43
Phantoms aim to average 2,500 Chevy fans
At least 23 home games will be played at the center.
YOUNGSTOWN — The owner of the Mahoning Valley Phantoms junior hockey team that will call the Chevrolet Centre home this season expects average attendance to be about 2,500 a game.
The team averages about 900 a game at its current home, the Ice Zone in Boardman, according to the North American Hockey League.
The Youngstown SteelHounds, the minor league hockey team that had spent the past three years at the center, averaged about 3,300 per game.
But Bruce Zoldan, who owns the team and the Ice Zone, said once local hockey fans give his team a look, they’ll be hooked.
The Chevrolet Centre can accommodate 5,500 for a hockey game compared to about 1,000 at the Ice Zone, its home for the past five seasons.
“Being here gives us a wider scope,” said Zoldan during a press conference at the center Tuesday.
The Junior A team will play at least 23 of its 28 home games at the center. The rest will be played at the Ice Zone.
The final schedule is expected to be released today.
Currently, the first Phantoms home game is set for Oct. 24. Zoldan wants to move that game to early November.
Upper reserve seats will cost $8.50, lower reserve seats will cost $10.50 and club seats will cost $12.50.
Tickets for the SteelHounds, the minor league hockey team that had spent the past three seasons at the center, ranged from $8 to $22 with most of them costing about $10 to $16 each, said Eric Ryan, the center’s executive director.
There will be more $8.50 seats available at Phantoms games compared to the SteelHounds, Ryan said. Also, club seats that went for $22 for the SteelHounds will be $12.50, he said.
Zoldan made several references Tuesday to people having concerns about the quality of the team’s play because of the age of the players; they range in age from 16 to 20.
While the players are young, they are solid prospects who play an excellent game, he said.
The city signed a deal Monday with the Phantoms to play one year at the center.
City and center officials didn’t want to go without hockey for the upcoming season.
The SteelHounds were kicked out of the Central Hockey League on June 2 over a financial dispute. Herb Washington, who owns the team, didn’t find a new league in time for this season, which starts next month.
“Hockey provides a much needed affordable family-fun [event] for the Chevrolet Centre,” Ryan said. “Hockey is essential to the success of the Chevrolet Centre. We really wanted to have hockey here.”
The SteelHounds still have office and locker rooms at the center, but are expected to vacate those spaces shortly, Ryan said.
Zoldan and Washington have expressed interest in owning a hockey team that would play its home games at the center for the 2009-10 season.
City and center officials are expected to make a decision on hockey for next season no later than January 2009, Ryan said.
“We’re going to look at every proposal we can,” he said.
As for the future of the Phantoms, that’s uncertain, Zoldan said.
The Phantoms can break even financially if it averages 2,000 fans a game, said Zoldan, who added he’s hopeful for 3,000 or 4,000 a game.
“I’m not in the sport to make money,” said Zoldan, who makes his money as the head of B.J. Alan Fireworks Co. “Hockey will always be a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The games will help the center’s bottom line a bit, Ryan said.
The Phantoms will pay $2,750 in rent to the center for games with up to 3,000 fans going to $5,000 per game for those with attendance of 5,001 or higher.
Center costs for hockey games are between $1,000 and $1,500, Ryan said. The facility also receives all of the concession money, he said.
Zoldan, who has declined to rent a luxury suite at the center during its nearly three-year existence, says he plans to do just that shortly.
“I’ll also be bending the ears of many of my friends to do the same,” he said.
skolnick@vindy.com