Staff file photo / Brian Yauger Youngstown Phantoms defenseman Cal Huston celebrates after scoring a goal during the 2024-25 season. Huston will reunite with Anthony Noreen at Miami (Ohio) this season.

You could almost say that the stars aligned just right for former Youngstown Phantoms defenseman Cal Huston.

Huston fell in love with hockey at a very young age, watching the Youngstown SteelHounds play. As Huston grew, he got skates and a stick of his own and started playing for the youth Phantoms program. There, he crossed paths with Anthony Noreen, who was coaching the “big” Phantoms team at the time.

At that time, neither of them realized what that connection would become.

Huston adored the sport and was eager to learn, and that energy is infectious. The two formed a connection that remained even as the two went their separate ways.

“The first time I ever met Cal, he was three or four years old,” Noreen said. I was walking through the Deep Freeze lobby back to our office, and I was talking to someone. Cal came up, and pulled on my pant leg and asked me if I did hockey lessons. I told him to bring his equipment whenever he wanted, and he could come and jump on with us after practice, and sure enough, he did. He would come after practice and jump on the ice with us and skate. We passed pucks around with them, and I just remember a little kid that loved hockey.

“Obviously there’s a lot of little kids that love hockey, but this kid loved the game, wanted to be on the ice as much as he could and wanted to get better, even at a young age. He wanted to skate, wanted to handle pucks. He’d come out and skate with us after practice, and then he was also the first kid giving guys a high five when our guys would go take the ice for games.”

Now, the pair are reuniting this season at Miami University as Huston will be suiting up for the RedHawks in the fall.

As Huston started gaining interest from college programs, it didn’t take long for Miami to jump into the fray.

“I played a year in the NAHL in Maryland, and I had a little bit of traction there from some college teams, but nothing too serious,” Huston said. “Then pretty much as soon as I made that jump to the USHL, even at our preseason games, Miami’s assistant coaches were there – David Nies and Troy Thibodeau – so I got to build a relationship with them, and then at the Fall Classic, I got to reunite with (Coach Noreen) for the first time in a couple years. The relationship pretty much picked right back up from where it started.”

Huston’s visit to campus in Oxford was an emotional one.

“I mean, it almost brings tears to my eyes. Just like to come full circle and have a chance to now coach him at the college level. It was one of the more special things I’ve experienced since taking this job,” Noreen said. “When he came on his visit, we didn’t even tour campus, and we were both pretty much in tears, sitting down and talking to each other. It just felt like it was one of those things that was meant to be. I’m so proud of him, and so proud of what he’s become.”

After a 40-14-2-4 season and winning the Anderson Cup with the Phantoms during the 2014-15 season, Noreen left Youngstown to take a job coaching the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears. After a two-year stint in Florida, Noreen returned to the USHL as the coach of the Tri-City Storm. During his seven-year stint with the Storm, Noreen also served as GM for two seasons, then as president of hockey operations during the rest of his tenure.

Meanwhile, Huston improved his game. He left the youth Phantoms for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite AAA program, where he spent four seasons rising through the ranks. A fan of the Penguins growing up, Huston’s play with the Penguins got him attention from another childhood favorite, the Youngstown Phantoms.

In the 10th round of the 2022 Phase II Draft, Huston’s hometown team selected him.

Two years later, Huston played his first game on the same ice he watched his childhood heroes like Kyle Connor, Alex Gacek, Austin Cangelosi, and Matt O’Connor play. That same night, he became the first-ever Youngstown-born player to suit up for the team.

After two seasons growing his game at home with the Phantoms, Huston departs to continue his hockey career with the coach who first nourished his love of the game all those years ago. Now comes the next step: continuing to grow as a player and work toward his dream of being a professional hockey player.

“(I’m excited to advance) toward my goals ahead,” Huston said. “Obviously, you have the end goal of playing pro hockey, and you have your other goals along the way. My goal was to play junior hockey, which I did, and then get a college commitment, which I did, and I’ll play college hockey, which is coming up here. That’s something I’m really excited for. I’m excited for a fresh start, I’m excited to start school, excited to see a lot of new faces. A lot of it’s new to me, so I’m excited and ready to just take it all in.”

While a chapter of Huston’s career has come to a close, he’ll forever be a Youngstown kid.

“It’s been perfect, honestly,” Huston said of his time with the Phantoms. “From the staff, the guys, living at home, it’s unbeatable. I’m just extremely grateful that the Youngstown Phantoms organization gave me the opportunity to do that. And at the end of the day, I’ll always be a Youngstown kid at heart.”