Phantoms will play 23 games at Chevy Centre

YOUNGSTOWN —The city has signed an agreement with the Mahoning Valley Phantoms junior hockey team to play 23 of its home games at the Chevrolet Centre this upcoming season.

The deal signed today is for one season. The team’s first game at the city-owned facility is expected to be the first weekend in November, said Bruce Zoldan, owner of the Phantoms.

“We’re also looking for the answer to the question of future seasons,” Mayor Jay Williams said.

Officials with the center, the city as well as Zoldan and Herb Washington, who owned the team that played its home games for the past three seasons at the facility, will work to attract a higher-level team for next season.

The Phantoms are a junior “A” North American Hockey league team with players ranging in age from 16 to 20.

The goal for the 2009-10 season is to have a team at the center that would play in the United States Hockey League, the highest level of junior hockey, up to the ECHL, Williams said. Formerly known as the East Coast Hockey league, each of its teams has a National Hockey League affiliation.

Zoldan said he could even see a team from the American Hockey League, the highest minor hockey league in the country, at the Chevrolet Centre next year.

For the complete story, read Tuesday’s Vindicator or vindy.com