Archive for the ‘Phantoms’ Category

When things seem to be going your way, they really are.  The Youngstown Phantoms couldn’t buy a break in their first three home games.  On this night, seemingly everything went the Phantoms way in a 3-2 victory over a very respectable Green Bay Gamblers team.  Matt Mahalak (pictured) stopped 33 shots in net and the Phantoms were limited to just nine shots of their own in the victory.

The Phantoms were first to score in this one as Taylor Holstrom connected at the 12:12 mark of the first period. The goal was Holstrom’s fifth and was the second game in a row he was able to tally. Nick Czinder was credited with an assist, his third consecutive game with a point. The first period would end with Youngstown holding a 1-0 lead on the Holstrom goal.

The Phantoms took advantage of a Gamblers penalty at the 6:17 mark of the second period when Scott Mayfield scored his fifth goal of the season.  Mayfield was assisted by Dan Senkbeil on the power play score that saw the Phantom lead increase to 2-0.

Brian Dowd’s fourth goal of the season increased the Phantoms lead to 3-0. Dowd was the recipient of a beautiful feed from Andrej Sustr who took a lead pass from goaltender Matt Mahalak, both credited with assists. The goal came at the 12:43 mark of the second. With only seven shots on goal, the Phantoms were playing the most effective hockey they possibly could to this point. The assist credited to Mahalak was the first point recorded by a Phantoms netminder on the young season.

At the end of the second period, Green Bay had 20 shots on goal and nothing to show for it. The Phantoms, on the other hand, only took eight shots on goal but were successful on three of the eight shots to hold a 3-0 lead.

The Gamblers hit the scoreboard at the 6:35 mark of the third period when Anders Lee connected on his eighth goal of the season. Anders was assisted by Nick Jensen and Matt Stewart.

Brett Gensler was awarded a penalty shot when he was pulled down from behind on a breakaway chance at the 9:59 mark. Steve Summerhays turned Gensler away on the chance to keep the score 3-1 in favor of the Phantoms.

Just eleven seconds later, Ryan Furne connected on a quick strike to put the Gamblers one goal away at 3-2. Furne was assisted by Lee on the goal, and suddenly the Phantoms went from a potential 4-1 lead on the Gensler penalty shot to just a 3-2 advantage.  Fortunately for Youngstown, the Gamblers were unsuccessful in trying to knot the game and time would also be on Youngstown’s side as the home team was able to hold off a furious Gamblers rally in the final session.

Matt Mahalak was sensational  for the Phantoms between the pipes as the Gamblers took almost four times the shots as the Phantoms did. Mahalak improved to 4-1-1 on the season in stopping 33 shots. The Phantoms managed three goals on just nine shots.

Coach Bob Mainhardt was thrilled by the effort put forth by Mahalak.  “We definitely got a little lucky tonight.  Thanks to Matt Mahalak, we were able to pull that one out.  We had some really good opportunities, but we were killing penalties almost the entire second period.  Give my guys credit, they stayed pretty focused.”

Sixteen-year-old Matt Mahalak was also happy to get a win at home.  He was not even with the team last week as he was representing the US team in Slovakia.  “I played with the USA under 17 team and we went 3-0 in Slovakia.  It was a tremendous experience and I got to play against the host team.  I got to work with alot of people and pick up some pointers.  It was great to come back, get my first start at home and help the team get a win.”

Several Phantoms regulars were not dressed for action.  Goaltender Jordan Tibbett will be sidelined at least a couple of weeks with a broken hand.  Richard Young had stitches in his leg but is expected to return to action this week.  Luke Eibler, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, is also expected to dress for both games this weekend.

The Phantoms improved to 7-4-1 with the win and Green Bay dropped to 7-4-2.  These two teams will hook up again this week on Friday night.  Joey Fatone, of N’Sync and Dancing With The Stars notoriety, and celebrity chef Guy Fieri will be on hand for Friday’s game.

Saturday will be a special night.  Anyone who reads this page regularly knows how much I support the fundraising efforts of Luke Holko.  Saturday, $3 of every ticket sold will be donated to the Luke Holko Foundation.  Please come to this game if you have not had the opportunity to check out the Phantoms yet.  If I were on a gameshow playing for a charity, this would be the one I would select.  For the hockey community that may be unaware of who Luke Holko is or how he was injured by a foul ball at a Scrappers game this Summer, feel free to click here for a story published on Paneech.com the night the incident happened.  Please stop by the Vindicator press box and say hello.  For those who do not know who I am, I will be wearing my blue “Pray For Luke” bracelet.

Friday night I attended the Youngstown Phantoms USHL hockey game at The Covelli Centre.  Saturday, I made it to the Styx / REO Speedwagon / Night Ranger concert.  As I waited for Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon to finish a 20 or so minute rant on Vietnam and what it was like going to college at Illinois University, I looked around and started to take in the transformation process that had to take place in a 19-hour span. 

Tommy Shaw of Styx is good at what he does.  However, I don’t think Tommy Shaw can skate or take a hit from Richard Young off of the boards.  The first thing that had to be done was making the ice surface something sturdier for people to walk on for floor seating.  I looked down and noticed wood.  I was not sure if the wood I was standing on was on top of the hockey ice or whether they melted the ice and I was just standing on a normal floor.  After asking an employee of the arena, I learned that it was wood overlayed on the ice.  Once I learned this, I kicked at the wood a bit to see if it was loose in any way, which it was not. 

Assembling a stage and hanging the lights are not easy tasks.  This concert had plenty of lights hanging from the ceiling and it was no five minute project.  I am aware that bands hire crews to hang lights and assemble the stage, but they can’t do it on ice.  The stage itself would have basically covered the blue line to behind the goal, perhaps a little bigger.  Keep in mind, this stuff has to come apart and be put together at every stop. 

The doors for the concert opened at 6, and I am sure each band had to do a soundcheck which meant that all of this carpentry and wiring had to be done by 4 pm.  That means everything was done in 16 hours.  Seats had to be put down on the floor, coolers had to be restocked, bathrooms had to be cleaned, floors had to be swept, and people just had to be tired. 

It was quite a week at the Covelli Centre.  Last Sunday, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra brought all of their toys for two shows.  Wednesday, Daughtry was here.  Thursday and Friday were hockey games, and read the above three paragraphs for an inkling of things that converted the center into a concert hall.

I tip my hat to the crew at the Covelli Centre and applaud their hard work in the past week.  It is not often that Youngstowners have had such an array of events to choose from in one building.  Congratulations to Eric Ryan, Ken Bigley, Bridget Wolsonovich, Jon Jacubec, and the rest of the people who have buried themselves in work to see this place be successful.  

The Youngstown Phantoms built up a four-goal lead over the first period and a half of hockey.  Des Moines fought and clawed their way back, but it was too little, too late.  When the zeroes hit the board and the final buzzard sounded, the crowd at The Covelli Centre breathed a sigh of relief as the hometown Phantoms were victorious, 5-4, to run a franchise-high winning streak to four.

Youngstown wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Brian Dowd netted his third goal of the year at the 1:29 mark.  The goal was scored on a power-play and Dowd was assisted by Brett Gensler putting the Phantoms in front early.  The Phantoms would end the night 2 for 6 on power-play chances.

Less than a minute later, at the 2:18 mark, Des Moines got an unassisted goal from Ryan Walters, his fifth on the season, to tie the contest at 1-1. 

The Phantoms pulled back in front on a Nick Czinder goal, his fourth, to reclaim the lead 7:14 into the game.  Andres Sustr racked up his sixth assist of the year on Czinder’s goal.

Almost eight minutes later, Taylor Holstrom connected on an unassisted power-play goal to increase the Youngstown margin to 3-1.  The two power-play goals scored against the Buccaneers were a rarity.  Going into this game, Des Moines had only surrendered seven power-play goals on the entire season.

The first period would come to an end with the Phantoms ahead 3-1, but the fireworks went off at the 18:04 mark as Richard Young and the Buccaneers Brandon Carlson dropped the gloves.  Young  took a couple of punches with little-to-no effect before flooring Carlson.  The two players received 5 minute fighting penalties and Young received an extra 10 minutes for misconduct.  Young would also serve a penalty in the third for too many men on the ice for a grand total of 17 penalty minutes on the night.  

The Phantoms started the second period in a rush when Adam Berkle connected for his fourth of the year.  Berkle was assisted by Stuart Higgins on his fourth of the year just :39 into the new stanza putting Youngstown in front by the score of 4-1.

At the 8:37 point of the second, Gensler scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season on an unassisted chance from close range.  The goal by Gensler, the #1 Star of The Game, put the Phantoms up 5-1 in what was shaping up to be a blowout.

Goals by Taylor Wolfe and Dan O’Donoghue later in the second period cut the Phantoms lead to 5-3 heading into intermission.  The insurmountable 4-goal lead was cut in half.  Statistically, Youngstown had somewhat of a mental edge at this point as Des Moines carried an 0-5 record if they were behind going into the final period.

With just over ten minutes left in the game, Des Moines Defenseman H.T. Lenz snuck one by Jordan Tibbett to cut the lead to 5-4 in favor of Youngstown. 

After a few rushes and a couple of great stops by Tibbett, the Phantoms played the last two-and-a-half minutes with at least a one-man advantage and successfully worked the clock down to secure the victory.  With the 5-4 triumph, the Phantoms climbed to 6-4-1 and won back-to-back home games in sweeping the Buccaneers.

Jordan Tibbett picked up both the Thursday and Friday victories between the pipes for the Phantoms.  Tibbett was praiseworthy of his defense after the game.  “We have done a great job of communicating and I’m seeing most of the shots while they are picking up the rebounds.  I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

Coach Bob Mainhardt seemed relieved at the two home wins.  “It’s been a long time coming.  We have worked hard so it is nice to get a reward.  We know we have more work to do to get better.  We let teams stick in games that we shouldn’t so we have some room for improvement, but right now, we are pretty happy.”

The Phantoms return to action on Wednesday against Green Bay at home.  The puck hits the ice at 7:15 and Youngstown hockey fans are encouraged to give this team a chance and take in a game. 

Youngstown finally put one in the win column at home and improved to 5-4-1 at home and 2-1 against Des Moines on the year. Richard Young wore the hero ribbon with a game-winner and the Phantoms held off a very game Buccaneer team that came to play in posting a hard-fought 4-3 victory.

The Phantoms dug themselves a familiar hole to crawl into as they surrendered a lead for the sixth straight game. Des Moines got on the board at the 14:20 mark when Mike Fink scored his first goal of the year. Fink was assisted by Ryan Walters and Yasin Cisse.

With just five seconds left in the first period, Chris Stafne increased the Buccaneer lead to 2-0 on his first goal of the season. Picking up assists on the Stafne goal were Jack Berger and Mitch Cain. The first period would come to a close with Des Moines in front 2-0.

Whatever Coach Bob Mainhardt said to his team during the intermission worked well. The Phantoms came out hitting and played much harder than they did in the first period. Jefferson Dahl lit the lamp at the 7:00 mark to cut the lead to 2-1. Dahl was assisted by Andrew Lamont and Joe Zarbo.

The barrage continued at the 11:39 as Ryan Jasinski netted his second goal of the year, assisted by Scott Mayfield, to tie the contest at two goals apiece.

Nick Czinder connected on an unassisted chance at the 15:26 mark to give the Phantoms a 3-2 lead, which is how the period would come to a close. The Phantoms had 17 shots on goal in the period after mustering only five in the earlier stanza.

In the third period, Daniel Heath connected on a power-play chance to tie the contest back up at three goals apiece. It was the first power-play goal of the evening for either team.

Richard Young came up big with his second goal of the year to give the Phantoms a 4-3 lead. Young was assisted by Brett Gensler and Ben Paulides on the go-ahead score at 16:45 of the third period.

After the game, Richard Young, the #1 star of the game said he was thrilled to help this team win. “It was a big goal and I was happy to just help the team. “ Young also commented on the productive line he is now a part of. “We’ve got a goal scorer [Gensler], we have a playmaker [Dowd], and we have a grinder [Young]. Coach threw us together for a couple of practices then in a game, and we just clicked.”

Coach Mainhardt was happy to record the first-ever home victory. “It feels great. There is no doubt that the first one is the toughest to get. We’re glad to get that out of the way and hopefully we can get on a little roll here.”

About the difference in play between the first and second periods, Mainhardt remarked, “We had some choice words for the guys in the locker room and they responded well.”

The Phantoms Jordan Tibbett got the win between the pipes by stopping 26 Buccaneer shots in evening his record on the season to 3-3-0.  Youngstown recorded 35 shots on goal with almost half (17) coming in the second period.

The Phantoms lock up with the Buccaneers again tonight at The Covelli Centre. The puck drops at 7:05 and the promotion everybody loves, dollar beer night, will co-feature YSU ID discount admission night. The team looks poised to make a nice run, come and check out a Phantoms game!

The Youngstown Phantoms travel in a bus.  Anyone who has traveled by bus knows that it can get boring beyond belief.  I’m not talking about a deal where you pay $20 and go to Mountaineer and get $15 of it back to gamble with either.  North Dakota is a longer ride than Mountaineer Casino, much longer.  The Phantoms enjoyed the ride home probably much better than the ride to Fargo as they swept a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.

In the Friday game, Matt Mahalak (pictured) stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced and Brett Gensler broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with his second goal of the game.  Defenseman Scott Mayfield capped the scoring for Youngstown when he cleared the puck off the glass and it went into the empty net.  Fargo was on a power-play and pulled their netminder for a two-man advantage that backfired as Mayfield delivered the dagger.

On Saturday, Youngstown got a standout performance from Tom Serratore who registered an assist and two goals all in the third period.  Brett Gensler added two more goals, bringing his two game roadtrip total to four.  Gensler has been the most consistent scorer for the Phantoms all season.  Jordan Tibbett picked up the win in goal and stopped 26 shots.

With the two wins, Youngstown has improved to 4-1-1 on the road and 4-4-1 overall.  They will do their damndest to win a game at home this weekend as they welcome in Des Moines for Thursday and Friday games.  Luke Eibler injured his shoulder on the road and will miss about a month for the Phantoms.

At the Thursday game, kids wearing Halloween costumes will be admitted for free with a paying adult.  It is also Mascot Mania night where mascots from various organizations will be entertaining the crowd during intermissions.  Confirmed to appear are Sparky, Chomper (Browns), Zippy (Akron), Pete the Penguin (YSU), and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Scrappy (Mahoning Valley Scrappers).

The Friday game is YSU night.  Anyone with a valid YSU ID will be admitted free of charge.  Friday is also $1 beer night.  So YSU fans who are planning on having a $1 beer better bring two forms of ID (just my opinion).   The puck drops at 7:05 both nights.  Come by the press area and say hi, I’ll see you there.

Richard Young is a ferocius forward with aspirations of going to bigger things.  The 18 year-old enforcer says the time he has spent with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL has already been rewarding.  Young is a character and someone I really enjoyed listening to.  He touched on everything from growing up in Philadelphia to how important his teammates really are to him.  Here are the highlights of my interview with Young:

Paneech:  Do you prefer to be called Richard or Rich?

Young:  You can call me anything you want to.  Alot of people call me Youngie or Young.  I also still get Rich and Richard, so take your pick.

Paneech:  Tell me about your road into hockey and how you got hooked up with the Phantoms organization.

Young:  I was born in Philadelphia.  Growing up, my stepdad would take me out back into the alleyways and we would play street hockey.  I would normally play goalee.  We then moved out to Jersey where I started playing alot of roller hockey.  A guy saw me and thought I should play ice hockey, so I went out not even really knowing how to skate.  My stepdad stayed with me and pretty much taught me everything I know.  I then played for the Little Flyers, which was a great organization and I really had fun.  I got a call from Jason Koehler asking me if I wanted to come and play in the USHL. 

Paneech:  I see scouts at the games, some from the pros, some from colleges.  It seems like they hide there identities, but you know they are there.  Does it affect you?

Young:  I don’t think about college because I don’t have the best GPA in the world.  I love the game, I love the boys (* Young refers to his teammates as the boys), I just love it.  The Lewiston Maniacs in the Quebec Hockey League and I kept contact for most of the Summer.  They were interested in me coming up and trying out at their camp.  I told them I was more interested in trying out for the USHL Phantoms.  They understood  and told me to stay in contact to let then know how everything was going. 

Paneech:  How do you like this level of hockey so far?

Young:  It’s a big step from the East Coast.  Hockey is not too big out there.  Coming out and playing with boys who are bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter has been fun.

Paneech:  You are racking up alot of penalty minutes.  Do you like having the repuatation of the playground bully?

Young:  I almost pattern my style after Eric Lindros and the whole tough-guy act.  When I want to, I try to put some finesse into the game.  I try to keep the boys on their feet, keep the intensity level up and going.  I try to create some life when we go down by a goal, I would do anything to help my team.

Paneech:  I was at the Tri-City game this past weekend and you got a penalty for what looked like a clean hit.  The hit happened behind their goal and the player you bumped stayed down.  You then went to the penalty box and were jawing across at a Tri-City player also in the penalty box, what kind of stuff gets said?

Young:  He wanted to go, wanted to fight.  At the time, I really didn’t want to fight because I was having a good game, was getting some shots on net, was battling, and it was 3-3 so I didn’t really see a reason to fight.  It was more important in that situation to get the puck in the net and get a win.  It wasn’t too hard to restrain myself, I just laughed at the kid.  I asked him earlier in the game if he wanted to go in the first period and he said no.  I asked a couple of other guys if they wanted to go and they said no.  There is no reason to fight with under five minutes left in the game because that is when everybody turns into a tough guy.

Paneech:  So what you are telling me is that you guys can kind of script when you fight before it happens?

Young:  If somebody skates by and asks me if I want to fight when I am on the bench, I tell them no every time.  If we are jockeying for position on a draw, I won’t.  To me it has to be a heat of the moment thing.  If somebody is taking cheap shots or running their mouth at one of our players, then I say yeah, lets go.

Paneech:  How short of a fuse does Richard Young have?

Young:  Depends what kind of day you catch him on.  Sometimes it takes alot, other times it takes just a little. The maddest I ever got at a hockey game was probably that overtime loss we had in Lincoln.  We were outplaying, outshooting, and outgrinding them and they caught a lucky bounce and we lost.  I was pretty upset and was grateful that the boys were able to pick me up and tell me that it was okay, we would have another shot at them someday.

Paneech:  What was the most penalty minutes you ever got in a game?

Young:  Last year in the AJ, my first fight.  My captain was jumped, so I went in and grabbed the kid.  I ended up with a little over 30 penalty minutes when it was all said and done.  10 for fighting after a whistle, 5 for fighting, 10 for facemasking, and 10 for being an instigator.  I got a little bit.

Richard Young (in blue) works on his fighting skills at practice

One Word Answers

Best Cartoon Ever Made:  The Hulk.

Best Defenseman In The NHL:  Mike Green.

Favorite Fruit:  Watermelon.

Toppings On A Pizza:  None, just the cheese and sauce.

Best Musicians Out There:  Aerosmith.

Name The Four Beatles:  (laughs) I don’t know one.

Favorite Restaurant In Youngstown:   Golden Corral.

Favorite Sport Other Than Hockey:  Lacrosse.

Favorite Character On Family Guy:  Peter.

One Word To Describe Coach Mainhardt:  Papa Bear.

Notable Quotes

• “We are getting lazy when we go up a couple of goals, it is something we need to work on, to just stay on it.  We need to stay on top, keep grinding, and just start putting teams away.”
• “We feel like we can compete with and beat anybody.  If they feel they can just come in and walk all over us, they have got another thing coming.”
• “Everything we do, we do as one.  If you do something wrong, the whole team knows about it and you get punished by 23 other guys.  They don’t let you live anything down.”
• “I put my boys in front of myself and I never put myself first.”

The Youngstown Phantoms played better than they did Friday, but not good enough to win in dropping their fourth consecutive game, 3-1, to Tri-City.  The loss marks the third consecutive home defeat for the Phantoms.

Steven Bolton made his first start of the year in goal for Tri-City and turned in a great performance stopping 31 of 32 shots to log his first victory for the Storm.

Tri-City struck first on a power-play goal from Maxwell Tardy, as he bat Phantoms goalee Jordan Tibbett at the 5:47 mark in the first period.  Tardy also scored a power-play goal on Friday.  The goal by Tardy, his fourth of the season, gave Tri-City the 1-0 advantage.  Picking up assists on the goal were Brett Moehler and Jaden Schwartz.

Youngstown was able to respond with 3:44 left in the first period  when Adam Berkle connected on an even-strength opportunity.  Berkle was assisted on his goal by Nick Czinder and Taylor Holstrom.  The teams would head into the locker rooms tied 1-1.

Just 20 seconds into the second period, Radoslav Illo scored to put Tri-City ahead 2-1.  Illo was assisted by Josh Berge and Anthony DeCenzo.  It was also Illo’s second goal in two nights in an unwanted recurring theme for the Phantoms.

At the 7:50 mark of the second period, Moehler tallied to put the Storm up 3-1.  For Moehler, it was his third goal of the two-game series.  Moehler was assisted by Schwartz and Nate Jensen on the even-strength chance.

There was no scoring in the third period.  Youngstown got almost twice as many shots off in the game and seemingly improved on the penalty-killing holding Tri-City to just 1-of-5 conversions on the power-play.  The Phantoms were 0-2 with a man advantage.

Next weekend, the Phantoms are back on the bus, this time headed to Fargo, North Dakota for a two-game series with the Force.  The Friday and Saturday contests start at 7:05 and can be heard on AM-1240 with Matt Gajtka calling the action.  You have to hear Gajtka, he sounds like a seasoned NHL announcer with obvious passion for the game.

Power-plays and penalty killing go a long way at any level of hockey.  Tri-City won the battle of both Friday night in a 5-3 victory over the Youngstown Phantoms at the Covelli Centre.  For the Phantoms, it extends an unwanted losing streak to 3 games.  Brett Moehler paced Tri-City with a pair of goals and an assist en route to being named the First Star of the game.

Tri-City  got on the board first when Brett Moehler scored on the second Storm power-play at 14:02 of the first period.  Moehler was assisted on the goal by Jaden Schwartz and Maxwell Tardy. 

The Phantoms answered with 4:21 left in the first period with a power-play goal of their own to tie the contest at 1-1.  Luke Eibler capitalized on the one-man advantage with a slapshot just beyond the left faceoff circle.  Eibler was assisted by David Donnellan and Joe Zarbo.

The Phantoms were awarded a penalty shot at 17:52 of the first, but Brett Gensler was stuffed by Tri-City goalie Carson Chubak.  However, on the faceoff the Phantoms broke fast into the Storm zone and took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Richard Young, his first of the year.  Young was assisted by Ben Paulides. 

The first period would end with Youngstown leading Tri-City 2-1.  Both teams were 1 for 3 in power-play opportunities in the initial stanza. 

At 12:29 of the second period, Tardy got a power-play goal for Tri-City assisted by Schwartz and Moehler to tie the game at 2.  The same line earlier combined for a power-play score. 

The Phantoms reclaimed the lead with :29 left in the second period.  Luke Eibler picked up his second goal of the evening.  Eibler’s goal came just ten seconds into a Phantoms power-play and he was assisted on the score by Andrej Sustr to put Youngstown in front, 3-2, which is how the second period would end.

With 13:28 left in the game, Radoslav Illo tied the game at 3 with yet another power-play opportunity for Tri-City.    For Illo it was his fifth goal on the season. 

Just 2:03 later, Cody Murphy scored for Tri-City to give the Storm a 4-3 lead.  Murphy was assisted by Tyler Pistone and Rick Pinkston on the even-strength goal.  The goal was Murphy’s first on the year.

The Phantoms had a couple of opportunities late in the game but were unable to capitalize.  Moehler had an empty-net goal, his second on the evening to  push the Tri-City margin to 5-3, which would also end up being the final score.

Coach Bob Mainhardt commented on the unsuccessful penalty killing which ultimately spelled doom for the Phantoms.  “It was bad.  It was really bad.  Every team that plays us look like the Edmonton Oilers of the 80’s on the power-play.”  Mainhardt also commented that he was happy his team played hard until the end and had a chance to win, but was disappointed nonetheless.  “I think some of our younger guys are ready to step forward and assume bigger roles.  Right now our veterans are just not getting the job done.”

Tri-City Forward Brett Moehler had a big game with a couple of goals and an assist.  “I’ve been close the last couple of games and hit the post a couple of times.  I’m glad I could finally get something in and help my team win.”

Phantoms President Alex Zoldan likes what he sees in his first-year club and thinks the Ursuline – Mooney game may have hampered attendance.  “I believe in my heart that the people will really make an effort to get here and take in a game.  We were in this one until the end and our guys played hard.”

The Phantoms (2-3-1) and the Storm (4-1-1) will hook it up again Saturday night at the Covelli Centre.  The puck drops at 7:15 and if you can’t make it to the game then you can catch all of the action with Matt Gajtka on AM-1240.

The Youngstown Phantoms took to the road for a pair of games this past weekend.  Unfortunately the result was the same in both games, and the defense and goaltending seem to be struggling.  The positive to take from the two losses was the spirit of the team to fight back and make both games respectably close after trailing by larger deficits.

On Friday, the Phantoms were in Lincoln, Nebraska.  In a rare high-scoring affair, the Phantoms ended up on the short side of the stick in a 7-6 OT loss to the Lancers.  Ben Lynch spearheaded the victory for Lincoln when he connected on his second power-play goal in overtime for the win.  A Taylor Holstrom goal, his second of the game, put the Phantoms in front 6-4 in the third period.  Lincoln would rally on goals from Garrett Peterson and Andrew Ammon to tie the contest and force the extra period.

Saturday found the Phantoms a little closer to home in Des Moines to face the Buccaneers.  Yasin Casse scored for Des Moines just 18 seconds into the second period to give Des Moines a 3-0 lead.  Adam Berkle answered for the Phantoms just six seconds later to cut the lead to 3-1.  Brett Gensler and Nick Czinder scored a goal apiece for Youngstown over the next four minutes to tie the game at 3.  Connor Brickley converted on a power-play chance for Des Moines at the 2:52 mark of the third period with the eventual game-winning goal.  The Buccaneers Ryan Walters knocked in an empty-net goal to close the scoring at 5-3 in favor of the home team.

Youngstown (2-3-0) returns home for two games on Friday and Saturday against Tri-City.  Each game will start at 7:15 and Friday is $1 beer night. 

Joe Zarbo grew up a Buffalo Sabres fan.  Call it attraction by proximity as he grew up fairly close to Buffalo.  In the inaugural USHL season of the Youngstown Phantoms, Zarbo is one of the “go-to” guys, a veteran who played in the USHL last season.  A veteran in any other league would refer to a 35+ year-old player who has experience in many situations.  At 18, a veteran of the USHL means someone who played in the USHL last season.  I caught up with Zarbo at the Ice Zone and talked about Youngstown, Goodfellas, and about the pressure to lead a new team.

Paneech:  What kind of feelings do you have about scoring the first-ever USHL Phantoms goal?

Zarbo: It was a pretty special feeling getting the first USHL goal for the team.  It was also a pretty good feeling for myself.  I thought I had a pretty good game even though we lost.  We came out strong in the first [period] and I thought it was pretty cool.

Paneech:  How disappointed was the team with the loss to Indiana?

Zarbo: We were very disappointed.  We outworked them in the first period and we just got outside of our game and fell apart.

Paneech: Did Coach Mainhardt make wholesale changes after the loss or is he going to stick to a gameplan that he has laid out?

Zarbo: Coach is switching up the lines a little, but he is stressing for us to stick to the gameplan. 

Paneech: If Goodfellas is your favorite movie, you had to be thrilled about coming to Youngstown.

Zarbo: It’s a good movie.  I heard some stories about Youngstown, but its a cool place and those are all old stories.

Paneech: Tell me about Clarkson University and how you are already signed up for next season.

Zarbo: Clarkson is a small university in upstate New York that plays in the ECAC and I committed to go there three years ago and I should be on my way next year.  They are usually ranked in the Top-10 of Division-1 schools.

Paneech: How can Bobby Orr be your favorite hockey player if he retired before you were even born?

Zarbo: He set the level of play.  He was one of the greats and was just so much better than everyone else.

Paneech: Why the Buffalo Sabres?

Zarbo: I’m from Buffalo and growing up they were my favorite team.  I really liked Pat LaFontaine when he was there.  I also liked Rob Ray and Dominik Hasek.

Paneech: How do you like Youngstown so far?

Zarbo: It’s pretty nice.  I like being in the East.  Last year I was in Nebraska and I like it alot better here than there.  Days off are nice, I hang out with the team, watch some TV, play a video game.

Paneech: Predict your numbers for the season (goals and assists).

Zarbo: I would like to have 30 goals and 30 assists.

Paneech:  Why should people come and see the Phantoms instead of going to a movie on a Saturday?

Zarbo: It’s alot more intense than a chick flick.  If you like sports, it’s a fun sport to watch.  It’s high-level, high-intensity, fights, all kinds of stuff.

One Word Answers

Favorite Nickelback Song?  This Is How You Remind Me.

Favorite Flavor of Ice Cream?  Peanut Butter.

Best Show On Television?  Entourage.

Simpsons or Family Guy?  Family Guy.

Bills, Jets, or Giants?  Bills.

Best Goalie In The NHL?  Hasek.

Nicest Thing Anyone Has Done For You?  My parents putting up with me and raising me.

Topping(s) On A Pizza?  Pepperoni.

Favorite Soft Drink:  Cherry-Coke.

Ideal Number of Hours of Sleep Per Night?  12.

Don Cherry Is An Idiot, True or False?  False.