RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sourcesJul. 29—GRAND FORKS — The Youngstown Phantoms' coaching search has taken an unexpected turn.
A little more than a week after Youngstown began working to finalize a deal to make Brad Berry its next head coach, the United States Hockey League team has relaunched its search.
According to a source, Berry decided to walk away from the job after contract negotiations with Youngstown's ownership/executive group.
Youngstown is looking to replace former coach Ryan Ward, who was recently announced as an assistant for the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League.
The Phantoms had a strong pool of candidates when they initially launched their coaching search a couple of weeks ago.
They zeroed in on Berry, who won an NCAA national championship and five Penrose Cups as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions during his 10-year run at UND.
Berry did not coach during the 2025-26 season. He earned nearly $500,000 from UND, which bought out the final season of his contract.
He was a head coach at UND from 2015-25 and had two stints as an assistant before that (2000-06 and 2012-15).
According to a source, Youngstown has now circled back to some of its original candidates.
Youngstown won the Clark Cup as United States Hockey League champions in 2023. The Phantoms won the Anderson Cup as the USHL's top regular-season team last season.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.