Phantoms newcomer will visit old friends

March 20, 2015 at 12:04a.m.

BOARDMAN

Tyler Sheehy knows Young Arena in Waterloo, Iowa, pretty well, so there’s little chance he’ll mistakenly wander into the home team’s locker room today. No one would blame him if he did.

“It won’t be tough, I know where visitors stay,” the newest Youngstown Phantoms forward said with a laugh before a practice earlier this week.

Three weeks ago, Sheehy was one of the Waterloo Black Hawks’ top forwards. Then at the USHL trading deadline, the Phantoms sent one of their top first-year forwards, Bryan Lemos, to Waterloo for Sheehy.

“Going back this weekend will be a lot of fun, seeing some [old teammates] and playing against them,” said Sheehy, whose Black Hawks were the regular-season champions a year ago and lost the USHL Clark Cup final to the Indiana Ice. “Having to leave Waterloo was tough, a lot of best friends [there].”

The Phantoms are on the verge of clinching their third playoff berth in four seasons. The sixth-place Black Hawks (23-23-6, 52 points) are desperate for wins.

“I have a lot of respect for that organization,” Sheehy said. “But coming to a team like the Phantoms is a great opportunity to make a run at a championship.”

Since the trade, the Phantoms (33-13-5, 71 points) have added four wins to extend their franchise-best winning streak to 14 and take over the top of the USHL overall standings. Right behind them in the Eastern Conference are the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (35-16-0, 70 points),

Two Western Conference teams remain in the race for the Anderson Cup (regular-season championship) — Tri-City Storm (32-14-6, 70 points) and Sioux City Musketeers (32-16-5, 69 points).

Now that the Phantoms are at the top, are there targets on their backs?

“To be honest, I don’t think we’re really thinking about that right now,” Phantoms co-captain Ryan Lomberg said. “[When you’re] the first-place team, obviously everybody wants to beat the best to be the best.

“Right now, we’re focusing on the things we can control.”

Avoiding extra penalties could be a priority. In last Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Musketeers, 196 penalty minutes were assessed, with 96 going to the Phantoms. Forward Kevin Conley has been suspended four games — two for removing an opponent’s helmet and two for fighting with fewer than five minutes remaining.

Phantoms head coach Anthony Noreen said the parade to the penalty box could have been much longer.

“All things consider in that game, I thought we were very disciplined,” Noreen said. “I thought it could have very easily gotten way more out of control.”

Sheehy said players need to keep their emotions in check.

“For the most part, you’ve got to understand that if you do something stupid, not only will it affect you for maybe a suspension but it will affect your teammates for the rest of that game,” Sheehy said. “The more you stay away from it, the more you stay composed, the better opportunities you have as a team.

Defenseman Matt Miller will be back on the ice after being suspended for last weekend’s games.

“The last thing we want now is guys to be missing games because of suspensions,” Lomberg said. “But it’s hockey, the physical side is part of the game.

“You stand up for your brothers,” Lomberg said. “If someone takes a cheap shot, you get upset and sometimes you [take matters] into your hands to resolve it.

“We’ve got to realize that teams might try to get under our skin as opposed to playing the right way,” Lomberg said. “Teams have been trying to do that for a while now, but it hasn’t really been working.”

Sheehy’s experience suggests the Phantoms are in for a busy final four weekends of the season.

“Whenever there is a team above you, there’s definitely a target,” Sheehy said. “You want to play your best game, give them your best effort to take them down.”