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Zoldan, Loneys enjoy promoting hockey
By Kevin CONNELLY
POLAND
Bruce Zoldan, the president and CEO of Phantom Fireworks and co-owner of the Youngstown Phantoms hockey team, has already made a believer out of people once.
And he’s determined to do it one more time.
“I had many friends tell me ‘Bruce, do something else in life. Don’t get involved in fireworks and don’t get involved in hockey,” Zoldan recalled at the Phantoms’ ninth annual Sticks to Clubs golf outing at The Lake Club on Monday.
“And they were dear friends who were sincere in what they said. They’re not people that I’m looking back at and laughing because they said, ‘Don’t do it.’ They gave me the opportunity to fight an uphill battle and to prove I believed in something and do it.”
Zoldan built Phantom Fireworks into a $100 million business. He knows the same isn’t possible with the Youngstown Phantoms, but that’s not going to stop him from continuing to build the hockey team’s brand in northeastern Ohio.
He had another opportunity to do that on Monday, where more than 100 people came out to The Lake Club to support the Phantoms. Among the names familiar to Valley residents was former Boardman High School and Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar and boxing champion Ray Mancini.
Co-owner Troy Loney, who has been busy this offseason replacing former general manger and head coach Anthony Noreen, was excited to see the turnout of local people interested in learning more about the Phantoms. He likens it to a similar situation he went through at his last stop.
“People understand who we are, but maybe not sure what we are all about,” Loney said. “It still sure feels like what the Penguins went through in the Pittsburgh area in the ’80s and ’90s.
“We hope that we can replicate the same thing here.”
Current Phantoms Matt Miller and Colin DeAugustine also participated in the golf outing. Miller, a native of East Palestine, has become one of the more familiar faces of the franchise over the years.
That role will expand even more now without Noreen and recent NHL draft pick Kyle Connor moving on from the USHL.
“Whatever these guys need me to do, I’m excited to do,” Miller said. “I love this community and the team I play for.
“A lot of people don’t know much about the game around here — trust me, I know that growing up here with my brother [J.T. of the New York Rangers] — but I think when people give it a shot they’ll love it every time.”
While to Phantoms continue to try and build around a loyal and passionate group of fans, any opportunity to add to their list of supporters is a good thing.
“Hearing from the guys I was playing with today that they’re excited to come out for a game and support us is exciting,” Miller said. “Just seeing the progress we’ve made from a few years ago is phenomenal.”
Zoldan credits his ability to put good, hard-working people around him as the biggest reason why his fireworks business was successful. He knows the addition of Troy and Aafke Loney will only improve his chances of making hockey work in Youngstown.
“I have a lot less years ahead of me than I do behind me,” Zoldan joked. “But I connect hockey, I connect fireworks and I connect the lifeline that I had — and that’s the Mahoning Valley.
“And those have all allowed me to be successful and help out a place that I love.”