43
Friday morning fights: Tempers flare during Phantoms’ victory
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Welcome back, students, to Youngstown Phantoms Math Class 101. Today’s problem — how many penalty minutes can be assessed during a brawl that includes flying helmets and a goalie challenging an opposing forward?
Answer: at least 86, as the Phantoms and Team USA 17U squad proved during Friday’s School Day game at the Covelli Centre.
The Phantoms jumped on Team USA for three first-period goals en route to a 7-3 victory before approximately 3,500 screaming students.
Then the screams really poured down on to the ice when a brawl broke out.
With 19 seconds remaining in the opening period, Phantoms goaltender Sean Romeo was bumped when a Team USA forward was checked by Phantoms forward Kiefer Sherwood. After the whistle, Romeo skated out of his crease and all appeared well.
Romeo said the initial collision had nothing to do with what broke out.
“I was out of the net and [one of their players] put the puck in the net,” the Phantoms’ third-year goalie said. “You can ask anyone on the team — I kind of freak out when that happens.
“So I just kind of went after him.”
Romeo chased Dennis Yan to the backboards and his teammates followed. Team USA forward Nick Boka swiped from behind at Romeo’s facemask, knocking it to the ice. Before long, Tyler Spezia was fighting Luke Kunin then Luke Stork squared off against Yan.
“I turn around and all five [teammates] are going,” Romeo said. “Somehow I ended up with a bloody lip — I don’t know how that happened.”
Referee Korey Chipperfield calculated the penalty damage while at least four songs played to entertain the boisterous crowd. Six game misconducts were assessed — Stork, Spezia, Sherwood, Boka and Yan (two).
When Team USA’s 17U team plays, special rules to prevent fights are used.
“If you pull your own helmet off, if you pull someone else’s helmet off, it’s an automatic game misconduct,” Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen said.
Sherwood was given a misconduct for removing an opponent’s helmet.
“Not a big fan of the rule,” Sherwood said. “I saw ‘Romes’ get into a little confrontation. Everyone tried to stand up for Romeo. We all love him.”
Stork, who scored the Phantoms’ first two goals, said, “I saw Yan slash Romeo so we took it upon ourselves to go after him — not gonna let anyone walk all over us.
“Boka came and grabbed me so we started jawing and that started it,” Stork said. “Guy grabbed me and my helmet flew off, so they kicked me out.”
Spezia described the scene as “a whole lot of chaos. [Kunin] squared off in front of me, took his helmet and gloves off, and punched me in the face [then] continued to play the game. I don’t know how that happened.”
Things settled down in the final two periods.
“Obviously, they were trying to get their guys going a little bit, our guys were defending their goalie,” Noreen said of the confrontation. “I don’t think either staff wanted that.
“After that, we were playing with short benches,” Noreen said of the tamer play. “You‘ve got to be smart, you don’t want to go any shorter than that.”
Maxim Lentunov scored the Phantoms’ fifth and seventh goals. Newcomers Cameron Smith and Connor Moore scored their first USHL goals.
Most likely, the players who received game misconducts won’t be suspended. However, Josh Nenadal might miss tonight’s game in Indianapolis against the Indiana Ice because of a five-minute penalty for kneeing that will be reviewed by league officials.