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Patterson takes over as Phantoms head coach
By BRIAN DZENIS
Brad Patterson’s bond with Youngstown has only grown stronger.
The Youngstown Phantoms’ longtime assistant coach is now the head coach, the team announced on Monday. As both a player and coach, Patterson has spent the last 10 years in Ohio. Most of that time has been spent in Youngstown.
Over the years, he’s married a local woman. His son was born last year and he currently lives in Boardman. Since the Cranbrook, British Columbia native started playing for the now-defunct Youngstown Steelhounds in 2006, he’s embraced the Mahoning Valley.
“Originally, I came here and I didn’t know anything about Youngstown. I got to the area and played and in my time here playing, I couldn’t have met better people and everyone was very friendly, very supportive,” Patterson said. “It had a small-town feel to it and this is a really big place compared to where I’m from. “It really gave off a good vibe.”
He replaces John Wroblewski, who was named the new head coach of the U.S. National Team Development Program in May. Wroblewski was part of the program as a player from 1997-99 and as an assistant coach from 2007-10. He went 31-20-4 in his lone season in Youngstown. The Phantoms missed the playoffs after a late-season collapse, taking fifth place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference.
Patterson, 35, has been an assistant coach with the Phantoms since the 2009-10 season. He served under former head coaches Curt Carr, Anthony Noreen and Wroblewski.
“As a hockey person, you sit in a room and you should be able to pick something up,” Patterson said. “I think the different head coaches and assistants have all brought something different to the table. I’d like to look at myself as a hybrid of everyone that I’ve coached with in the past.”
As a player, he spent his college years at Michigan Tech before spending the next seven years bouncing through different minor-league teams in the U.S. and England. He’s seen hockey’s popularity grow in a decade here.
“We had our futures camp last week where we saw some kids that could play for us a year or two down the road. There were kids that were learning to skate and play hockey when I first got involved in youth hockey in the Valley,” Patterson said. “To see them come up and push the envelope to possibly play junior hockey or in the USHL is really incredible.
“You look at the area now, Lake Erie is in the finals for the AHL. Down in Wheeling, the Nailers are in the final with the ECHL and there’s Pittsburgh down the road,” Patterson said. “In a small area, you have some really big hockey going on right now.”
His first task as head coach is running the Phantoms’ selection camp this week at the Ice Zone in Boardman.
“It’s an exciting opportunity, especially with camp around the corner,” Patterson said. “It’s good to hit the ground with your feet running. I’m looking forward to getting all the players in.
“I’m looking forward to training camp and seeing what the new group is going to look like.”