Is Savannah a hockey town? Puck yeah it is.
Professional hockey has arrived in exciting fashion and the city’s newest team has started in fine form. The Savannah Ghost Pirates began their first ever season with an overtime win at Greenville on October 22, and they followed that up with a win in Atlanta over the Gladiators on October 23. Last weekend in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Ghost Pirates won in shootouts on Friday night before winning 5-4 in overtime on Saturday.
That’s a 4-0 start. Not bad for the newest team in the ECHL (formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League). Savannah’s home opener is set for Saturday night (Nov. 5) against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
Andy Kaufmann is the CEO and majority owner of the expansion franchise which plays its home games in the brand-new Enmarket Arena (seats 7,300 for hockey). The Oak View Group is the company hired by the City of Savannah to manage and operate the arena located on Stiles Avenue.
“We are grateful to the ECHL Board of Governors for awarding us a new membership and we thank Mayor Van R. Johnson, the Savannah City Council and Oak View Group for creating a stunning new venue for us to compete,” said Kaufmann when the deal was announced in January 2021.
“Savannah is a terrific sports town and we look forward to making it a fantastic hockey town.”
Ticket sales indicate Savannah residents were more than ready to embrace hockey as a part of the city’s rich sports history. More than 5,000 ticket packages were purchased in the first two months of availability. Roughly 3,000 of those were full-season tickets and the November 5th home opener sold out quickly.
In May, the team announced Rick Bennett as its first head coach during a press conference at Enmarket Arena. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, it was Bennett’s first introduction to Savannah. The 55-year-old former NHL player said he was struck by the city’s excitement for the new team.
“It was overwhelming and really impressive,” Bennett said from Fort Wayne, Indiana during an October 26 phone call with Connect Savannah. “I thought it was really well done and it has continued, you know, everytime we’re at community events it has been nice getting to know some of the people (of Savannah). It’s only the beginning of course, but from the experiences we’ve had so far, it’s all been really impressive.”
Spencer Naas is a 27-year-old forward for the club and the Minnesota native said the city’s response to the team has been noticed by many of the players.
“I think I was a little surprised to be honest,” he said during an October 26 phone call with Connec Savannah. “I really didn’t know what to expect from the fans.
“I’m from Minnesota and up there it’s a hockey hotbed kind of with (hockey) rinks everywhere, like every five miles. And so down here (in Savannah), I didn’t really know what the response would be to hockey and so far, it has been huge. We even saw some fans travel to Greenville and Atlanta to support us and that means a lot to us. Hopefully when we get back (to Savannah) we can return the favor and give the fans a great product.”
Playing the first five games of the season on the road allowed the squad to find its footing before coming home to play five of the next six games at Enmarket.
This article appears in Nov 2-8, 2022.
