Ownership focuses on adding fans to Phantoms

New ownership team looks to kick-start interest in USHL hockey at Covelli Centre

By Kevin Connelly | kconnelly@vindy.com

Aafke Loney was standing in the newly remodeled Huntington VIP Lounge in the northwest corner of the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, looking down at rows of empty seats and a fresh sheet of ice last Thursday afternoon.

With eight days until the Youngstown Phantoms home opener, the new co-owner was admiring the freshly-painted, and slightly revamped, Phantoms logo at center ice for the first time.

“Last year, that logo drove me nuts,” she said, referencing the previous one that had been skated and driven over time and again.

“I said the first thing we need to do is get rid of that logo and replace it with a brand-spanking new one. We needed to change something right away, just to get that effect we were looking for.”

It hasn’t been easy, but since Aafke and her husband Troy became co-owners of the organization seven months ago, they’ve been hard at work changing the culture inside the arena and out. From fresh paint on the walls in the staff offices, to a new-look team shop, the Loneys are leaving no stone unturned as they try and kick-start hockey in the Mahoning Valley.

A BETTER FAN EXPERIENCE

The good news for the Loneys is the product on the ice doesn’t need overhauled. What head coach Anthony Noreen has built in his four years behind the bench is a team that plays a brand of hockey that’s easy for fans to get behind and cheer for.

The bad news for the Loneys is that there have been so few fans in the seats over the years, nobody knows how fun the team can be to watch.

First item on the check list this offseason was to create a complete fan experience. Aafka’s hope is that each aspect of that experience will come to fruition around the same time.

“Again, we’re really trying to figure out what we can do here because honestly, something’s got to change,” she said.

It hasn’t been easy for them to break down the old, bad habits of the front office and replace them with new, good ones in just one summer. One strategy they’ve implemented so far is showing their employees instead of just telling them.

After Troy and Aafke flew to Omaha to meet with the USHL’s Lancers to better understand how their franchise has become so successful, the new owners decided they needed more ears and eyes taking in the advice.

“I took a lot of their thoughts and ideas and ‘Phantomized’ it for up here,” Aafke said.

The next learning opportunity came from Fargo, as the Force visited Youngstown for a joint ticket sales seminar. The Phantoms’ staff focused on how to improve community tickets sales.

“The other teams around the league have been really good,” Troy said. “They have done a lot of different things [like] showing us promotional things. We’ve shared some of our resources, but it’s really been the moral support from everyone that’s the most encouraging.”

The last stop was perhaps the most important of all: Pittsburgh.

Over the past decade, the Penguins have used their success and resources to not only build a brand, but also invest in the sport’s future.

According to a 2012-13 study done by USA Hockey, Western Pa. experienced a 50 percent growth in participation since 2005. The number of players have increased every year since ‘05, peaking at 13,060 last season.

To piggyback off the NHL club’s success, the Loneys took their staff to Pittsburgh to meet with members of the Penguins organization.

“They have a strategic plan in place to build hockey in Western Pa.,” Aafke said.

“So we’re bringing that up here and going to try and put that into schools and hopefully work with the Penguins Foundation to be able to do that here.

“It’s taken Pittsburgh 10 years to get to where they are now, but it’s growing like crazy now. Of course Sidney Crosby doesn’t hurt,” Aafke added with a laugh.

BEING VISIBLE

Changing a culture within any company is a long-term plan. Both Troy and Aafke, along with the team’s other co-owner Bruce Zoldan, understand results aren’t going to happen overnight, or even over one season.

But that’s not why they invested in a struggling organization.

“We really do believe that we’re an excellent spot for people to come and have a good time, number one,” Troy said. “Sports is great, but you really become an entertainment value. I could do a bunch of different things, but I have to prove to the community that we’re a place to come and have a really good time.

“The community’s been really good about saying ‘Hey, we like what you’re doing, we hear your ideas, we’re willing to come down and support you,’ so that’s good news for us.”

It also helps to have a coaching staff as supportive and moldable as the one the Phantoms have in place.

Noreen was named head coach and general manger in 2011. In his first season, he gave the franchise its first Clark Cup playoffs appearance and followed that up with its first postseason series victory.

His second season was even more impressive. The Phantoms finished 37-27 with 74 points and set a new franchise high for wins. They fell one game short of a Clark Cup Final berth, but the standard had been set.

“I think back to some of the more full games we’ve had here, even in my second year when we were in the conference finals, the energy in the arena was unbelievable,” Noreen said. “There’s no doubt there’s teams in sports who get a couple extra wins a year because of the atmosphere.

“I think there’s no doubt the team we have and the product we’re going to put on the ice, along with the front office staff and ownership staff, we have one that the fans should be and will be excited about.”

This year’s home-opener is on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. While it might be show time for the team on the ice, the team off the ice looks at it as a new beginning.

The Phantoms have partnered with the Youngstown State football team to create a downtown package to promote Saturday’s events.

For $15, fans get a ticket to the hockey game in the afternoon, two burgers at Warehouse 50 downtown between games, a ticket to YSU Missouri Valley home-opener against Western Illinois, and a pizza after the game at V2.

“Our staff has been fantastic and we’ve all been brainstorming to add different kinds of neat things,” Aafke said. “We’re super excited for this weekend.”

Never wasting an opportunity to tweak, Aafke grabbed the club’s new in-game host to discuss strategy for opening night.

“I want you visible,” was her biggest request.

One could only feel she was speaking of the entire organization with those four simple words.