Phantoms Set For Team USA Test
October 23, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
BOARDMAN, OH (Thursday, October 23rd, 2008) - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms are back in the Valley for a big pair of games against Team USA at the Ice Zone in Boardman this weekend.
The Nationals (6-5-1, 13 pts) enter the Ice Zone tied with the Phantoms (6-1-1, 13 pts) for second place in the NAHL's North Division and boast a roster full of America's most talented forwards.
Phantoms Head Coach and General Manager Bob Mainhardt knows that the Nationals are a very dangerous team in the North.
"Team USA is always stacked with talent," says Mainhardt. "They will make you pay for the smallest mistakes. All anyone has to do is look at the history of high round NHL draft picks that have come from that program and it speaks for itself.
"They are also one of the best coached programs in our league."
The Phantoms are looking to bounce back after a disappointing 4-3 loss at Alpena last Saturday, marking their first regulation loss of the 2008-2009 season.
Right now the Phantoms and Nationals both find themselves looking up at the first place Traverse City North Stars (10-2-0, 20 pts) in the divisional standings, but Mainhardt says the most important thing for the team right now is improvement, not improving their place in the standings.
"We are continuing to improve on the little things," Mainhardt says, "and as with any learning situation one must normally learn from mistakes. We are still a relatively inexperienced as a team, so we still have a lot of improvement to make.
"We are beginning to understand that mistakes are best overcome by hard work."
Phantoms' goaltender Jordan Tibbett enters the weekend with a league-leading 1.48 goals against average and 95.0% save percentage; Cullen Lundholm leads the team in scoring with nine points (1 G, 8A).
Game time on both Friday and Saturday nights is 7:15 PM at the Ice Zone in Boardman; these are the Phantoms' last two Ice Zone games before the Chevrolet Centre opener on November 14th. The games will be broadcast live over the internet at MVPPhantoms.com with the pregame show starting at 7:05 PM.
• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...
North American Hockey League Stories from October 23, 2008
- Quick Start Turns to Quick Loss for Motor City, 6-3 - Motor City Metal Jackets
- Phantoms Set For Team USA Test - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
