Staff photo / Brian Yauger Michael Fisher looks for an open teammate Saturday afternoon during the Phantoms’ first preseason game.

BOARDMAN — The new era of Youngstown Phantoms hockey is officially underway.

Fans got their first look at the 2022-23 Phantoms on Saturday in an action-packed 7-4 win over the team’s North American Hockey League affiliate, the Maryland Black Bears, in the Phantoms’ first preseason game at Deep Freeze Ice Arena.

The game marks the debut of new head coach Ryan Ward, who was hired back in May to lead the club. He’s been excited to get at it from Day 1, and with the regular season just a few more weeks away, the excitement is growing.

With two days of camp and an exhibition game in the books, things are looking up, but obviously everything isn’t ironed out yet.

“It was great,” Ward said. “We have a great group of guys. We’re working some kinks out. Obviously, we’ve had two days of practice, but I think we still got a lot out of them. They did a great job today, coming ready to play and obviously brought some intensity and some life and a couple of good fights. The guys stuck up for each other. It was a great first game.”

The Phantoms play Maryland again today at 1 p.m. at Deep Freeze. They’re set to take on another NAHL squad, the Philadelphia Rebels next week on Thursday and Friday before concluding the eight-game preseason with two-game road tilts against Muskegon and Chicago.

“We’ll look at some stuff,” Ward said. “We’re going to talk offensively a little bit. In the offensive zone, we haven’t really touched on some stuff without the puck but we’ll look at the video here this afternoon and make some changes. Overall, I was happy with our group today, they did a great job.”

NEW FACES

Plenty of new Phantoms made their debut with the team Saturday including San Jose Sharks draft selection Michael Fisher, Youngstown-native Cal Huston and University of Michigan commit Jack Willson.

Out of the 22 players that dressed Saturday, 16 total players donned a Phantoms sweater for the first time. There’s more on the roster yet to make their debut like Andrew Strathmann and Matthew Perkins.

There’s only 25 total spots on the main roster however, so Ward and staff have some decisions to make in the near future.

Out of Saturday’s group, there’s a few of the new additions that have Ward excited. Given the talent in the group right now, no one’s job is locked in though.

“Collectively, (Jake) Rozzi, (Daniil) Donzhenko and (Luke) Levandowski are all players that fit the way we want to play. They’ve come in here and done a great job and have brought up the whole quality of our group so we couldn’t be happier. We’ve got some tough decisions here coming down the wire, but obviously this was a good start.”

NEW OFFENSE

The Phantoms plan to be a lot more aggressive in the offensive zone this season and Saturday’s seven-goal affair was the first time showcasing of that.

With how Ward wants his team to play, expect to see a lot of high-scoring efforts out of the Phantoms this season.

“We want to be a team with the puck,” Ward said. “We’re going to be on the attack constantly. I think I’ve said that from day one. We just want to be in your face. We want to possess it. We’re not going to give it away. And we don’t when we don’t have it. We’re going to get it back as fast as we can.

“It’s not rocket science, but the guys have adapted well here and we just want to be on our toes every night.”

NEW THREADS

A new era comes with new uniforms as well. This season, the Phantoms “home” set echoes that of a ‘real’ phantom, opting for a desaturated black, white and grey look, complete with a logo on the back of the jersey featuring the state of Ohio.

The main pop of color comes from the jersey number on the back, which is outlined in the typical Youngstown Phantom purple. The road jerseys have yet to be revealed.

To briefly editorialize, I’m really hoping last season’s purple jerseys aren’t being retired. Those were some of my favorite jerseys, not just in the league, but in hockey. Those need to be kept around in some fashion.

NEW SEASON

The new year officially begins Saturday, Sept. 24 with the USHL Fall Classic held at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa. The Phantoms play Waterloo on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Des Moines at noon on Sunday. Their next game is the team’s home-opener on Thursday, Oct. 13 against Madison.