BEAVER TOWNSHIP — With 14 games remaining in the regular season, the Youngstown Phantoms once again find themselves square in the middle of the fight for the USHL’s Eastern Conference crown.

Jockeying for playoff position now and winning the coveted Clark Cup is paramount.

Third-year head coach Ryan Ward, who led the team to their only USHL title in his initial season (2022-23) at the helm, said this year’s team has been built and has all of the components in place to make a deep play-off run.

“We won the Clark Cup my first year as head coach, were runners-up in 2018 and I can tell you that winning the championship in front of a sold out Covelli Centre crowd was the highlight of my professional coaching career,” Ward told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “We have a group of players and staff who will always remember that and currently boast a very motivated group that is willing to do whatever it takes to win, to play for the city and logo on the front of their jersey. We are really excited about the group that we have here forging into spring.”

The Phantoms (31-16-1, 63 points) are currently tied with the Muskegon Lumberjacks for third-place in the Eastern Conference, a point out of second-place (Madison Capitols, 64 points) and five points behind the division-leading Dubuque Fighting Saints (68 points) with 14 regular season games remaining.

At 4-1 in their last five outings, the Phantoms and Capitols are currently the two hottest teams in the conference.

“Controlling our destiny is key,” Ward added. “We knew that we would come down the stretch controlling that destiny, had a ton of adversity at the beginning of the year but are finally healthy, have a full team for the first time all year and we feel good about that. We just have to be consistent, consistent about our identity, with how we play and for us, if we play how we know we can play then I don’t think winning the conference and to be honest, winning the whole league is out of our reach.”

On February 22, the team presented Ward with his 100th victory – a 5-4 win over Muskegon at home – and with a handful of games remaining in the regular season, will soon coach his 200th overall game as the Phantoms’ head mentor.

“It’s funny. You don’t really know about those milestones but when you take a moment and it hits you, and you reflect back on it, the one thing that comes to mind is how fortunate we have all been to work together for the last three years and turn Youngstown into a hockey town,” Ward added. “I’ve got great people that I work with, awesome players that have been here the last two and a half years. I’ve got a wonderful family and I’m just super excited about all the potential that we have here in Youngstown.

“To be able to be here and be successful is something that we certainly don’t take for granted. The most special part is that we have been really good at the Covelli Centre, really good in Youngstown and we’ve embodied what this city wants in its sports teams. Winning 100 games and coaching my 200th in front of the Covelli faithful, the supporters, season ticket holders and billet families means the world to all of us.”

This year’s roster stretches from Michigan to Massachusetts, Broadview Heights to Minnesota and Quebec, Canada to Russia. One player, Cal Huston, was born and raised in Youngstown so Ward knows the importance of a billet family and their hosting of a player over the course of the season.

“Billet families are the fabric of Junior Hockey,” Ward said. “It is amazing the support we have in Youngstown with all of our billet families. When we first took over it was a struggle. We were trying to find the right families and I can tell you right now, we have the best billet families, the most support and a surplus of families willing to house these players. When you look at the lifelong relationships and bond you end up having with your billet son or your billet family, that is something that is inexplicable to other sports yet a big part of our culture in hockey.

“Our No. 1 goal is to help these kids live their dreams, on and off the ice as hockey players and as people so I think the one thing we can all be really proud of in Youngstown, with our staff and players, is every single one of our young players has received a Division I college scholarship and we have had the most NHL draft picks, 14, over the past three years. That is more than any other Junior Hockey team in the world.”

Ward’s coaching philosophy has remained the same nearly 200 games after he first entered the bench area as head coach.

“We want to master and be really good at which we are good,” Ward said. “That is playing with a ton of emotion, caring about details and habits, wanting to be in the right spots and attacking you. We don’t ever want to be on our heels. We want to make sure that we are dictating the play and I think that comes with our identity, the consistency of how we have played the past three season. When you come to Youngstown and play the Phantoms, it is always going to be in your face hockey. If you aren’t ready for it, you are going to get smacked in the mouth. Our guys certainly have embodied that mentality so we must make sure that we are doing that on a consistent, 60 minute a night basis.”

Ward is assisted by Brandon Gotkin, associate head coach, Scott Gordon, an assistant with 30-plus years of professional experience along with Karl Linden, Ethan Goldberg and Neil Conway.

“Our staff works night and day to get these kids better,” Ward said. “We have the biggest staff in Junior Hockey and that is a huge credit to our ownership group, affording us the resources necessary to develop each and every one of these kids to their full potential. They work tirelessly, 24-7 to get these guys better. Being surrounded by people who are the best in their field just pushes everyone to get better. It certainly pushes me and that makes coming to work every day a pleasure because of them.”

Next Monday, Kevin Brogan, Hollywood Gaming Mahoning Valley director of marketing, will serve as guest speaker.