Steelhounds hockey is enough to warm the heart of a Youngstown fan

EDITOR:
As many as 15 years ago, I wrote and talked about Youngstown as a potential haven of professional hockey success to anyone who could read or would listen.
But enough about me.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, the Youngstown area closed the deal and bought into the notion of hockey being an outrageously wonderful, local in-person spectator sport. Or at least the 5,212 people at the Youngstown Convocation Center did. An exciting come-from-behind win by the Youngstown Steelhounds helped. And I'm willing to bet that each of those new fans of Youngstown hockey will tell 10 of their friends about the spectacle, fun, and excitement. And so on and so on.
It's a moment for the Mahoning Valley to relish for the ages.
It does not matter who gets the credit as much as it matters that enough people had sufficient vision and courage to see the Convocation Center and the 'Hounds become a reality. And as anyone in attendance at the inaugural Steelhound home game will attest, it is deserving of our support.
There's no question that fans, even after just one home game, have bought into the team. Jeff Christian, the Steelhound left winger who scored all four goals in Friday night's Youngstown win, will probably field dozens of marriage proposals from enamored young women in the crowd. Of course Jeff's wife Dorie might be offended. And the team will collectively hold a very warm spot in the community's heart for their classy, genuine post-game gesture of raising their sticks at center ice to salute the fans.
"Youngstown won't relate to hockey." Whoever said that would have been slack-jawed at the sight of scores of fans who came to the game dressed not only in the garb of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but jerseys (or as they are more appropriately called by our Canadian friends, sweaters) of the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and even -- God bless 'em -- Hartford Whalers, not to mention the Steelhounds and many others. Many of those adorned in such manner were attractive young women. So take a hint, guys.
But regardless if a person who bought a ticket to Friday night's game was completely uninitiated to hockey or a grizzled old NHL fan like me, everyone had a great time and held one especially common feeling as expressed by a young man at one of the crowded establishments downtown after the game: "Youngstown is happening again." Indeed it is.
The night was not without its drawbacks, but in the general scheme of things they were minor, things that will be improved as the learning curve advances. Things such as figuring out a better way to manage ticket windows so the will-calls, walk-ups, and already-got-my-ticket holders don't converge in an impromptu lobby line dance. And I was expecting Steelhound goals to be gleefully heralded with shrieking sirens or thundering horns. Ah, minor details.
Mostly, though, the event had the polished feel of a "big city" game. Yes, the beer prices were big city, too, but I figure the local beer guys are paying a small fortune to support the convocation center through their pouring rights, so, OK, I'll still belly up to the concession stand and do my part even if it costs 5 bucks and a quarter. No one will have to twist my arm. And it'll discourage over-drinking. Besides, the nachos were great and reasonably priced.
If Youngstown's first professional hockey game is an indication, we'll all be dancing in the aisles like the children in the Family Section who danced with the Lady Steelhounds. From where I sit, there's only one major disappointment to this whole new business of minor league hockey in Youngstown: By the time this letter is published, there will only be 30 home games left.
CHRIS TRAVERS
Youngstown