The Reno City Council approved a 10-year agreement with the Reno Puck Club on Wednesday to establish a professional minor league hockey team in Reno starting in 2018.

The council voted, 6-1, to approve the term sheet and to direct staff to negotiate with the Reno Puck Club.

The Reno Puck Club would spend up to $5.7 million for a professional ice surface at the Reno Events Center through public-private partnerships. It would also add locker rooms, a new elevator and be responsible for other repairs to the REC.

The hockey team would begin play in the ECHL starting in October 2018, if approved by the ECHL.

The ice rink could also be used by youth and adult hockey leagues and for public skating. The rink would be 200-feet long by 85-feet wide.

There is no general fund commitment from the city in the agreement.

The ECHL is an AA hockey league based in New Jersey. It is considered a tier below the AAA American Hockey League, with both officially recognized as hockey minor leagues by the NHL.

Reno used to have a hockey team, the Reno Renegades, which played at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center from 1995-98.