The Adirondack Flames, Glens Falls’ new American Hockey League team, has provided more details on its inaugural season as it transitions to its new home.
Thursday in Glens Falls, Adirondack Flames President Brian Petrovek gave an update on how the Civic Center’s new team is settling in. He outlined that the team is assembling its full-time staff, the offices have been painted white and red to match the team’s colors, and that much of the work ahead will be to reach into the community and get fans ready for first game of the season this fall.
“We will be opening our schedule, opening our season, our inaugural season on Saturday, October 11th. It will be 7 o’clock," said Petrovek.
Petrovek said more than 800 season tickets have already been sold in the past 30 days, and the Flames are hoping to increase that number to 1,300. Fans of the recently departed Adirondack Phantoms, who moved back to Pennsylvania after five years in Glens Falls, have been able to retain their seats with the new team. But Petrovek said the team is looking to find the Glens Falls hockey fans dating back to the Adirondack Red Wings area, a team that often captivated the Civic Center for two decades before leaving in 1999.
Petrovek said the Flames will target hockey fans from across the region.
“We’re trying to cast our net a little bit wider. So we’ve been spending a considerable amount of time looking beyond just Glens Falls as a core market – we can’t survive as a businesses with just focusing on Glens Falls. So we’ve been putting a lot of time and energy, and we’ll continue to do that, by reaching out to Saratoga and by going as far north as Rutland.”
Petrovek said the focus will be on the fan experience. Upgrades are planned for the marquee outside. Holding up his iPhone, Petrovek said improvements will help fans share more moments on social media.
“We’re working inside the four walls of the building in terms of our internet, wifi, broadband needs moving forward. Our vision is, as we present our 38 performances during our regular season, we have to have the ability to look to our fans during our performance and ask them to take this out of our pockets,” said Petrovek.
Petrovek said last year, the Civic Center averaged 2,500 fans per Phantoms game. He said the Flames are hoping to up the ante.
“And if we develop the right kind of relationships with customers, we’re going to get way more than 2,500 people a night.”
More details have yet to surface including a finalized logo, a mascot, coaching staff, and players. The Flames are still negotiating with potential broadcasting partners, and are still determining which division the team will play in. Petrovek said he wants to the team to play local AHL opponents, and would like to see rival fans at the Civic Center. There are teams in Utica, Albany, and Hartford, to name a few.
“That’s exactly the kind of environment we’d like to create, where there’s actually rivalries in the stands. So that’s ideally where we want to get to and we’ll work hard to get there, it may take us a couple years.”
And it seems the community is ready for the Flames as well. Immediately following the press conference, former Phantoms season ticket holder Joshua McCullen walked in to the Flames’ offices and reserved a couple seats.
‘For my son. He likes to come watch the game, too," said McCullen.
