Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Phantoms captain Shane Lachance lines up a slap shot during warmup drills Thursday at Deep Freeze Ice Arena in Boardman.

One conversation with new Youngstown Phantoms captain Shane Lachance and it’s easy to see why he’ll be bearing the letter this season.

The 6-foot-4 left winger out of Andover, Massachusetts has had a busy offseason traveling all over North America. Now back in Youngstown with the season just a few weeks away, all that work over the summer is going to be put to the test.

“It’s been a longer offseason. Usually it’s just two to three months, but this year, we had about four months,” Lachance said. “I took a little bit of time off and then got back to it. I think everyone was eager to get back to Youngstown. I know everyone’s been working on getting faster, stronger and making a run this year.”

In his first season with the Phantoms last year, Lachance tallied 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists). The Phantoms captain compares his style of play to another big winger, Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk.

“I just like the way he plays,” Lachance said. “He’s a big left-shot winger, so I try to model my game after him.”

Lachance, a sixth-round selection by the Edmonton Oilers in 2021, spent time this summer at the team’s development camp. That experience is a sure-fire way to remind a player that there’s still a long road ahead until you’re in the show.

“It was a great experience,” Lachance said. “It kind of puts things in perspective a little bit. That’s the ultimate goal and it made you want to be there a little bit more. Being in the locker room and seeing those facilities, they’re unbelievable. I think it gave me that extra motivation that I want to get to this place.”

Phantoms coach Ryan Ward took the job in May and Lachance was one of the first players he met with. They happened to be in close proximity, so they met up and their visions for the team aligned.

“My family and I were back in Massachusetts visiting in laws and (Lachance) and I had a chance to go have lunch together and just talk about the past and his goals and our team moving forward,” Ward said. “I kind of set some expectations that I have for our group and how we want to be on the ice and off the ice and right from the get go, it was clear that Shane was a kid that could drive our team. We have a great locker room but for this particular group, there’s no better guy than Shane to lead our group.”

Part of that comes from his lineage.

Lachance comes from a deep pedigree of hockey talent. Maternal grandfather Jack Parker played at Boston University for three years and spent 44 years behind the bench for the Terriers, 40 of which were spent as the head coach.

Father Scott Lachance was the fourth overall selection in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. Scott went on to have a 13-year career as a defenseman, playing in 819 career NHL games and was an All-Star in 1997. He is still involved in the sport, working as the head U.S. scout with the New Jersey Devils.

Having a dad who’s been there before, Lachance got some solid advice from his father when it came time for last year’s draft.

“He just tried to tell me to enjoy it,” Lachance said. “It was a little different when he got drafted in 1991, but he just told me to enjoy it. He tried to step back as much as possible and not put pressure on me and force me to do things just kind of enjoy the experience and take it all in.”

Lachance will be following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps after this season, continuing his hockey career at Boston.

Before that however, Lachance still has this upcoming season in the USHL to worry about. With a letter on his chest and another year of training, expect Lachance to be a key part of the Phantoms success this season on and off the ice.

“You’ve got to win a Clark Cup right. That’s the biggest goal as a team,” Lachance said. “Individually, I just want to grow as a player and a person. Being the captain is a big task, but I think I’m up for it.”

Lachance and the Phantoms kick off the season 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. The team’s home-opener is on Thursday, Oct. 13 against Madison.

byauger@tribtoday.com