YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A celebration night on Wednesday for the Youngstown Phantoms. Enjoying their first Clark Cup Championship and having it on display for the entire city to see Wednesday night.
“I am enjoying it very much so,” says Michael Punzalan, a Phantoms fan from Boardman. “Hurried up to get done with work just so I can be here tonight.”
Hundreds flocked to the Youngstown amphitheater to take pictures with the team’s new hardware and grab some swag to remember a historic run to the cup.
“Friday night was unbelievable,” Punzalan says. “The sellout crowd, the energy — it was an incredible experience.”
“I think a little bit now it is starting to,” Phantoms captain Shane LeChance says. “We have started to watch YouTube videos and stuff of our celebration and we get chills every time. It is just awesome to do this for the city and it is awesome that they get to come out and hang with us it is great for them to be out here for sure.”
Fans were also able to get some autographs of their favorite players and some potential future Phantoms got to play with the champions. The night capped off with fireworks. The team will get set to go their separate ways on Tuesday, but the bond they have, won’t soon be broken.
“We will play a lot of each other as we are all going to top schools,” says Phantoms forward Tyler Catalano. “We will battle each other, on the ice we are enemies but once the clock hits zero, we are friends again and share this bond we have for life, it is just awesome.”
The team tells Sports Team 27 that there are plans for a banner raising at the start of next season and the hope is to have more crowds like this past Friday’s.
“I have talked to my wife after the championship run and we have talked about becoming season ticket holders,” says Punzalan. “Hopefully more people will see them play and something good for the city.”
