenadal’s fourth. After being unable to play last year because of a hernia, he can’t wait to take the ice.
“When you are down on the ice, everything seems a lot faster,” Nenadal said. “When your watching up top, it’s kind of like you’re watching on TV. It looks kind of slow.”
Speaking of TV and brothers, defenseman Matt Miller who was raised in East Palestine was as interested as any player in Friday’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. Miller’s brother, J.T., is a forward on the Rangers.
Miller said he resisted traveling to New York City for Games 3 and 4.
“He’s injured so I wasn’t going to make the trip if he wasn’t playing,” said Miller, who said he spoke with his brother the other day about growing up in Ohio, sharing a bunk bed, This week, his team has been playing for the Cup.
“It’s kind of a surreal feeling,” Matt Miller said.