Posts Tagged ‘Brian Dowd’

The Youngstown Phantoms stretched their regular season record to 4-0 against the Chicago Steel.  Matt Mahalak gave up one late goal which spoiled his shutout bid, but the offense had enough to get him the win in taking down the Steel 3-1 in a game marred by a mele for the ages in the third period. Tom Serratore (pictured), the #1 Star of The Game had a goal and an assist.

The Phantoms got on the scoreboard first at the 16:35 mark of the first period as Taylor Holstrom connected just to Chicago Goaltender Nick Pisellini’s stick side.  Holstrom’s sixth on the season was assisted by Brett Gensler and Ben Paulides.  The goal would be the only score by either team in the first period and the Phantoms would take a 1-0 lead to the locker room for intermission.  The 16 shots on goal that the Phantoms took in the first period tied their season-high, an accomplishment met twice earlier this season.

There was no scoring in the second period.  Chicago had two powerplay chances and Youngstown had one, but nobody could find the nets.  The Steel outshot the Phantoms 11-5 in the period as Matt Mahalak was stellar between the pipes for Youngstown.

At exactly the 10 minute mark, Adam Berkle got his second goal in as many nights.  The goal by Berkle, which extended the Phantoms lead to 2-0, was assisted by Tom Serratore and Brian Dowd. 

All hell broke loose when Stuart Higgins and Alex Simonson were set to draw at the right faceoff circle in the Phantoms zone and  Simonson opted to sucker punch Higgins instead of trying to win the draw which prompted a pier six brawl with 9:01 left in the game.  Ryan Jasinsky was sent off for a ten-minute major minute fighting penalty.    Richard Young picked up another five for fighting penalty, an automatic ejection because it was his second fight on the evening.  Newcomer Jiri Sekac even got tossed but surely gained the respect of his new Phantoms mates.

At the 15:24 mark of the third, Mark Anthione broke up the Mahalak shutout bid with a goal.  Jake Chelios and Andrei Kuchin picked up assists on the goal that cut the Phantoms lead to just a 2-1 margin.

With 3:26 left in the game, the Phantoms Tom Serratore answered off of a nice pass from Nick Czinder.  For Serratore, it was his fifth on the year and Czinder picked up his fifth assist of the season to reclaim a two goal lead for the Youngstown Phantoms which is how this one would end.

Coach Bob Mainhardt was very satisfied.  “These last two nights were probably the best 120 minutes of hockey we played.  Give credit to Matt Mahalak, the kid will be an NHL goaltender someday.  I was happy with the complete effort we got tonight.”

Mahalak praised his defense.  “They were diving and blocking shots, I was able to see everything that I stopped and that is a credit to the team.  We are really starting to pick it up.  We knew who their shooters were with Anthione and Wolfe, and what our defense wasn’t blocking I was able to stop for the most part.” 

    

Richard Young Tilt-O-Meter:

Coming into 12/5 Chicago game:  94 Penalty Minutes (USHL Leader)

After the 12/5 Chicago game:  104 Penalty Minutes

A trend with Richard Young has been developing over the past few games.  Behave for the first two periods and go nuts in the third.  Tonight was no exception as Young and Charlie Thauwald dropped the gloves for a second consecutive night.  There were no cheap WWE takedowns in this one as Young and Thauwald traded punches with Young landing the big blow in the end.  The result was five more minutes in the box for the USHL leader in penalty minutes.  Young was ejected for a second fight giving him ten minutes on the evening.  Young spoke after the game saying, “Gotta give the people what they want.  They want to see a fight, they like the hitting, and we delivered tonight with both.”

The Chicago Steel rolled into town for a one game battle with the Youngstown Phantoms.  With only one first period goal scored, it looked to be a defensive struggle with a mistake proving to be a difference either way.  All hell broke loose in the second period as the two teams combined to score eight goals.  The game even was extended, tied at the end of regulation, in a true battle of wills.  Tom Serratore (pictured) broke the tie with an OT game-winner vaulting the home team to victory in a 7-6 battle for the ages. 

The Steel hit the scoreboard first at the 14:51 mark of the first period. Alex Carpenter knocked home his fourth goal of the season and was assisted by Andrew Schmit. Phantoms Goaltender Matt Mahalak had turned away two previous attempts before giving up the goal that he probably never saw.

The first period was filled with hard-hitting action and no penalties. Chicago shot more than twice as much as the Phantoms, holding a 15-7 edge in attempts for the period. The first period lead for Chicago was a welcome omen as the Steel were undefeated when ahead after one period (5-0-1), but that very omen was broken in Youngstown.

The Phantoms had the first power play of the evening but surrendered the second Chicago goal shorthanded. Greg Wolfe knocked one in off of the pipe to Matt Mahalak’s left to increase the Steel lead to 2-0.

Seconds later, on the same power play, the Phantoms retaliated with a goal of their own. Tom Serratore connected on the power play chance, assisted by David Donnellan. For Serratore, it marked the third time he found the net this season and the Phantoms cut the lead to 2-1.

Before the music was even done playing, Chicago cashed in on another shorthanded chance. This time Mark Anthoine took a pass from Andrei Kuchin to increase the Steel lead to 3-1.

The offensive fireworks continued as Ryan Jasinsky got in on the action. Jasinsky’s third goal of the year came at the 6:30 mark of the second period on a beautiful pass from Brian Dowd.

A minute later the Phantoms tied the game at three goals apiece when Donnellan connected from just inside the blue line. For Donnellan, it marked his first goal of the season and he was assisted by Jefferson Dahl. It was another shorthanded goal, this one for the Phantoms.

The crazy pace continued as the two goaltenders were getting beat like swiss cheese. The Phantoms went ahead at the 9:44 mark of the second on a Nick Czinder power play goal. Czinder was assisted by Dowd and Donnellan on a couple of pretty passes.

Chicago responded quickly as Mark Adams connected on a power play to tie the game back up. Adams second goal of the season was assisted by Alex Carpenter and Wolfe at the 10:33 mark.

Another power play chance paid dividends for Chicago as Adams connected for the second time on the evening putting the Steel back on top, 5-4. On the goal, Greg Wolfe picked up his third point of the night with an assist.

At the 5:40 mark of the final period, Carpenter picked up his second goal of the game for Chicago. Jay Camper racked up an assist on the Steel goal which extended their lead to 6-4.

At the 9:04 mark in the third, Andrew Lamont picked up his third of the year to bring the Phantoms within one at 6-5. The assists on the goal went to Scott Mayfield and Taylor Holstrom.

Youngstown tied the game at the 11:14 mark on a breakaway headed by Holstrom who fed Czinder. The goal tied the game at 6 and the Covelli Centre was jumping and loud with the resiliency of this young Phantoms team.

Regulation came to an end with the score tied at 6-6. Give the Phantoms credit for biting and clawing their way back to tie the first-place Steel. Three weeks ago, being down two goals that late in the game would have resulted in doom. Coach Mainhardt and Coach Carr deserve credit as these young men are really buying into a system that has been paying off.

In the overtime, the Phantoms connected at the 1:16 mark as Serratore connected from the left face-off circle. What a win for the Phantoms! Serratore was assisted by Holstrom on the game-winner.

Coach Mainhardt said the win did not come the way he would have expected. “It was a great game for the fans, but you had two coaches pulling what little hair we have left out. It’s baby steps, but the group is really starting to pull together and treat each other like family.”

Tom Serratore, who got his first-ever OT game-winner was elated. “It was great. I got my first USHL overtime goal and I was just happy that we could pull out this win.”

New Feature. Introducing The Richard Young tilt-o-meter

Tilt-o-Meter for 11/14 game vs Chicago: 7

On a scale of 1-10, Richard Young can be gauged of being on tilt every night. To what degree? Check the Paneech.com Richard Young tilt-o-meter for a nightly ranking. Young leads the USHL in penalty minutes with 70. He added to his total with 5 more for fighting in the second period. He also picked up a two-minute minor for hooking in the third.

New total: 77 minutes.

It was a special Friday the 13th at the Covelli Centre. There were bombs and fireworks, Joey Fatone and Guy Fieri, and the Youngstown Phantoms and Green Bay Gamblers providing spectacular USHL Hockey action in front of a good crowd. There was a lot at stake in this game. If the Phantoms could get a win, they would be playing for first place against idle Chicago on Saturday.   Unfortunately, the home team came up a bit short in dropping a 4-3  verdict to the visiting Gamblers.

The Green Bay Gamblers took a 1-0 lead with just 45 seconds left in the first period. Ryan Furne connected to beat Matt Mahalak from 15 feet in a mad flurry of action on an unassisted chance. The first period would come to a close as Green Bay outshot Youngstown 13-8.

After a Richard Young fight riled the crowd up a bit, Jefferson Dahl connected on a power play goal to tie the game at the 4:50 mark of the second. For Dahl, it was his fourth goal on the year and he was assisted by Andrej Sustr. For Young, the season total on penalty minutes climbed to 60, most by a Phantom. I am going to buy him his own camera to snap me some photos when they move his locker plate to the box.

Green Bay reclaimed the lead when Anders Lee scored his second goal in as many games at the16:57 mark.

The lead would be short lived as Green Bay went on the power play and Brett Gensler connected for a shorthanded goal. The goal was Gensler’s ninth, ironically tying him with Lee for second in the USHL for second. Lee had scored his ninth just seconds earlier for Green Bay. At the end of two periods, the score was tied at 2 and the stage was set for a thunderous ending.

During the second intermission, Guy Fieri of cooking fame, hosted a meatball eating contest at mid-ice. Joey Fatone was also nearby,  but incognito, disguised as the Phantoms Mascot (see above right). The two celebrities made appearances and mingled with fans throughout the evening.  On the left, Fatone is pictured with Phantoms President, Alex Zoldan.

With 8 minutes left in the game, Richard Young was ejected for fighting, With Matt Stewart serving a Green Bay penalty and the teams playing four-on-four, Anders Lee scored again to give the Gamblers a 3-2 lead at the 12:09 mark.

With 3:22 left in the game, the Gamblers took advantage of a two-man advantage to increase their lead to 4-2. David Makowski scored on the Gambler power play and was assisted by Mr. Everywhere for Green Bay, Anders Lee.

A minute and eight seconds later the Phantoms scored to make it 4-3. The goal was scored by Joe Zarbo who was assisted by Brian Dowd on a successful power play conversion. The Covelli Centre was jumping as the Phantoms had a chance to pull off an unlikely comeback with 1:38 remaining.

Green Bay held off the mad charge to come away with a hard-fought victory. The Gamblers took 27 shots on goal as compared to the Phantoms 23.

After the game, Coach Bob Mainhardt was not upset with his team’s effort.  “I’m not uspset at all.  Quite frankly, it was probably the best 60 minutes we have played in a long time.  If we can continue to play with that level of effort we will be just fine.  We will take the positives out of this tonight and turn it against Chicago tomorrow.  Our guys aren’t real happy that they played so hard and came away the loser tonight.”

First place Chicago is rolling into town atop the standings.  Tomorrow is a special night and in my eyes, the most important promotion of the year.  A donation of $3 for every ticket sold will be donated to the Luke Holko Foundation.  Please make an effort to attend this game to assist the Holko family during a very rough time.  I will have my blue “Pray For Luke” armband on, stop by and say hello.

When things seem to be going your way, they really are.  The Youngstown Phantoms couldn’t buy a break in their first three home games.  On this night, seemingly everything went the Phantoms way in a 3-2 victory over a very respectable Green Bay Gamblers team.  Matt Mahalak (pictured) stopped 33 shots in net and the Phantoms were limited to just nine shots of their own in the victory.

The Phantoms were first to score in this one as Taylor Holstrom connected at the 12:12 mark of the first period. The goal was Holstrom’s fifth and was the second game in a row he was able to tally. Nick Czinder was credited with an assist, his third consecutive game with a point. The first period would end with Youngstown holding a 1-0 lead on the Holstrom goal.

The Phantoms took advantage of a Gamblers penalty at the 6:17 mark of the second period when Scott Mayfield scored his fifth goal of the season.  Mayfield was assisted by Dan Senkbeil on the power play score that saw the Phantom lead increase to 2-0.

Brian Dowd’s fourth goal of the season increased the Phantoms lead to 3-0. Dowd was the recipient of a beautiful feed from Andrej Sustr who took a lead pass from goaltender Matt Mahalak, both credited with assists. The goal came at the 12:43 mark of the second. With only seven shots on goal, the Phantoms were playing the most effective hockey they possibly could to this point. The assist credited to Mahalak was the first point recorded by a Phantoms netminder on the young season.

At the end of the second period, Green Bay had 20 shots on goal and nothing to show for it. The Phantoms, on the other hand, only took eight shots on goal but were successful on three of the eight shots to hold a 3-0 lead.

The Gamblers hit the scoreboard at the 6:35 mark of the third period when Anders Lee connected on his eighth goal of the season. Anders was assisted by Nick Jensen and Matt Stewart.

Brett Gensler was awarded a penalty shot when he was pulled down from behind on a breakaway chance at the 9:59 mark. Steve Summerhays turned Gensler away on the chance to keep the score 3-1 in favor of the Phantoms.

Just eleven seconds later, Ryan Furne connected on a quick strike to put the Gamblers one goal away at 3-2. Furne was assisted by Lee on the goal, and suddenly the Phantoms went from a potential 4-1 lead on the Gensler penalty shot to just a 3-2 advantage.  Fortunately for Youngstown, the Gamblers were unsuccessful in trying to knot the game and time would also be on Youngstown’s side as the home team was able to hold off a furious Gamblers rally in the final session.

Matt Mahalak was sensational  for the Phantoms between the pipes as the Gamblers took almost four times the shots as the Phantoms did. Mahalak improved to 4-1-1 on the season in stopping 33 shots. The Phantoms managed three goals on just nine shots.

Coach Bob Mainhardt was thrilled by the effort put forth by Mahalak.  “We definitely got a little lucky tonight.  Thanks to Matt Mahalak, we were able to pull that one out.  We had some really good opportunities, but we were killing penalties almost the entire second period.  Give my guys credit, they stayed pretty focused.”

Sixteen-year-old Matt Mahalak was also happy to get a win at home.  He was not even with the team last week as he was representing the US team in Slovakia.  “I played with the USA under 17 team and we went 3-0 in Slovakia.  It was a tremendous experience and I got to play against the host team.  I got to work with alot of people and pick up some pointers.  It was great to come back, get my first start at home and help the team get a win.”

Several Phantoms regulars were not dressed for action.  Goaltender Jordan Tibbett will be sidelined at least a couple of weeks with a broken hand.  Richard Young had stitches in his leg but is expected to return to action this week.  Luke Eibler, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, is also expected to dress for both games this weekend.

The Phantoms improved to 7-4-1 with the win and Green Bay dropped to 7-4-2.  These two teams will hook up again this week on Friday night.  Joey Fatone, of N’Sync and Dancing With The Stars notoriety, and celebrity chef Guy Fieri will be on hand for Friday’s game.

Saturday will be a special night.  Anyone who reads this page regularly knows how much I support the fundraising efforts of Luke Holko.  Saturday, $3 of every ticket sold will be donated to the Luke Holko Foundation.  Please come to this game if you have not had the opportunity to check out the Phantoms yet.  If I were on a gameshow playing for a charity, this would be the one I would select.  For the hockey community that may be unaware of who Luke Holko is or how he was injured by a foul ball at a Scrappers game this Summer, feel free to click here for a story published on Paneech.com the night the incident happened.  Please stop by the Vindicator press box and say hello.  For those who do not know who I am, I will be wearing my blue “Pray For Luke” bracelet.

The Youngstown Phantoms built up a four-goal lead over the first period and a half of hockey.  Des Moines fought and clawed their way back, but it was too little, too late.  When the zeroes hit the board and the final buzzard sounded, the crowd at The Covelli Centre breathed a sigh of relief as the hometown Phantoms were victorious, 5-4, to run a franchise-high winning streak to four.

Youngstown wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Brian Dowd netted his third goal of the year at the 1:29 mark.  The goal was scored on a power-play and Dowd was assisted by Brett Gensler putting the Phantoms in front early.  The Phantoms would end the night 2 for 6 on power-play chances.

Less than a minute later, at the 2:18 mark, Des Moines got an unassisted goal from Ryan Walters, his fifth on the season, to tie the contest at 1-1. 

The Phantoms pulled back in front on a Nick Czinder goal, his fourth, to reclaim the lead 7:14 into the game.  Andres Sustr racked up his sixth assist of the year on Czinder’s goal.

Almost eight minutes later, Taylor Holstrom connected on an unassisted power-play goal to increase the Youngstown margin to 3-1.  The two power-play goals scored against the Buccaneers were a rarity.  Going into this game, Des Moines had only surrendered seven power-play goals on the entire season.

The first period would come to an end with the Phantoms ahead 3-1, but the fireworks went off at the 18:04 mark as Richard Young and the Buccaneers Brandon Carlson dropped the gloves.  Young  took a couple of punches with little-to-no effect before flooring Carlson.  The two players received 5 minute fighting penalties and Young received an extra 10 minutes for misconduct.  Young would also serve a penalty in the third for too many men on the ice for a grand total of 17 penalty minutes on the night.  

The Phantoms started the second period in a rush when Adam Berkle connected for his fourth of the year.  Berkle was assisted by Stuart Higgins on his fourth of the year just :39 into the new stanza putting Youngstown in front by the score of 4-1.

At the 8:37 point of the second, Gensler scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season on an unassisted chance from close range.  The goal by Gensler, the #1 Star of The Game, put the Phantoms up 5-1 in what was shaping up to be a blowout.

Goals by Taylor Wolfe and Dan O’Donoghue later in the second period cut the Phantoms lead to 5-3 heading into intermission.  The insurmountable 4-goal lead was cut in half.  Statistically, Youngstown had somewhat of a mental edge at this point as Des Moines carried an 0-5 record if they were behind going into the final period.

With just over ten minutes left in the game, Des Moines Defenseman H.T. Lenz snuck one by Jordan Tibbett to cut the lead to 5-4 in favor of Youngstown. 

After a few rushes and a couple of great stops by Tibbett, the Phantoms played the last two-and-a-half minutes with at least a one-man advantage and successfully worked the clock down to secure the victory.  With the 5-4 triumph, the Phantoms climbed to 6-4-1 and won back-to-back home games in sweeping the Buccaneers.

Jordan Tibbett picked up both the Thursday and Friday victories between the pipes for the Phantoms.  Tibbett was praiseworthy of his defense after the game.  “We have done a great job of communicating and I’m seeing most of the shots while they are picking up the rebounds.  I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

Coach Bob Mainhardt seemed relieved at the two home wins.  “It’s been a long time coming.  We have worked hard so it is nice to get a reward.  We know we have more work to do to get better.  We let teams stick in games that we shouldn’t so we have some room for improvement, but right now, we are pretty happy.”

The Phantoms return to action on Wednesday against Green Bay at home.  The puck hits the ice at 7:15 and Youngstown hockey fans are encouraged to give this team a chance and take in a game. 

Bob Mainhardt has been around the sport of hockey most of his life.  He now finds himself in Youngstown, Ohio, not exactly a hockey hotbed (yet).  Mainhardt likes his role with the Youngstown Phantoms leading into their inaugural season and thinks the valley will enjoy the level of hockey they will see played at The Covelli Centre this Fall.  I recently had a candid interview with Mainhardt in his second floor office at The Covelli Centre. 

Paneech:  Having covered the Mahoning Valley Thunder Arena Football Team, I noticed people were priced out of coming to games here.  There was $10 parking, $6 beer sales, and the team was not winning.  Has the Phantoms organization expressed fear in those three factors of playing at home and potentially not drawing decent-sized crowds?

Mainhardt: I think both the city and the management team here at The Covelli Centre have really taken strides to strengthen our relationship.  We are going to have more specials, we are aware of the current economy and know that these type of things can be too pricy.  I think you will see some modest adjustments that will help make coming to a home game more attractive for a family.  We also feel that we are going to have a winning team, I think that always helps.

Paneech:  Explain the difference of the level of hockey the Phantoms will play at compared to the level that last year’s area representative, the Steelhounds, competed at.

Mainhardt: This level [USHL] is drastically closer to the professional level.  The guys playing in this league are just bigger, stronger, faster, and better players.  What we had here before were the best guys that were not able to play in this league, and now we have essentially the greatest players in the world at this age level.

Paneech:  What are the chances of seeing someone who plays in the USHL move on to the NHL someday?

Mainhardt: It’s very likely.  It’s a double-edged sword for a coach, but that is our goal, to get players to the NHL.  We have Ryan Jasinsky, who is one of our forwards this year.  He is headed to Washington Capitals Camp, and they may very well sign him to a contract.  If he signs, we replace him and move forward, if not, then we will expect to have him back here.

Paneech:  Talk about Jordan Tibbett, a goalkeeper who played for the Steelhounds here last year.

Mainhardt:  Jordan has played in the USHL, he is a very highly touted goaltender and ran into problems with not performing the way he needed to.  We feel we have developed him to the point where he is ready to step back into the USHL and prove that he is an NHL-caliber goaltender.  Some people had given up on him, but we saw that he had all of the tools and just needed to mature a little bit.  We feel that he has done that.

Paneech: Tell me who the big playmakers on this team can be?

Mainhardt:   Well, we have a few.  Brian Dowd had great college numbers at Niagara.  He is very skilled, he is a Sidney Crosby-type of player.  Aside from that, we have some really good playmakers on the blue line.  We have some defensemen who can really generate some offense.  Alot of our defensemen are prototypical NHL defensemen that are big and mobile.  Two of our defensemen are over 6’6″, two are over 6’4″, and two that are over 6’3″, so we’ve got a big group that can move.

Paneech:  Talk to me about the offensive style we should expect to see the Phantoms play.  Will it be a press, will you dump and chase, or will it be dictated by the situation.

Mainhardt:  They say defense wins championships.  We are definitely an offensive-minded team.  We want to have control, but we want to put the other team in bad situations.  We will play a very uptempo offense and be very physical, that’s always been my style.  That’s how these players will get to the NHL, by hitting and generating offense. 

Paneech:  I want to give the readers a better idea of where the USHL ranks as compared to a major-league baseball farm system.  Can you make an analogy that people would be able to put into perspective?

Mainhardt: I guess if I had to draw a comparison to baseball I would call it Double-A.  The next step for many of these guys will either be college or the American Hockey League.  The elite of this league, however, will go directly to the NHL.  These players will get drafted, weigh their options, some will go to college for a year or two and get their education paid for.  In the NFL, there is nothing worse than seeing your favorite college player leave early and he ends up getting drafted in the 4th round by the worst team and doesn’t make it.  So these guys know now if they should go take a shot at the pros or go to college for a couple of years.  Another way to look at it is this, McDonald’s has a basketball game for the best players that sells out arenas every year.  If you took the best Freshmen out of college and it was hockey, that’s what you would have with this league.

Paneech:  Talk to me about your backround in hockey.

Mainhardt: I grew up in Detroit and played all of my youth hockey in Detroit.  From there, I played Junior-A in the North American League which is the league we [Steelhounds] used to be in.  I then moved up to the USHL and had the dreams of pro hockey but didn’t get drafted so I went the college route and wound up playing at Kent State University.  I then had a tough decision after a series of shoulder injuries and had to make a decision that every athlete hates to make [retirement], but had to make it much sooner than I would have anticipated.  I chose to carry out my education and later pursue a career in coaching.

Paneech:   Amateur hockey bores the casual fan because there are no fights.  On the converse, professional hockey draws fans because of fights.  What is the league policy on fighting?

Mainhardt: Again, our main goal is to develop players for the NHL.  The NHL has fights.  We do not, nor does the NHL anymore, have a true goon, someone who is here for just fighting.  What you will find is guys that are big and tough and know that in order to make it to the NHL, they not only have to score goals and be tough, but they must be able to fight as well.  At this level, you will see alot of fights where guys are genuinely angry with each other.  You might not have the quantity, you might not have seven fights that quite frankly are more show than they are go, but you will have those two or three that are good fights where guys are upset and want to prove their point.  We have some guys that the fans will identify really quick as guys that are not going to take anything too lightly out there.

Paneech:  With your time spent in Detroit, are you a Red Wings fan?

Mainhardt: I am a Red Wings fan by birth.  I will tell you that during the finals last year, I was very torn between Pittsburgh and Detroit.  At the end of the day, I was really pulling for Pittsburgh.  I really like what Mario Lemieux has done there and how the city has gotten around that team.  I know there are alot of Penguins fans in Mahoning and Trumbull County.  They [Pittsburgh] did everything right and there was nothing to dislike about that team.  If my Red Wings come in second, that’s fine.  They had a good showing, but it was Pittsburgh’s year. and I was happy that they won it.

Paneech: Talk to me about someone I despise, Don Cherry.

Mainhardt: Don has alot of great thoughts.  Unfortunately, he isn’t able to get that through to most people because he clouds it with so much BS.  I think he is good for the game, kind of like the rogue wrestling manager that interferes and hits the wrestler with a chair.  He is the guy that everyone can kind of like to hate.  Don is still a little too much smoke and mirrors.  Barry Melrose has become the American version and he is much more knowledgable and factual and someone I feel is a great ambassador of the game.  I feel those are the type of guys we need a little more of and a little less of the biased guys like Don Cherry.

One Word Answers

Favorite all-time NHL player?  Gordie Howe

Best Goaltender To Ever Play The Game?  Patrick Roy

Favorite Meal of The Day:  Lunch

Favorite Area Restaurant:  MVR Club

Second Favorite Sport:  Soccer and Baseball are very distant runner-ups.

Television:  UFC and Lost

Favorite Flavor At Handel’s:  Coffee Chocolate Chip

Perfect Day Off: Taking my three daughters to the zoo and then heading to Ikea and letting the kids free in the play area while my wife spends some money on something nice. 

Favorite Fruit: Strawberries

Favorite Vegetable: Peppers

Favorite Music: The Clash and Pearl Jam

Mainhardt stressed that his biggest wish is that the area gives this league and the Youngstown Phantoms a fair look and tries to get to some games.  I tend to agree that this developmental league will yield a good amount of talent into the NHL and am really looking forward to covering this season.