Return of the pucks: Pro hockey coming to Greensboro next fall
After a 20-year absence, the puck will be dropping in Greensboro once again.
The East Coast Hockey League announced on Friday that its board of governors has approved an expansion application that would admit the city into the league beginning next season. Greensboro would be the ECHL's 30th club. The official announcement came during a gathering at Piedmont Hall adjacent to First Horizon Coliseum.
"Greensboro holds a special place in the ECHL's history and growth, and it will be a joyful moment to drop the puck once again in October 2025 and bring professional hockey back to the city for fans to once again cheer for their hometown team," ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin said in a news release.
As of yet, the team doesn't have a name, but a contest is underway on GreensboroProHockey.com where fans can submit ideas to name the franchise. The team will be owned, managed and operated by Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, which currently operates the ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, and Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League, as well as the Gastonia Baseball Club.
"We are very excited for the opportunity to launch an ECHL franchise in Greensboro," Zawyer Sports CEO Andy Kaufman said in the news release. "We look forward to turning Tournament Town into Hockey Town in a family-friendly atmosphere that will bring people together from all around the community."
Greensboro was home to both the Generals from 1999-2004, and the Monarchs between 1989 and 1995, and was the temporary home of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes between 1997 and 1999 before that team moved to its permanent home in Raleigh. It's one more incursion for a sport long associated with just the northern states as well as Canada.
"Most people still don't associate a southern state being a hockey state," said Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, who is a hockey mom. "But we really are. We see that with the success of the Hurricanes.
"But to be able to see hockey back in the city of Greensboro will be great because it will expose our young children to another sport that they really haven't had the opportunity to see on a regular basis," Vaughan said. "So, this is something that's going to attract young and old alike. And this announcement, I know, has been a very long time coming."
Doug Higgons, senior vice president of Oak Valley Group, cited the announcement as the latest in a series of efforts to bring all types of entertainment to the city. OVG was the successful bidder in the spring for private management and booking services contracts for the coliseum complex as well as the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Greensboro.
"We are all in on Greensboro," Higgons told the gathering. "We're excited about the future."
Higgons said Thursday's concert with Stevie Wonder was the latest step in an effort to bring top-flight entertainment to what he called the Greensboro Complex.
Coliseum general manager Scott Johnson said the effort is not only to bring the best entertainment, but to bring a lot of it. He thinks hockey will also lead to a growth in community skating sites.
"Our goal is more events, more activity in the community, more opportunity for families to come out, enjoy a sport in this case, 36 home games. When I was growing up, there was the great success of the Greensboro Monarchs, but what people didn't know was that all the youth sports teams, the Junior Monarchs were out there. It introduced that sport to the community ...
"It's a great opportunity to help us grow as a community."
