43
Hockey takes break on links
Phantoms getting ready for season 9
By Greg Gulas
POLAND
Phil Bourque, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ radio analyst for 15 seasons, maintains that there is no substitute for hard work and perseverance.
“My father did a great job of teaching me my work ethic,” Bourque said Monday at the Youngstown Phantoms’ Sticks to Clubs golf outing at The Lake Club. “It was what I based being a player on and what I continue to draw from while in the broadcast booth.
“Never take no for an answer and always believe in yourself because nothing can replace hard work.”
Bourque, Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown and Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns were among the 144 golfers playing.
A distant cousin of former Boston Bruins defenseman and hockey hall of famer Ray Bourque, Phil Bourque played for three teams during his 18-season NHL career. He won the Stanley Cup twice with the 1990-91 and 1991-92 Penguins.
He joined the Penguins in September 1982.
“I borrowed my mother’s 1978 Mercury Cougar, which was a real chick magnet back then,” he said with a smile. “I drove through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and I remembered seeing the Pittsburgh skyline and thinking that this is where I belong.
“It was a simple moment in time, yet I remember it as if it happened just yesterday.”
Bruce Zoldan, Youngstown Phantoms CEO, is the co-owner of the Phantoms along with Troy Loney and his wife, Aafke. Loney and Bourque were teammates on the Penguins.
“This is Youngstown Ohio’s sports team,” Zoldan said. “We’re Division I, Tier I hockey and the most important thing about today is that we send all of these young men to NCAA, Division I colleges with full scholarships or the NHL,” Zoldan said. ”That’s our goal and why we are here today.”
Loney wants community involvement year round from his team.
“This event kind of starts our season and in another month, we’ll have all the players in, will narrow it down, then exhibition and the season itself,” Loney said.
“This is a good way to keep our name out in the community and to make sure that people know they can get their tickets for the upcoming season.”
He added that second-year head coach Brad Patterson did an excellent job of leading the Phantoms to the playoffs in his first season.
“Brad’s been really good,” Loney said. ”He obviously knows our organization, our league and the players and while there was an adjustment period last year as a first-year head coach, I thought that he did a very good job.
“The players respect him, they play hard for him and that’s all you can ask for. We think we have a bit more offense coming in this year and I’m expecting big things out of Brad and the team this year.”
Patterson expects to build off of last season’s playoff success.
“When you look back on our season and the USHL rankings, no one had us ranked or even close to being a playoff team,” said Patterson who has been with the team since midway through its first season in 2009-10. “It’s a tremendous amount of respect for the guys that were here and the amount of effort and heart they put in over the course of the year.
“It’s still tough talking about the last game, but this year we’ll expect the same effort with a little more success.”
Patterson said the team will have a different look this fall.
“Last year I thought we were great on the back end in our goaltending and this year, we’ll be a little more skilled up front,” Patterson said. “Hopefully that generates a little more offense and we stay the same with our goaltending and defense.”
The Phantoms expect to return seven players off of last year’s squad, but will miss defenseman Michael Karow, who was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes and goaltender Ivan Kulbakov, inked recently by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Johns grew up in nearby Wampum, Pa., and is aware that his town has produced three brothers — Dick, Hank and Ron Allen — that made it to the major leagues.
As a youth, Johns was coached by Loney and called the support from his hometown a source of inspiration.
“I grew up a Penguins fan, wanted to play for them and then all of sudden, Troy Loney is my coach so I felt very fortunate,” Johns said. “I come from a town with a blue-collar attitude and you worked for everything that you had.
“They’ve always been behind me, no one ever told me ‘no’ to my dream and that I couldn’t do it,” Johns said. “I could not have done it without them.”