The Savannah Ghost Pirates have announced an NHL/AHL affiliation with the Vegas Golden Knights and their American Hockey League a­ffiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights when they make their ECHL debut in October 2022. Rick Bennett has been named the Head Coach for the Ghost Pirates.

Vegas has taken the NHL by storm since joining the League in 2017. Since their debut, the Golden Knights have made the playoffs four out of five seasons and have become one of the NHL’s prominent franchises. “We have confidence that the Ghost Pirate’s NHL/AHL partnership with the Vegas Knights organization will provide us with a successful and hardworking team,” said Ghost Pirates president Bob Ohrablo. “The reception we have received from the Savannah community has been overwhelming. Our goal was to sign an affiliation with a premier NHL franchise. With this announcement we can say that we’ve accomplished this.”

“We are proud to be sending our players to develop with the Savannah organization,” said Tim Speltz, the general manager of the Henderson Silver Knights who will be heavily involved in running the hockey operations of the Ghost Pirates. “Savannah has opened their arms to professional hockey and we are excited about being an important part of this.”

New Head Coach Rick Bennett

In conjunction with the NHL/AHL a­ffiliation announcement, the team introduced Rick Bennett as the head coach for the Savannah Ghost Pirates. Bennett brings a wealth of experience and knowledge as a premier player and as a coach he has earned a reputation as an excellent teacher and motivator. Prior to joining the Las Vegas Knights organization, he was one of the top collegiate coaches in the Country at Union College in Albany, NY.  There he won the National Championship in 2014, ECAC regular season titles (2012, 2014, 2017) and ECAC Conference titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Bennett compiled a 168-126-41 record over 11 years.

“Rick brings a long career as a successful player and coach,” explained Andy Kaufmann, the Ghost Pirates CEO. “We are thrilled to welcome him to our family and introduce him to the Savannah community!”

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This article appears in May 18-24, 2022.