Skating in without a name or members, a new minor league ice hockey team is going to call Richard Codey Arena in South Orange home. They'll fill the void left at the arena when the New Jersey Devils bailed out in favor of glam ice at Newark's Pru Center.
Clifton coach Curtis Russell and former Montclair resident Igor Mrotchek are owners of a soon to be formed Eastern Professional Hockey League Class A team. Russell tells Baristanet the team will not come together until later this summer. "We will be holding a Pro Camp and then an open tryout this summer, July-August time frame, at South Mountain Codey Arena. Players are expected to come from all over the United States," he says. The season opener is November 1. Hoping for a family crowd, tickets to the 25 home games will cost between $8 and $22.
Help them out by suggesting a team name, and you could win 2 season tickets! Details, here.
With 16 years coaching experience and his USA Coaching Masters, Russell started in 1992 with the Clifton youth hockey development program and later helped start the youth ice hockey programs in Nutley and Wayne. “My goal is to put New Jersey on the map as one of the places that develops great hockey players. This is a good opportunity to see great players grow and move to the next level,” Russell said.
Mrotchek played minor league hockey in Russia and started the Penguins youth hockey program at Montclair’s Cary Anderson Arena in 1998. He purchased an ice skating facility in Dunellen in 2002 and moved the hockey program to Somerset County.
