Phantoms coach change means changes in style
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
When the Youngstown Phantoms are awarded their first power play of the season, fans are going to notice things have changed.
Head coach John Wroblewski, who replaced Anthony Noreen in July, plans to send out three forwards and two defensemen for the man-advantage. Noreen’s style usually had four forwards on the ice with a single defender.
“Two different coaches, two different ways of playing,” defenseman Vas Kolias said Wednesday. “I think we’ll have a strong [power play] — it will be [fun] to watch.”
Wroblewski’s style isn’t the only reason for the shift. Ten Phantoms return from last season’s USHL regular-season champions. One is a goaltender [Colin DeAugustine] and four are blueliners [Kolias, Ty Farmer, Matt Miller and Kris Myllari].
”W gave up a lot of [shorthanded] goals,” Kolias said of last season’s power play. “Having two defensemen, you’ll [usually] have a guy back.
“We’re going from a team last year that was offensively based,” Kolias said. “To have veterans on the back end is huge. We’re going to try and set up a fort back there, make sure we’re a nice iron wall so the forwards can get the job done.”
Production on the power play will be important to the Phantoms’ success this fall. The top seven scorers from last season (Kyle Connor, Max Letunov, Josh Melnick, Kiefer Sherwood, Ryan Lomberg, Taylor Best and Tyler Sheehy) have moved on.
“You can’t replace the guys we lost but I’m really excited for this group,” forward Matt Alvaro said. “I think our forwards are really underrated I think we showed that a bit [last] weekend. We put up some pretty good numbers.”
Alvaro was referring to the Phantoms’ preseason sweep last weekend at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa. The Phantoms defeated Team USA’s 17-under squad, 3-1, and Team USA’s 18-under team, 2-0.
Saturday at the Covelli Centre, the Phantoms will open the regular-season with a 7:05 p.m. game against Team USA’s 18-under team. Before the game, a banner will be raised to the rafters commemorating the 2014-15 team that went 40-14-6 to win the Anderson Cup, Youngstown’s first team trophy in six seasons.
Alvaro is looking forward to the ceremony, saying the accomplishment means more now.
“When you win it, you’re not as focused on that as the Clark Cup,” the second-year Phantom said of the playoff trophy. “But to look back on it and what we accomplished, that’s a pretty amazing feat.
“It’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint like the playoffs are,” Alvaro said. “It kinda hit me more in the summer than when we won it, how big of an accomplishment it actually was.
“That’s a link between the guys last year, something we’re always going to have together. It was definitely a special group to play with.”
Kolias agreed.
“It was something special,” the second-year defenseman said. “I’m really proud to be able to say I was a part of that team. Special guys, special players great people. To see it [rise] it really will be a testament to how great that team was. It will be great to see that legacy [on display].”
The Phantoms went 4-0 in the preseason, but Wroblewski said there are puzzles that still need to be solved.
“There’s a lot of things that we do need to get better at,” he said. “I’m not sure we will be able to solve them all this week.”
Chase Pearson, one of the top forwards, spent time in Georgia this week for a grandparent’s funeral. Kolias is recovering from a concussion suffered two weeks ago. He could be cleared to play by Saturday.
“It’s going to take us some time to fully assess where we are at as a team,” Wroblewski said.” We still have to play a full game with the full lineup.”
The Phantoms have not yet replaced assistant coach John Ronan, who departed in August.
Asked if he might need to behave himself during Saturday’s game because the team can’t afford an ejection, Wroblewski smiled.
“It didn’t cross my mind, but it’s been brought up a couple of times,” Wroblewski said of the risk of a two-man bench. “Certainly, emotions can flare but I think will be another reminder for me to keep my cool.
“I usually try to be as calm as possible on the bench, only get fired up if the team absolutely needs it. I try to remain calm and hopefully that resonates with the team.”