43
Phantoms to skate 23 times at Chevrolet Centre
But a higher-level team will play at the center next year, Mayor Jay Williams vows.
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 season.
The deal signed Monday 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 Youngstown SteelHounds that played their 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 a higher-level league, Williams said. That would range from 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.
“Anything is possible,” he said.
The SteelHounds were kicked out of the Central Hockey League on June 2 over a financial dispute.
Without a team, the city spent the past few months exploring its options.
“There’s an obligation to keep the building as busy as possible and hockey is an important part of that,” Williams said.
The Phantoms played at Zoldan’s Ice Zone in Boardman. It will play 23 of its 28 home games this season at the Chevrolet Centre as well as any playoff games. The five other regular-season games will be played at the Ice Zone.
The SteelHounds played 32 home games a season.
Washington won’t be involved in the operations of the Phantoms.
He and Zoldan said they want to be involved in the future of hockey at the Chevrolet Centre. Williams said he wants the two local businessmen to be involved in hockey at the center.
Zoldan and Washington say they are talking about a joint venture, but are far from making a decision.
Washington said having the Phantoms at the center for one year “is good for the facility and good for the community. We’ll continue to work on the future.”
Ticket prices for the Phantoms will be less expensive than those for the SteelHounds, Williams said. Most tickets for SteelHounds’ games were about $8 to $12 each.
A press conference with the Phantoms and the center will be held today at the facility to provide further details of the contract.
skolnick@vindy.com