Professional ice hockey could be making a return to the city of Elmira. This comes after the Jackals left First Arena back in 2016.

Robbie Nichols, the owner of the Jackals and the IDA are working together to bring back the sport. In the agreement, Nichols would assume operations of First Arena.

One of the only things left is signing the paperwork.

Nichols hopes to bring hockey back as soon as the 2018-2019 season. The team would be part of the Federal Hockey League. The arena hasn’t been used for hockey since the 2016-2017 season. It would still be owned by the IDA however and needs some improvements. Nichols would handle operation of the team and venue events.

“Management of a facility is very important. For a while there was a weak spot there and crowds got smaller but there is a lot of people that loved it and want to see it come back,“ said Tom Santulli, Chemung County Executive.

A meeting to approve the agreement is set for Monday. If everything goes through they'd be the eighth team in the league.

Nichols has expressed interest in buying the building. He’s also the owner of the Elmira Pioneers Baseball team.