Mayfield of Dreams

Similar to how the first year for Ray Kinsella was difficult after he turned part of his corn field into a baseball field in the movie Field of Dreams, the Youngstown Phantoms' first year has also ended up fairly fruitless. The USHL expansion team actually went a respectable 12-11-1-1 prior to the Christmas Break, but 2009-10 quickly became a loss when the Phantoms went 4-20-0-0 from December 29 through February 28, and the team also struggled at the turnstile by averaging less than 2000 fans a game. However, people will come in 2010-11, people will most definitely come. Not necessarily a line of cars full of fans like the Phantoms would like, but NHL scouts will certainly make their way to the Covelli Center to see defenseman Scott Mayfield in action. The young blueliner has impressed in 2009-10 with his offensive vision, size, mobility, and physical game, and he may very well go the distance as an early-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft if he keeps it up and, in so doing, perhaps, help ease the team's pain.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Youngstown Phantoms in action once in October, twice in January, and once in February, and enters notes on the 2011-eligible Scott Mayfield and Matt Mahalak, as well as a few of the Phantoms' prospects in their second and third years of draft eligibility.

Scott Mayfield (2011), D, Youngstown

A real chance Mayfield is an early-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft .. employs a wide base backwards and maintains a low (power) stance .. has good speed backwards and lets his gaps shrink .. able to angle his man to the boards and rub him out .. also an adept stick checker .. does a good job of keeping his head up and not falling for opponents' jukes .. can lay out some huge shoulder checks when he gets ticked off .. has good speed and stride extension and good cruising speed with the puck .. has a crisp wristshot from the point .. makes smooth, crisp passes .. able to serve up some nice saucer passes .. adept at connecting on long-distance passes .. able to veil his intentions with the puck .. pinches in from the point now and again and gets involved offensively .. has good offensive vision and occasionally connects on passes you'd swear he couldn't have seen .. does a nice job drawing the puck off the boards .. a solid two-way defenseman with good size (6-foot-3, 185 pounds) .. I fully expect Mayfield to be better in his draft year (2010-11) than Chicago's Kevin Lind is this year in his draft year .. committed to Denver .. as of Feb. 28 he had 8 goals and 7 assists in 48 games.

Matt Mahalak (2011), G, Youngstown

Young goalie whom the USHL-caliber-of-play will force to make improvements to his game .. plays deeper in his crease than most USHL goalies, forcing him to rely on reaction time more .. still makes the majority of his saves in Allaire, backstop-like fashion, using his tall torso .. lateral movement needs a little work .. able to load up with one leg and get across his crease, but struggles when he tries to do it quickly .. not yet able to make going down, up, and over, or a combination of the three, in a smooth motion .. tends to be down, up, turn, and over, in distinct motions .. rebound control is also inconsistent .. seen him do a good job of directing rebounds into the corners, and have seen him where he struggles and gets beat on rebounds he shouldn't have allowed .. generally employs a compact butterfly .. gets into a trouble when he starts flopping or lunging forward on shots, defeating the advantage his large frame gives him .. would like to see Mahalak improve his technical game, because he'd really thrive with it given his size .. no college commitment of yet .. as of Feb. 28 he had played 1602:49 min over 28 games, had a 8-16-2 record, 0 shutouts, a 4.27 goals-against average, and a .867 save percentage .. played for Team USA's Under-17 Team at the Four Nations Tournament in November (filling in for injured John Gibson).

Daniel Senkbeil (2010), D, Youngstown

Was impressive in the preseason and early season, but seems to have lost a little confidence .. employs a wide based backwards, reduces crossovers, and can angle opponents without using crossovers ..lets his gaps close and will engage physically at the blueline or down low in the defensive zone .. utilizes leg drags well in his defensive zone .. has solid backward acceleration .. 6-foot-4, 185-pounder has a long reach for poke checks .. has a wide track to his skating and has a powerful stride .. also has good stride extension .. not as confidence with the puck as he was to start the season .. was a heads-up stickhandler who never looked down at the puck and could disguise his intentions, but now sees very few extended touches with the puck .. still shows poise with the puck, spinning away from checks or dragging it around opponents, but just doesn't exude the same confidence he did .. makes crisp accurate passes .. disappointed that Senkbeil didn't receive more of a chance to play on the powerplay this season, but maybe next year .. a long shot to be selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but will monitor him in his third year of draft eligibility, because he has a lot of solid tools to work with .. no college commitment of yet .. as of Feb. 28 he had 5 assists in 46 games .. also, as of Feb. 28, he did not register a point in his previous 24 games.

Ben Paulides (2010), D, Youngstown

Typically Youngstown's fifth or sixth defenseman, but sees regular icetime .. maintains a reasonably wide base backwards, lets his gaps close and engages physically .. able to angle opponents to the boards and rub them out at or just beyond the blueline .. does need to be careful to keep his elbows down .. also needs to refine his angling, because he does get sidestepped .. is 6-foot-2, 216 pounds and plays with a physical edge .. has decent speed with the puck and can employ some speed bursts .. makes hard, crisp passes .. has a hard slapper from the point .. like Senkbeil, who was his teammate with the San Jose Jr. Sharks, he probably wishes he received more powerplay time, but maybe next year .. a long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but will be interesting to see how he does in his third year of draft eligibility in 2010-11 .. no college commitment of yet .. as of Feb. 28 he had 2 goals and 3 assists in 47 games .. had a 23-game pointless streak Dec. 12 through Feb. 19.

Adam Berkle (2010), RW, Youngstown

Power forward has made solid progress this season .. 6-foot-4, 180-pounder can build good speed with the puck and power through checks and drive the net .. has the lateral mobility to adjust his positioning for one-timers .. displays some agility on the forecheck and can hound opponents .. has some slick stickhandling abilities and is adept at toe drags .. also able to make lateral stickhandling moves across his body to juke opponents .. does need to make sure he doesn't stickhandle with his head down, which he does too often .. able to use his reach and size to shield the puck .. plays with some physicality and will play the body along the boards .. also makes the occasional open-ice hit .. an extreme long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in his third year of draft eligibility .. still could use one more season in the USHL before moving to college hockey .. no college commitment of yet .. as of Feb. 28 he had 13 goals and 7 assists in 49 games .. scored 9 goals and 5 assists in 31 games from December through February .. had a three-game goal-scoring streak Feb. 26, 27, and 28.

Cody Strang (2010), RW, Youngstown

Former Wisconsin high school ace is providing a good two-way presence .. has good speed and quickness .. a heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options and shows some poise with the puck .. has decent shot power .. 5-foot-11, 165-pounder plays with a little physicality .. finishes his checks and also makes some open-ice hits .. puts in a good effort on the forecheck and can disrupt the opponent's breakout and create turnovers .. not uncommon to see Strang strip opponents of the puck on either the forecheck or the backcheck .. also does a good job of preventing shots and passes on the backcheck .. however, given his modest offensive production, he has very little chance of being selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, his third year of draft eligibility .. would like to see Strang return for one more year of USHL hockey before leaving for college hockey .. committed to Wisconsin .. as of Feb. 28 he had 7 goals and 9 assists in 37 games.