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Ex-Phantoms star finalist for NCAA honor
Kyle Connor is one of three players
in running for Hobey Baker Award
By Tom Williams
College hockey’s highest honor, the Hobey Baker Award, could soon have a Youngstown connection.
Kyle Connor, the University of Michigan freshman who led the NCAA in goals (35) and scoring (71), played three seasons with the Youngstown Phantoms before becoming a Wolverine.
Connor is one of the three finalists who will be in Tampa, Fla., tonight for the Hobey Baker announcement that is part of the NCAA Frozen Four tournament. The other Hobey Hat Trick finalists are Harvard senior forward Jimmy Vesey (24 goals, 46 points) and Boston College junior goaltender Thatcher Demko who went 27-7-4 with 10 shutouts.
“I thought he would be a very good player,” said Anthony Noreen, who was Connor’s Phantoms head coach. “I’d be lying if I said I knew then that he would turn into league MVP and the Hobey Baker finalist as a freshman. Credit Kyle for [blossoming].”
Noreen, now the head coach of the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears, recalled the time in 2012 that he and Jason Koehler (then the Phantoms assistant general manager) watched Team USA tryouts. Afterward, they figured there was no way that the National Development program would pass on Connor’s talents.
But Team USA did not select the Shelby Township, Mich., resident and Connor soon found a home in Youngstown.
Brad Patterson, a Phantoms assistant coach since 2010, said the high school sophomore arrived “with all the skills in the world.”
Patterson said it usually takes first-year USHL players about 40 games to find a comfort zone. For Connor, it took 15.
Noreen and Patterson remember Connor’s breakout moment in a game against the Indiana Ice in Indianapolis in the fall of 2012 when the team was struggling.
“Kyle maybe had two points in those first 15 games,” Patterson said. “It was a game we really needed. Kyle just clicked, scoring an unbelievable goal.
“From then on, it seemed he scored a point a game.”
By season’s end, Connor was playing on the Phantoms’ top line with Austin Cangelosi (Boston College) and John Padulo. The second line featured Sam Anas (Quinnipiac), Cam Brown (Maine) and Nathan Walker (Hershey Bears). Those Phantoms came with one victory of advancing to the USHL Robertson Cup Finals.
In the 2014-15 season, Connor led the USHL in scoring (34 goals, 80 points) as the Phantoms won the Anderson Cup as regular-season champions. Youngstown set the USHL’s modern record with 17 consecutive victories.
“He could have had another 15 goals for us last year, he had that many chances,” Phantoms co-owner Troy Loney said. “Pure goal scorer.”
Winner of two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Loney said one of Connor’s gifts is speed.
“[Penguins broadcaster] Mike Lange talks about that ‘jersey-kinda-flapping’ speed,” Loney said. “Kyle has that. And he had the hands to go with it.
“Those are two great things but his competitiveness, his willingness to play in the dirty areas really stood out for me,” Loney said.
“He’d go into the corners and not shy away from getting the puck,” Loney said. “Never shying away from contact, which is not all that common for someone with really good wheels that likes to drive like that.”
Noreen and Patterson say the USHL has been getting stronger in recent seasons and the success of its former players is proof.
“This league is a good one to segue into college hockey,” said Patterson, who felt Connor would eventually be dynamic at Michigan.
“But I couldn’t say I expected him to lead the NCAA in scoring,” Patterson said.
Noreen said Connor is not the only USHL player exceeding at a higher level.
“It’s rare when the USHL’s best players don’t step into their college roles and do as well if not better,” Noreen said.
Last June, Connor was drafted 17th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL Draft. He has not yet signed a professional contract.
For Loney, the biggest surprise about Connor “was that the USA program did not take him for the World Juniors [tournament in December]. Nobody can fathom why that didn’t happen. How could you not take the junior player of the year?”
Conner has not revealed whether he will sign with the Jets before next fall or return to the Wolverines. Some hockey analysts say there is a chance he might play later this month with Team USA in the IIHF World Championships.
“Kyle has made every right decision to this point,” Noreen said of Connor’s future. “Whatever the reason, I trust that he’s made the right decision.”
Noreen said the Hobey Baker voting deadline was March 28, the day after the NCAA regional tournaments ended. That could help Demko as Boston College advanced to the Frozen Four.
On the other hand, only two goaltenders have won the award since it was first presented in 1981 (Ryan Miller, Bowling Green, 2001 and Robb Staber, Minnesota, 1988).
Vesey, a senior, is a finalist for the trophy for the third time. Some voters might feel it’s his time.
“[With] the most goals and the most points, it’s hard not to give it to [Connor],” Loney said, who added that competition level could be a factor. The Big Ten was nowhere near as strong as Hockey East (Boston College’s league) and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (Harvard’s home).
Loney said a positive omen for Connor is that Boston University’s Jack Eichel won the Hobey Baker Award last year as a freshman. Paul Kariya (Maine, 1993) is the only other freshman to win.
“The good news is that Eichel won,” Loney said. “That sets the tone that it can be done.
“Will they do it two years in a row, that’s the question.”
The answer will be revealed tonight.