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USHL Youngstown Phantoms

California Phantoms Turning Heads in Youngstown

September 18, 2009 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (September 18, 2009) - In order to make sense of the world, the human brain seeks out patterns, making information more easily digestible.

Thus, it's natural when looking at a list - such as the Youngstown Phantoms' 25-man roster - to classify certain items into groups based on similar characteristics. One such commonality that sticks out among the Phantoms is in the "Hometown" column: Taylor Holstrom, Dan Senkbeil and Ben Paulides all hail from the state of California.

If the Phantoms were a baseball, basketball or football team, such a distinction wouldn't merit more than passing consideration. But in the sport of hockey, Golden State lineage shines like the pan of a gold rusher who's found the mother lode.

For instance, take into account that only six California-born players skated in the National Hockey League during the 2008-09 season, and only two of those, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik (376 games) and Ryan Hollweg of the New York Rangers (225) have played more than 20 NHL contests.

But bubbling just below the surface of the game's highest level is a groundswell of West Coast hockey talent, buoyed by members of the hockey community embracing California as a legitimate breeding ground for elite-level prospects.

"I think what you have is a lot more talent coming out of California, so it's become a lot more prominent in people's minds," said Phantoms Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel Jason Koehler. "Before you'd just be looking at a handful of guys, but know it's almost whole teams that are going on to play in major junior or college hockey."

Koehler has seen the growth of California grassroots hockey firsthand, as the first Golden Stater he recruited while serving as GM for the USHL's Chicago Steel was Max Nicastro, a defenseman from Thousand Oaks, Calif. Nicastro was taken by the Detroit Red Wings in the third round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

"The stereotype is that you'll get a roller hockey-type player [from California], but as the years go by you see more and more legitimacy," Koehler said.

He continued: "You have to attribute [hockey's increased visibility in California] to the Wayne Gretzky acquisition by Los Angeles [in 1988]. Then, obviously when more Sun Belt teams came into the NHL it triggered more interest. Now you see Texas, San Jose, even Phoenix produce prospects, and you have to attribute that to having NHL teams in the area."

Perhaps all three California Phantoms could be good case studies for that theory, as each grew up rooting for an NHL franchise that didn't exist prior to the league's Sun Belt expansion of the 1990s. Holstrom, raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Yorba Linda, directly credits his fledgling hockey career to the first American West Coast club to hoist the Stanley Cup since the 1916-17 Seattle Metropolitans.

"My dad has season tickets to the [Anaheim] Ducks," said Holstrom, who broke into the USHL with the Omaha Lancers last season. "I was at the game [in 2007], in the second row, when they won the Cup. Just amazing."

Hailing from a so-called "non-traditional market," the speedy forward has experienced more than his share of hockey-related travel and the difficulties that can arise from trying to succeed far from a sport's geographic comfort zone.

"I think it's a lot harder to come out of [California] because there are so few rinks and scouts don't like to fly out there very often," Holstrom said. "Plus, when you play in Detroit or something, it's like, 'Oh, these guys are from California so we can't let them win.'"

Holstrom got noticed by Omaha while excelling for the well-regarded L.A. Selects program, then parlayed his playmaking ability into an eight-goal, 19-point rookie campaign with last year's Lancers.

"I was a fourth-line grinder, but this year I have higher goals," he said. "I'm expecting to be more of a points guy. If I play with a scorer, he'll have a lot of goals and I'll end up with a lot of assists."

Someone who could end up on the receiving end of a few Holstrom passes this season could be first-year defenseman Dan Senkbeil. The 6-foot-4 Senkbeil was the Phantoms' first-round selection in this summer's USHL Entry Draft and was considered by some personnel experts to have been worthy of a pick in the NHL draft. The NHL's loss will be Youngstown's gain, however, as the Fremont, Calif.-native possesses an attractive array of talents.

"I'm very much an offensive defenseman," said Senkbeil, who recently honed his craft with the San Jose Jr. Sharks AAA club. "My strengths are stickhandling, skating and creating offense."

No wonder Dan Boyle, current Shark and one of the NHL's premier puck-rushers, is Senkbeil's favorite player. But while the burgeoning hockey chops of the Bay Area have fertilized his love for the sport, his impetus for lacing up the skates comes from a much more predictable origin.

"My dad is from Kitchener, Ontario," Senkbeil revealed. "He grew up playing hockey and my sister was into figure skating, so I was already spending a lot of time at the rink. So [my parents] had me do skating lessons and I just took it from there."

Three rounds after Senkbeil was drafted, fellow Jr. Shark blueliner Paulides joined the Phantoms' stable. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder out of Los Gatos, Calif., is known for his muscle in the defensive zone.

"I'm more of the defensive type who tries to rack up the plus-minus [rating]," said Paulides (pronounced pall-EYE-diss). "Although Senk[beil] is an offensive player and we had the same amount of points last year," he added with a slight smile.

Both Paulides and Senkbeil were considered among the top blueline prospects in the country prior to the draft, with Paulides earning accolades primarily due to his raw strength and checking ability. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do doesn't hurt, either.

"It helps with balance and discipline," he said. "The physical nature of hockey was what drew me to the game in the first place."

Regardless of what lured this California trio into promising hockey careers, they are part of a surge of West Coast standouts that could rival anything conjured up by the surly Pacific.

Strong enough, in fact, to sway hockey lifers from the birthplace of the game.

"Everybody has their regions they're comfortable with, but we're trying to get the best players and players that will help us win," said Ontario born-and-bred Phantoms Associate Coach/Director of Player Development Curtis Carr. "So we don't care where you're from."

"Sure, you get the idea they're all surfers and hippies, but so far they've all been just fine," he said through a grin.

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