USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantom Philes: Czech-Ing In

Published on April 12, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - These are the Phantom Philes, a weekly comprehensive look at Youngstown's stop on the road to the National Hockey League.

United States Hockey League rules dictate that each team can have two foreign-born players on its roster, and while most non-American skaters in the league hail from the hockey hotbed of Canada (including Tri-City's Jaden Schwartz, this year's scoring champion) the influence of skilled Europeans isn't to be ignored.

On top of three players from across the Atlantic - Omaha's Erik Haula (Finland), Chicago's Andrei Kuchin (Russia) and Waterloo's Patrick Divjak (Austria) - finishing among the USHL's top 25 scorers, the Youngstown Phantoms also received key contributions from European imports, as recent postseason happenings have confirmed.

Defenseman Andrej Sustr and forward Jiri Sekac, both from the Czech Republic, were honored recently in ways that have boosted their stock significantly in the worldwide hockey community.

Sustr, who competed for the Czechs in the World Junior Championship in late December and early January, was given a coveted spot on NHL Central Scouting's end of season rankings for draft-eligible players who have been skating in North America. Sustr has been placed at 195th on the list, 15 spots higher than his ranking at midseason.

After establishing himself as a defensive stalwart in his first USHL season while also chipping in 19 points in 50 games, the 19-year-old 6-foot-6 giant from Plzen, Czech Republic is one of 37 league players ranked by NHL Central Scouting in advance of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, which will take place June 25-26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the home of the Kings.

While Sustr is firmly entrenched on the draft landscape, the Kladno, Czech Republic-born Sekac is set to take the ice in the Eastern European nation of Belarus at the IIHF World U18 Championship, which will begin Tuesday in the cities of Minsk and Boburisk.

Sekac, who scored two goals and nine assists after joining the Phantoms in December, successfully passed through last week's tryout to make the Czech team and will get a chance to ply his trade on the world stage. The United States' entry in this annual tournament will be primarily comprised of the Team USA Under-18 squad that played in the USHL this season.

The Czech Republic has claimed three medals, all of them bronze, in the 11-year history of the U18 Championship, most recently in 2006. Stay tuned to www.youngstownphantoms.com and www.iihf.com to keep track of Sekac's exploits as well as the United States' results in the coming weeks!

FEELS LIKE THE PHIRST TIME:

Help the offseason go faster by looking back at the Phantoms' first season in the USHL. This week, Youngstown gets its first-ever regular-season win:

Saturday, October 10, 2009: YOUNGSTOWN 5, DES MOINES 4

URBANDALE, Iowa - Battling against a determined opposition and a hostile crowd with an illness-depleted lineup, the Youngstown Phantoms nonetheless earned their first-ever USHL victory Saturday night, 5-4 over the Des Moines Buccaneers.

The Phantoms, who were forced to shuffle their lines due to four players out sick, built leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 5-2 at Buccaneer Arena on their way to atoning for last Saturday's Opening Night loss to Indiana. Jefferson Dahl led the charge, scoring twice in the second period including the eventual game winner.

But he was just part of the story for the aggressive Phantoms as they threw 42 shots at the Des Moines net and repeatedly bottled the Bucs up with stifling checking in the neutral and offensive zones.

Goaltender Matt Mahalak picked up the victory for Youngstown in his first USHL start, turning away 25 of 29 Buccaneers shots. After Ryan Walters stuffed in an unassisted goal early in the third to draw the Bucs to within one, Mahalak teamed up with the persistent Phantoms defense to lock down the win.

Still, it was far from a calm finish. Des Moines pulled their goaltender in the final minute and kept the pressure on until the final horn sounded while the puck bounced around the edge of the crease.

Just like Opening Night against Indiana, the Phantoms drilled home the game's first goal early in the proceedings. Stuart Higgins led a 2-on-1 break with Brett Gensler open on the right, but he elected to shoot after faking a cross-rink pass. It turned out to be the right decision as it whizzed by Eric Mihalik in the Des Moines net to put Youngstown up 1-0 at 3:34.

After Connor Frick tied the game with a seeing-eye shot from the left point, the Phantoms went right back to work in the offensive zone. Nick Czinder swung a centering pass from behind the goal line into the wheelhouse of Andrew Lamont, who promptly buried a one-timer at 7:03 to quickly restore the visitors' one-goal edge.

It would become a two-goal advantage a little more than six minutes later courtesy of two defensemen, J.D. Carrabino and Jean-Laurence Beauchemin, skating in their first USHL contests and playing at forward to boot. Carrabino collected an errant Des Moines pass at the outside of the right circle and flung it toward the goalmouth, where Beauchemin deftly tipped it past Mihalik to make it 3-1 with 6:41 to go in the first.

Des Moines' T.J. Tynan capped the opening frame scoring at 17:18 by deking to the low slot during a power play and depositing a high wrister over the blocker hand of Mahalak.

Even though Youngstown surrendered Tynan's late goal in the first, it kept the accelerator pressed to the floor to open the second, courtesy of center Dahl. The Wisconsin native who scored 15 goals for the Green Bay Gamblers last season nailed his first two of this campaign in a span of 1:39.

Dahl's first of the season, a bad angle slap shot from the right wing, chased Mihalik from the Des Moines net at 5:40 to make it 4-2. Then, with the Phantoms shorthanded, he took a smooth headman pass and tossed a backhand past new Buccaneers goalie Charles Williams to push Youngstown's lead to three goals at 7:19.

The Buccaneers' Austin Coldwell got a lucky bounce just shy of the midway point of the second to draw the home side to within 5-3. His attempted pass into the low slot hit a body and slid past an unaware Mahalak to give the crowd at Buccaneer Arena some life.

Go to http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid1048644 for full box score.

Check out the Youngstown Phantoms Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 12, 2010


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