Hooked on hockey

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Photo by John Gillespie

Leaving it all on the ice

Greenville Swamp Rabbits defenseman Chad Duchesne blocks an opposing player’s attempt on the goal during a minor league hockey game against in-state rival the South Carolina Stingrays. Both teams play in the South Division of the ECHL Double-A league, which operates two levels below the NHL.

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Have banner, will travel

South Carolina Stingrays fans Kay and Wayne Pyle follow the team on road games to Greenville and Atlanta.

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Photo by John Gillespie

Practice makes perfect

The Greenville Swamp Rabbits huddle up around coach Kevin Kerr during practice before a game against the division-leading South Carolina Stingrays. Over the past three decades, 663 ECHL players have reached the big leagues, a fact that keeps the dream alive for players who make an average of $560 a week. Most see their time in South Carolina as an opportunity to hone their skills before taking a shot at the top professional ranks.

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At 6:15 on a Friday evening, barely an hour after Bill Nichols ended his workday in Boiling Springs, he and his wife, Susan, settle into their seats at Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena amid loud music and skaters warming up for the minor league hockey game between the Greenville Swamp Rabbits and the North Charleston-based South Carolina Stingrays.

The routine is part of a typical weekend for the couple who got “hooked on hockey” about eight years ago, shortly before they relocated to South Carolina. The 70-mile round trip from Boiling Springs makes attendance difficult on weeknights, but the couple is often at the arena as soon as the doors open on Fridays or Saturdays.

“We’re here no later than 6:30 [for a 7:05 start], ”Bill Nichols says. “We like to relax and take in the pre-game events.

”Three sections away, transplanted Ohioans and fellow season ticket holders Tim and Melissa West also enjoy the pre-game festivities and look forward to another reunion with nearby regulars.

“I love it, and Melissa is a bigger fan than I am,” says Tim West, who shares a vocation of nursing with his wife as well as a surprising hockey passion.They weave leisure time around hockey schedules, often following the Stingrays to road games in Greenville and Atlanta, where they find kindred spirits.

“We love the action-packed aspect of the sport, but the social outlet is a big part of it, too,” Tim West says. “A lot of our best friends are people we’ve met through hockey.”

That includes a foursome—Wayne and Kay Pyle, Edie Martin and Kim Baker—who on this night sit one row ahead, dressed in Stingrays jerseys and waving a large Stingrays banner.

“I love it,” Kay Pyle says. “I went to a game with some friends from Pennsylvania five years ago, and we’ve been season ticket holders ever since.”

These are just some of the hockey fans who keep the Swamp Rabbits and Stingrays, South Carolina’s two professional ice hockey teams,among the most stable franchises in the 26-team ECHL Double-A league, which operates two levels below the National Hockey League. Both teams draw an average of 4,200 fans per game, a middle-of-the-pack figure in the ECHL.

Such loyalty comes long after the newness o fice hockey in the South has worn off. And unlike staples such as high school football and local stock car racing, it comes without a natural connection to local participants. More than 20 years since its arrival in the state, ECHL contests remain a battle of young men from cold-weather climates. About half the players on both the Greenville and Charleston teams are natives of Canada, and most others grew up in states that border Canada.

Stingrays Director of Communication Jared Shafran smiles at the thought of a South Carolina born player reaching the ECHL level.

“We have some very die-hard, loyal, enthusiastic fans who come simply because they love the sport, ”Shafran says. “If one of our players was from here,I’m sure those fans would really be into it.

”State teams compensate for that lack of local talent with heavy participation in community events, which gives Greenville coach Kevin Kerra chance to get familiar with the fan base—transplants who brought hockey love from colder climates and South Carolina natives who have discovered the sport in recent years.

“The fan base is probably about 50-50,” Kerr says.“I talk to a lot of fans who grew up in NHL cities,and then there are ‘the NASCAR guys’ who grew up here and enjoy the crash-and-bang part of a very physical sport.”

Building the fan base in a region known for its passion for football hasn’t been easy, especially in light of the immense football success at Clemson, which dominates Upstate interest on fall Saturdays.

“It’s an overwhelming shadow,” says Swamp Rabbits Director of Media Relations Jordan Kuhns, a Philadelphia native now in his second season in Greenville. “I think our weekend attendance numbers would be higher if Clemson wasn’t s ogood, but they’ve been very good lately.”

High school and college football are also fierce competitors in Charleston, where Shafran says the Stingrays, like the Swamp Rabbits, typically try to play road games as much as possible during football season. The 2019–20 schedule included only 10 home games in the first three months of the season and 26 between January and March.

Football’s Southern popularity is also a likely factor in the regional talent disparity. When the sport came to Charleston in 1993 and Greenville in 1998, many believed that the exposure would eventually create home-grown players. But that evolution has been slow. Some South Carolina youth programs are in place, but the path to the professional level typically begins long before that.

“A lot of players who reach this level start to play hockey at age 3 or 4,” Shafran says. “If you’re not skating by age 5, it might be too late already. Most of the players I’ve talked to were in competition by age 5 and played about 10 years before competing at the junior level.”

In addition to the organized youth competition,Canadian-born players like Greenville’s 22-year-old Callum Booth, who began skating at age 2, say the hockey culture gives cold-climate youngsters a big advantage.

“It was easy for me to spend a lot of time skating because there was a pond in back of the yard that was frozen all winter. I’d be out there anytime I had a few minutes,” says Booth, who saw his first NHL match at age 10 and has dreamed of playing at that level ever since. “And if I wanted to get into a game, it seemed like there was a rink on every corner.”

Get There

As this issue went to press, the South Carolina Stingrays stood atop the ECHL South Division rankings with a 19–2 record and 41 points. The Greenville Swamp Rabbits were third in the division with a 13–13 record and 27 points. The ECHL regular season runs through early April before the Kelly Cup Playoffs determine the 2019–20 champion. The South Carolina teams are scheduled to face off again this season in Greenville on Jan. 12 and Jan. 29, and in North Charleston Feb. 15 and Feb. 18.

For the latest schedules, rosters and team standings, see swamprabbits.com and stingrayshockey.com.

Greenville Swamp Rabbits The Swamp Rabbits play home games at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Single-game tickets range from $10 to $30 in advance and from $12 to $35 on game day. For information, call (864) 674-PUCK or email info@swamprabbits.com. Discounts are available for flex tickets, group tickets, military, first responders and senior citizens.

South Carolina Stingrays The South Carolina Stingrays play home games in the North Charleston Coliseum. Single-game tickets range from $17 to $34 in advance and from $19 to $37 on game day. For more information, call (843) 744-2248. Discounts are available for flex tickets, group tickets, military, AAA Club members and senior citizens.