Unfortunately, this only lasted for one season. They will not be returning to Williamsport.
According to Wikipedia:
The Outlaws ceased operations on January 21, 2013 after the team owner refused to play the remaining road games. The team was later rebranded as the Pennsylvania Blues on February 8, 2013.
https://www.facebook.com/WilliamsportOutlaws - Their Facebook Page
http://williamsportoutlaws.pointstreaksites.com/view/williamsportoutlaws/home#.UPb0IR27Mtg - their official website
From Wikipedia:
"The Williamsport Outlaws are a professional ice hockey team in the Federal Hockey League. The team played the 2011-2012 season in Wayne, New Jersey as the New Jersey Outlaws. Following winning the FHL championship in 2012, the Outlaws announces they would move to Williamsport, Pennsylvania and play all of their games outdoors at Bowman Field while awaiting the completion of an arena in Williamsport.
The Outlaws are the FHL affiliate of the ECHL's Elmira Jackals."
Tickets were only $8, cheaper than going to the movies.
As the NHL lockout continues onward, those craving for hockey might want to take a trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania as the Williamsport Outlaws of the Federal Hockey League are set to make their home debut on October 24th against the Dayton Devils.
The Outlaws will make special history this season as the first minor league hockey team to play the entire home schedule outdoors at Bowman Field which is also home to the Single-A minor league baseball team, the Williamsport Crosscutters.
Most know Williamsport as the home of the Little League World Series but if Outlaws team president and head coach Chris Firriolo gets his way, it might be the next hot ticket in town:
“There are certainly obstacles that we’ll face like weather conditions and maintenance of the facility,” Firriolo said. “But I think it will be a really impressive novelty.”“It’s unorthodox. It’s never been done before,” said Williamsport mayor Gabriel Campana. “I think it’s something to be proud of, and there may be other cities that decide to do the same thing because it’s actually cheaper than building a multipurpose arena.”
In terms of total seats, Bowman Field will hold about 4,200 screaming hockey fans and to help with the project, the Outlaws enlisted the help of Rink Specialists who helped build outdoor ice rinks for the NHL’s “Winter Classic” games:
“We feel we found the right place on the infield to lay out the rink which will allow fans to get up close to the action,” says Firriolo. “The game is very fast and physical and it was a huge priority of ours to make sure our fans feel they are a part of the game. Rich Cubin and his crew at Rink Specialists did an outstanding job laying out the playing surface with our fans in mind.”
At this time, it is unknown how popular the idea of outdoor minor league ice hockey will be for the Outlaws but Firrolo sees the possibility of success with this plan:
“Nobody knows what will happen until a month into the season, but what happens if you strike gold and you sell 4,200 tickets a night?” Firriolo asked.
I came to a Williamsport Outlaws game once and there was some light on and off rain and it caused the glass to be all steamy/foggy so that it made watching the game impossible. The fans went to the highest seats of bowman to see over and into the rink, but still we could see less than half the ice. The staff were not concerned with the quality of the fan’s experience and after complaining to them many times, they made one and only one lousy attempt to clean the fog off the glass. But the glass became foggy again just minutes after the wiped it off. There were not many fans when we got there and there were less than a couple dozen that stayed to the end of the game. But they allowed BYOB so we (being in our young 20’s) had a party in the stands irregardless of the game.
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