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And the streak continues. For the fourth year straight the Phantoms have kicked off the season against the NTDP's U18 squad and for the fourth time in as many seasons, we got beat. I won't sugar coat this one, for a good portion of this game it looked pretty ugly. The final score doesn't give the full story on the meltdown, 5-3 sounds respectable. However, 2 of those goals were scored very late when they really didn't mean anything and after a major loss of composure.

It started out well enough. The Phantoms looked to be on track in the first frame. Despite being outshot a little, we kept pace with the U18s. The NTDP got the first powerplay on a Nicholas Werbik penalty for hooking. Josh Norris took a long shot from the point and Phantoms netminder Darion Hanson was unable to corral the rebound and Brady Tkachuk managed to put the loose puck into the net to take a 1-0 lead 9:50 into the game. Just 0:25 late however, Griffin Loughran laid a nice drop pass into the slot for Coale Norris who ripped a shot to the fart post past NTDP goaltender Dylan St. Cyr. The 1-1 tie carried into the first intermission, shots 11-7 in favor of USA.

The second frame is where things began to break down. Despite Hanson making some really good save early in the period on a USA power play, a bad pass by Michael Karow just inside his own blueline lead to a Josh Norris unassisted snipe at 2:24. The NTDP added another one at 9:24 when Jacob Tortora chopped the puck which looked to still be behind the goalline after a bounce off the end boards. The puck somehow found a crack between Hanson and the post where no one else could see any daylight. Evan Barratt extended the lead to 4-1 at 13:03 with a deflection that bounced five hole on Hanson. The shots were almost even 12-11 USA but the score was looking a little lopsided after two.

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Week 2 is harder than the first week to preview. It always seems like I should have actual data and not just the preseason hype. So now I have to come up with something after last weeks fairly typical season opener against the NTDP 18s. To complicate matters this week we're back in Plymouth facing off against the NTDP U17 squad on Friday and Saturday. Needless to say, I don't have a lot of data on the U17s but don't think this is going to be any easier because they're so young. Last week in their season opener at home they beat Muskegon 7-2.

It's hard to quantify the U17. The majority of the team is unknown to me and they have only played a single regular season USHL game. Heck, most of what I know is because many of these kids have fathers with connections to the game. Some players have generated a bit of a buzz and one is Johnny Gruden. His dad, John, is better known, a former NHL player, assistant coach with the NTDP, and former coach of the OHL's Flint Firebirds. Yeah, the guy who got fired twice by the same owner in the same season before the OHL removed the owner. The younger Gruden is a a gifted forward who understandably chose the NTDP over the OHL. With good hands and vision, I think he's probably going to be a first or second round 2018 NHL draft pick. Another forward with a NHL connected father is Jack Deboer. His father, Peter, is a longtime head coach in the NHL, having coached the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils and now the San Jose Sharks. Jack is decent sized center for a '00 born player6'2", 180lbs. Another bigger '00 forward with an Jacob Pivonka, 5"11 and 190lbs, whose father Michal, was one of the all-time great Czech players and played 12 years for the Washington Capitals. On defense is the U17 that I most want to see, K'Andre Miller. Miller doesn't have an NHL famous father but  is quickly developing into an outstanding two-way defenseman who keeps things clean on the blueline and also provides a huge boost to the offense. And at 6'3", 192lbs you have to wonder what they're feeding these 2000s. If you're looking for kids with NHL players for fathers, there is Adam and Mattias Samuelsson - no relation to each other. Adam is the son of famous Pittsburgh Penguins agitator, Ulf Samuelsson, who won 2 Stanley Cups with the Pens in 91 & 92. At 6'5", 220lbs, Adam already is larger than his father and probably a little less of an instigator. Or at least I hope he's not the hit-man his dad was or we're in deep trouble. He's touted as a close down defender, as most would guess, and has a good reputation for his active stick on defense. Mattias is the son of Kjell Samuelsson, who spent 14 years in the NHL and won a Cup with Ulf and the Penguins in 92. At only 6'3" and 205lbs, he isn't the giant his dad was... yet. He does have a good shot and plays good defense and will probably be looking to make a name for himself. In net are two goalies I don't have much on. Keegan Karki earned a 2.00GAA and a .935 SV% in the first game. Ryan Ullan posted a 3.00 GAA and .889 SV% in preseason/exhibition.

Now for the Phantoms. We're still a team looking for identity and it's hard to build that playing against a non-standard organization like the NTDP. Coale Norris was rewarded with a goal for his hard work. He's a player I think could really be a major factor as his game develops. Alex Esposito has clearly elevated his game from last season and could be a very dominate player as well as a leader by example on the ice. Tommy Apap and Chase Gresock seemed to explode towards the end of the game, too late to change the outcome but definitely something that can be built on for this weekend. Max Ellis and Griffin Loughren skated well and Curtis Hall looked good, showing some growth in his game also. On defense, I thought Alec Mahalak quietly had a very solid game. I thought there were some mistakes made on defense as the game progressed but that was expected with the lack of USHL experience on the blueline. Darion Hanson didn't fare well in his first game. Pucks seemed to find ways into the net at times. I don't know how much I can fault the netminder in his first game and he made some top notch saves at times, but I feel he could have stopped one or two that went in and that could have swung the momentum in our favor. I'm pretty sure we'll see a split between the goalies unless the starter Friday has a really good or really bad game. A couple players were listed as injured scratches last week, maybe we'll see one or two of them healthy and inserted into the line-up or Andrew Petrillo, who was a health scratch on defense.

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 The second week of USHL action is in the books and the Phantoms put a pair of marks in the win column. Granted it was the U17 NTDP squad but the Phantoms looked impressive despite some mounting injury problems. Noah Lalonde and Garrett hall are both still sidelined and now team captain Tommy Apap missed the trip with an injury. Also, in addition to the injuries, Eric Esposito did end up with a 2 game suspension for the altercation with Brady Tkachuk from the previous game. This meant Sam Craggs finally got to see some ice time in a regular season game and affiliate Jack Malone got some USHL action early in the season.

Defenseman Marcus Joseph got things going for Youngstown on Friday. Just coming out of the penalty box and getting into the play, and with the Phantoms still with a man in the box, he took advantage of a Bode Wilde fumble on the blueline and took the puck up ice and slid a shot five-hole on USA netminder Keegan Karki 6:47 in. A little over halfway through the first USA failed to clear seveal times and Sam Craggs had a grade A chance go off the post and back out in front for Austin Pooley to pop in to make it 2-0. With 1:17 left in the frame, Evan Wisocky took a pass from Alex Esposito in the slot and despite a USA defender getting a stick on it, the puck found it's way behind Karki. Shots in the first period were 16-6 Phantoms.

The Phantoms went back to work in the second after USA almost got on the board, Joel Farabee being denied a shot by an agressive Ivan Kulbakov and the Phantoms defense clearing a puck laying still behind their netminders back. On an offensive zone faceoff, Pooley tied up his man and Chase Gresock moved in from the wing to grab the puck in the circle and snapped it passed Karki to make it 4-0. The NTDP would get on the boards a few minutes later with 5:08 left in the frame when defenseman Mattias Samulesson would get a rebound in the slot off a Farabee shot and burried it behind Kulbakov. Pooley would get it back with his second of the night with 1:11 in the second, firing a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. Shots in the second were 11-4 in favor of the Phantoms, the NTDP did not register a shot on Kulbakov for the first 14:05 of the period. Coale Norris scored the only goal of the final frame when Jack DeBoer failed to clear the puck on a weak attempt and put it on Norris's stick and Norris launched a missile from near the blueline to add insult to injury. The final score was 6-1, shots in the 3rd were 14-7 Youngstown and 39-17 in the game.