As Season Starts, @YTownPhantoms Are Ready

As hard as it is to believe, Game 1 of the Youngstown Phantoms’ 2014-15 season is less than 48 hours away. The team continues to chip away at the little things that make the difference between a solid start or a disappointing one.


This is the way a preseason goes in any sport.

The changes in this team – from Week 1 until now – are very apparent. In the first week of open practices, I saw a team that was green.  Veteran players still needed to reestablish their on-ice relationships with each other. The newer faces knew that they had to both secure a roster spot for themselves and carve out their place among their peers.

Each of them knew there was a chance that they would not be making the roster.

Sports are funny like that.

But now, with so little time until they see just how well the coaching staff prepared them – and how well they prepared each other – they seem to have it down.

There’s no telling just how it will all work out. There are ____ other teams in this league that have been doing the same. One team, Team USA U-18, is awaiting their arrival in Chicago for a 7:00 PM game this Saturday.

This team is not perfect as they showed at the Fall Classic East. At that event, they finished 1-1 with a 4-3 OT victory and a 6-3 regulation loss. But from an outsider’s perspective, they are ready.

Watching the way that head coach Anthony Noreen and his staff have handled this team is encouraging. From the very first practice I attended, a recurring theme from him seemed to be “Practice as you play.” The players bought into it. And when they had a lapse in applying those principles, the coaches were quick to remind them of the standard.

Since that first week of practices, the Phantoms have gone from a group of young men who weren’t quite sure of each other or, at times, of themselves to a team of young men working together towards one goal.

The Phantoms at the conclusion of formal practice.

Where a few short weeks ago, a forward would drive to the net in the face of three defenders, now they see their linemates trailing on the play and have the confidence in each other to make the pass. They celebrate each others’  blocked shots and sprawling saves. And they pick each other up when things go awry.

The reality is that hockey does not require perfection. Having the most talent does not guarantee a win in the same way that being outmatched does not guarantee defeat.

There are too many variables.

As long as the Phantoms control those variables that they can control, this could be a great season.

Phantoms games cand be heard on WBBW CBS Sports Radio 1240 AM in Youngstown, OH and at wbbw.com. Live video streams of games are also available at FastHockey.com, a subsctiption-based service.