ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) - A new Federal Prospects Hockey League team is coming to Elmira. The operator of First Arena, Steve Donner, announced on Wednesday that the Elmira Mammoth will join the FPHL and take the ice at First Arena.

The colors of the team will be purple, orange, and white. Donner says they will have a controllable roster and will immediately begin a national search for a Head Coach. Elmira will be a part of a three-team expansion in the FPHL as the league grows to 10 total teams. Donner says ticket prices this year will range from $12 to $18, and children ages 12 and under will get in for free with a paid adult ticket. In Wednesday's press conference, he discussed the process of coming up with a name that had a local connection.

"We looked into the river. The Chemung river has played such a big role in the community. You look back at the history of the naming of the river by Native Americans, the name Chemung stood for place of the bighorn because the Native Americans found wooly mammoth tusks in the river beds, and over the years, remains of Macedon and wooly mammoths have been found in the area" said Donner.

Late last year, Donner signed a lease agreement with the Chemung County IDA and was introduced alongside Mike Tadross Jr. as the new operators of the arena in December and re-branded to Mammoth Sports & Entertainment. Improvements and repairs have been made to First Arena and they have hosted hockey events such as Elmira College men's and women's games. He also announced that corporately, they've already brought in commitments of over $500,000 in sponsorships. He said that in order for this to be a success, it's going to take a team effort.

"I've tried to put together a framework for working together with the County IDA, the city, our corporate leaders here have been amazing to have the support they've given us without even a team name and the commitment for hockey, and I know the fans want to support this building so we can't do it alone, but as a team and as a community we definitely can do it. I think that's going to be the difference" he added.

David Sheen of the Chemung County IDA and Elmira Mayor, Dan Mandell also spoke at Wednesday's press conference.

"Steve has put together a team that has worked tremendously hard throughout this arena on various items that needed attention, mostly the technical and many areas when you get to see an event here now, you'll see coverage from anything from lighting to sound, it'll be really impressive and you'll also find out that he's going to provide a venue that will cover all walks of life" said Sheen.

"Elmira is committed to helping Steve and his staff to be successful through this endeavor," said Mandell as he encouraged the community to come out and support the team. 

WENY Sports caught up with FPHL commissioner, Don Kirnan, and he is excited for Elmira to be back as part of the growth of the league.

"It's perfect, it's right in the middle of the league. We have teams from the west and the east and obviously, with Binghamton in the league, it's actually a natural so we couldn't be happier. The hockey world is a small world so I've known Steve for 25 years. He knew that this was the best fit and we knew it was the best fit so it was very seamless. We get along really well with the community here so I know it's going to be a great situation" said Kirnan.

"Here in the FPHL, we'll build a team that the community can rally behind, get to know, be active in the community, and we think long term, it's a recipe for success" said Donner.