Phantoms have more offense, new goalie in 2017-18

October 5, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

Youngstown Phantoms’ opener set for Saturday

By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI

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The Phantoms are looking to continue their preseason success when they take the ice Saturday for their season opener against the Central Illinois Flying Aces.

With six returning players, the Phantoms went undefeated in the USHL Fall Classic and accomplished that by playing with a talented offense. The Phantoms scored at least five goals in all three games.

“We have more skill on offense,” defenseman Jake Gingell said. “We scored a lot of goals in preseason. I expect our forwards to score a lot this year as well during the season.”

Gingell, a University of Michigan commit, is returning for his second and final season with the Phantoms. He’s hoping to finish his career with the team by winning the Clark Cup, but is more focused on taking it one game at a time.

Forward Eric Esposito is ready to help lead the offense as he returns for his third and final season before attending University of New Hampshire.

“I see big things for this team,” Esposito said. “This year I think it’s going to open up a lot of scoring.”

Gingell said the defense is a lot deeper this year and all eight defensemen are close when it comes to their talent. They’re prepared to keep pucks out of the back of the net.

“There’s not really a weak point in our team,” Gingell said.

Last season the Phantoms played a more defensive game with help from starting goalie Ivan Kulbakov, who will be playing for the Cleveland Monsters this season.

Head coach Brad Patterson has his choice of two goalies — Wouter Peeters and Ivan Prosvetov — to try and fill the empty net left by Kulbakov. Kulbakov helped carry the Phantoms to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals where the team lost to the Chicago Steel, the eventual league champions.

“At the start of the year they’ll both get games, similar to that of last year,” Patterson said. “I expect you’ll see one on Saturday and one on Sunday.”

This is Peeters’ first year playing in an American league. He was an NHL Chicago Blackhawks draft pick. He said he considers his teammates a family and is ready to compete with them in the upcoming season.

“It’s going to be tough to fill Ivan’s spot,” Peeters said. “It’s going to be my first real game on an American team and I’m excited for that. I’m excited to see how the league is going to be.”

The addition of Nick Peruzzi as an assistant coach has brought more energy to the team. Esposito said the positive energy he brings channels through everyone else to get them going.

One common theme came up when Patterson, Esposito and Gingell talked about the team and their season and that was talent. Though the team is younger and smaller, they bring more skill to the ice than last year.

“I think we have a little bit more talent,” Patterson said. “It’s young and it’s going to take some time to grow.”