Phantoms select Tibbett, Schneider

The new USHL team has chosen 25 players for its initial roster.

By Tom Williams

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

BOARDMAN — Two members of the 2008-09 Mahoning Valley Phantoms have been selected to play for the Youngstown Phantoms, an expansion team for a higher-caliber league.

Goaltender Jordan Tibbett, the Phantoms’ main backstop during their final season in the North American Hockey League, was named to the Youngstown roster on Sunday.

Left wing Cole Schneider, Tibbett’s teammate, also was picked by Bob Mainhardt, the Youngstown Phantoms coach and general manager who was the Mahoning Valley Phantoms coach for six seasons.

The Youngstown Phantoms are an expansion team of the United States Hockey League, considered to be the top amateur league in the country for players ages 16-20. Youngstown will play 32 games in the Covelli Centre beginning in October.

Mainhardt picked 25 players after a week-long tryout camp at the Ice Zone that attracted 178 players.

Saying camp opened with his having an open mind, Mainhardt said he thought “it was possible” that two of his former players could make the roster.

“I knew I would come out with 25 best players,” Mainhardt said. “Cole and Jordan came in prepared.”

Two goaltenders, eight defensemen and 15 forwards are on the Youngstown roster.

Seven of the players — defensemen Dan Senkbeil, J.J. Carrabino, Jean-Laurence Beauchemin and Ben Paulides and forwards Michael Henderson, Cody Strang, Andrew Lamont — were among the 18 players that Youngstown selected during last month’s USHL expansion draft.

Mainhardt expects Senkbeil, a 6-foot-4, 185 pound defenseman who turns 18 in September, to be drafted in this weekend’s National Hockey League draft.

“He’ll be playing for us because an NHL team can’t assign him to a minor-league team while he still has junior eligibility,” Mainhardt said.

Last season, Tibbett posted a record of 24 wins, 9 losses, 2 overtime losses during the 36 regular-season games he played. He led the Phantoms two playoff series wins against Traverse City and the U.S. National Team to earn a spot in the NAHL’s Robertson Cup Tournament.

Schneider played 42 regular-season games, scoring 17 goals and 33 points. He finished plus 19 in plus/minus (on ice for more even-strength goals).

Matthew Mahalak, the other goaltender selected, was Youngstown’s top pick in the USHL’s future draft. Although he’s 16, Mainhardt expects him to play.

“We had planned from Day 1 that he would come in and play,” said Mainhardt of Mahalak who grew up in Detroit and played last season for Culver Academy in Indiana.

Forward Brian Dowd played NCAA Division I hockey for Niagara University last season.

Mainhardt expects forward Jefferson Dahl, who has committed to play for the University of Wisconsin, to be a 30 goal, 30 assist player.

Brandon Saad, Mahoning Valley’s top scorer last season before a late-season injury, did not try out because he is now part of the U.S. National Team that also left the NAHL to join the USHL. Mainhardt cited philosophical differences as the reason for Saad’s departure.

Mainhardt said Larkin Jacobson and Derek Jacobson, the stepsons of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko, participated in Sunday’s final scrimmage and were among the last players released.

williams@vindy.com

Youngstown Phantoms | 2009-10 roster

No Name Ht. Wt. Position Previous Team

1 Matthew Mahalak 6’2 185 G Culver Academy Prep

2 Jordan Tibbett 6’1 180 G Mahoning Valley NAHL

3 Jean-Laurence Beauchemin 6’4 187 D Russell Stover AAA

4 JD Carrabino 6’6 230 D Millbrook Prep

5 David Donnellan 6’0 185 D Tri-City USHL

6 Luke Eibler 6’3 175 D Victory Honda AAA

7 Scott Mayfield 6’3 175 D St. Louis Amateur Blues AAA

8 Ben Paulides 6’2 210 D San Jose Jr. Sharks AAA

9 Daniel Senkbeil 6’4 185 D San Jose Jr. Sharks AAA

10 Andrej Sustr 6’6 195 D Kenai River NAHL

11 Adam Berkle 6’4 180 F Northwood Prep

12 Nick Czinder 6’5 215 F Orchard Lake St. Mary’s HS

13 Jefferson Dahl 5’9 175 F Green Bay USHL

14 Brian Dowd 5’11 180 F Niagara University

15 Brett Gensler 5’9 160 F Cedar Rapids USHL

16 Michael Henderson 5’10 185 F South Surrey BCHL

17 Stuart Higgins 5’8 165 F USA NTDP

18 Taylor Holstrom 5’9 170 F Omaha USHL

19 Ryan Jasinsky 6’3 215 F Victoriaville QMJHL

20 Andrew Lamont 5’11 170 F Philadelphia Jr. Flyers AAA

21 Tom Serratore 5’11 190 F Sioux City USHL

22 Cole Schneider 6’2 180 F Mahoning Valley NAHL

23 Cody Strang 5’8 160 F Madison Edgewood HS

24 Richard Young 6’3 210 F Philadelphia Little Flyers AJHL

25 Joe Zarbo 6’1 180 F Tri-City USHL