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Last cuts deepest as Phantoms camp concludes
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Max Letunov participates in a scrimmage Saturday on Day 2 of the Phantoms tryout camp at the Ice Zone in Boardman. Letunov, who played on the team last season, survived final cuts Sunday to make the roster again for 2014.
By Tom Williams
BOARDMAN
One of the happiest moments hockey coaches experience is when they tell survivors of tryout camp they’ve made the team.
Conversely, telling the final dozen-or-so players they are going home early is one of their toughest assignments.
Youngstown Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen and assistant coach Brad Patterson experienced both on Sunday afternoon after the USHL team’s three-day tryout camp concluded at The Ice Zone.
“It never gets easier, that’s for sure,” Noreen said of the final cut. “It’s one of the hardest parts about being a coach.”
Patterson, whose professional career included two seasons with the Youngstown SteelHounds, said that final day cuts are the hardest. Saturday, all but 40 of the 130-or-so tryouts were released when scrimmages ended.
The final cuts were made after the survivors played games Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
Because the Sunday players get so close to making the team, “it’s today,” Patterson said of the harder assignment in finalizing the roster. “There’s some really good players who don’t know where they are going to land.”
Noreen said the Phantoms will release their 25-man protected list by the league’s deadline of July 10. Approximately 30 players met with Noreen and Patterson when the camp concluded. Some of them will be placed on the team’s affiliate list which protects their rights for future seasons.
As happy as they were to work with the chosen players, Noreen and Patterson acknowledged that the final cuts take their toll.
“You’d think after four years of doing it, it would get easier,” Noreen said. “But it doesn’t. It definitely doesn’t.”
Of the dozen Phantoms from the 2013-14 season eligible to return, Noreen said forward Cameron Smith won’t, but the team retains his rights for now.
The returning forwards are Kyle Connor, Trey Bradley, Keifer Sherwood, Zach Evancho, Max Letunov, Josh Nenadal and Josh Melnick.
Three defensemen will be back — Alex Carle, Tommy Parran and Matt Miller.
The goaltenders will be Colin DeAugustine (8-12-5) and Chris Birdsall, who was acquired from the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in May. His record last season was 9-8-2.
“Competition breeds success,” Noreen said. “There is very healthy competition [in goal] right now.”
After two seasons of making the playoffs, the Phantoms stumbled last winter, going 17-37-6. Noreen was pleased to see the intensity shown in camp by players who had been hoping for a much shorter spring break.
“It was very impressive the way they handled themselves around the rink the past three days,” Noreen said. “They way they’ve acted has set the foundation of what we want our leadership to be like.”
After sitting out last year’s camp with a hernia, Nenadal was happy to skate.
“I thought it was great,” said Nenadal of the team’s spirit in camp. “There were [some] I thought would not come in in shape and they really surprised me. Right now, this is as in-shape-a-group as any I’ve seen. I’m pretty excited.”
Last season, the Phantoms returned one veteran defenseman. Having three this summer is a bonus.
“We’re pretty excited for this season,” Parran said. “It’s nice when you have three guys who can anchor our [defensive] pairs as the new guys get more accustomed to [the USHL].”
When training camp opens in August, Carle is expected to be fully recovered from hip labral surgery.
“He’ll be ready to go,” Parran said.