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Phantoms’ Connor earns USHl honor
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
For the fourth time this season, Phantoms center Kyle Connor is the USHL’s CCM Forward of the Week. He shared the honor with Sioux Falls’ Mikey Eyssimont, who scored six points in three games.
Connor was selected Monday after the Phantoms (38-14-5, 81 points) played one game last week. In Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Connor had a hand in all five goals.
He scored the first, second and fifth goals while setting up Kole Sherwood and Chase Pearson for the others. It was Connor’s second-career USHL hat trick.
“Kyle was awesome,” Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen said. “His defensive game was solid, he was good on the kill, and it was great to see him have a game like that.”
With 32 goals, 42 assists and 74 points, Connor leads the USHL in scoring. He has a five-point lead on Sioux City’s Adam Johnson, whose team has just one game remaining in the regular season.
Connor, who will play for the University of Michigan next season, has been on fire as the Phantoms have won 19 of their past games. He scored in 16 of those games — 18 goals and 17 assists. His point total matches the 74 he scored last season.
Connor’s other weekly honors were in October, February and March. He’s projected to be a first-round pick in June’s NHL Draft.
The Phantoms, champions of the Eastern Conference for the first time, have three games remaining: Wednesday in Illinois against the Chicago Steel, Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., against Team USA, and Saturday at the Covelli Centre against Team USA.
The Phantoms need one more victory to clinch the USHL’s regular-season title. Youngstown has a two-point lead on Western Conference-leading Sioux City and a three-point edge on the second-place Tri-City Storm, which has two games remaining.
Also Monday, the Phantoms announced their first-round playoff series against the Eastern Conference’s fourth-place team will have a 1-2-1-1 format.
Youngstown will open the series on the road, then return home for Games 2 and 3 at the Covelli Centre on April 17-18. If necessary, Game 5 will be at the Covelli Centre on April 22.