RAPID CITY - The first two pieces of the yet-to-be-named Central Hockey League team that will begin play in Rapid City in 2008 were introduced to the public at a news conference at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center theater on Thursday.

Head coach and director of hockey operations Joe Ferras and general manager Jason Rent joined local owners Don Ward, Scott Mueller and Barry Peterson to lay out their vision for professional hockey in the Black Hills.

"We are 100 percent committed to make sure that this team is the best team in the CHL," Ward said. "We have the management team in place, we think we have a great management team, and we have the financial resources committed to make sure that this happens."

The Rapid City franchise has brought in Rent, who spent the last seven seasons as the general manager of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in addition to working for teams in the American Hockey League and the Western Professional Hockey League. Rent understands the need to convince fans in Rapid City that this team is theirs, and will contribute to the community on and off the ice.

"We're going to supply quality, affordable family entertainment," Rent said. "It's not just about the hockey, although (Ferras) would probably say otherwise."

Rent knows that some other minor league sports operations that have called the civic center home have had difficulty in the past. He doesn't envision that happening with the CHL.

"The first thing is that local ownership is huge," Rent said. "You have local people with their roots here that are putting their money out there. They're not fly-by-night because they have to live here."

Rent pointed to the 10-year contract agreed upon between the CHL and the civic center Thursday to keep the franchise in Rapid City through 2019 as being a signal to local fans about the stability of the operation.

"The other things are the 10-year commitment and the Central Hockey League," Rent said. "I really believe in the league's business model compared to other leagues. Having this time, 14 months to start out, we know with past experiences in other markets how to make this thing work."

The CHL is a professional 'AA' league comprised of 17 teams in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.

Ferras, a native of Brantford, Ontario, spent 13 years as a professional hockey player and has coached for the past eight years in the CHL and AHL. Ferras has compiled a 161-132-23 record as a head coach in the CHL.

"Some might find it unorthodox that our first hiring, other than general manager, is a head hockey coach," Rent said of picking up Ferras 15 months before the opener. "Normally you wouldn't have to hire a coach this early but there are several reasons that we did. It's hard to find a great coach. Most of them have jobs. But when a guy is in a unique situation where he's not coaching at that point, you can't let it go. If we would have waited any longer we wouldn't have gotten (Ferras)."

Ferras and Rent have been acquainted for the past 15 years but are getting their first chance to work with each other. Rent pointed to the character of the teams he has watched Ferras coach in the past as the main reason for the hire.

"He's the type of coach that wants talent and character," Rent said. "If a guy is a great talent but has a bad attitude he probably isn't going to work out here."

Ferras is looking for a strong team dynamic for the new franchise, which will have approximately 19 players on the roster. Players in the league range in age from their early 20s to mid 30s.

"You've got to have speed," Ferras said. "But you've got to have a team toughness so that your skilled guys have no worries, whether we're playing in Rapid City or Colorado. You need to have good team guys. Obviously we want to have a talented core, we want to be quick, we want to be physical and we want to compete every night.

"Speed and grit and character are the biggest things we want."

Rapid City will open its offices and launch a team-naming contest sometime in mid-August. For ticket information, call 716-PUCK. For the latest team news, go to www.rapidcityprohockey.com.