As fans await the return of the NHL and AHL, the ECHL is here to tide them over.
Heading into the first season of their new affiliation with the Florida Panthers, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits will open up their 2020-21 campaign on the road against the South Carolina Stingrays on Dec. 11. A week after that, they'll celebrate their home opener on Dec. 18 against the Florida Everblades.
PIPELINE: Swamp Rabbits Set to Kick Off 2020-21 ECHL Season on Dec. 11
"We are pleased to begin our affiliation with the Swamp Rabbits," Panthers Vice President of Player Personnel & Development Gregory Campbell said after the multi-year affiliation agreement between the two organizations was announced on Nov. 20. "This partnership is important to our organization as it provides new resources and exciting opportunities for the development of our young prospects."
The Swamp Rabbits have four players returning from last year's roster, including second-year forward Liam Pecararo, who ranked first on the team in goals (23) -- one of which was later dubbed the "ECHL's 2019-20 Goal of the Year" -- and third in points (44) in 39 games during his impressive rookie season.
If that name sounds familiar, it's likely because Pecararo previously attended training camp with the Panthers in in 2019. The 24-year-old also played in eight games with Florida's AHL affiliate in 2019-20.
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The Swamp Rabbits also currently boast five players on their roster that were drafted by the Panthers: forwards Karch Bachman (5th round, 2015), Greg Meireles (6th round, 2019) and Matthew Wedman (7th round, 2019), defenseman Ben Finkelstein (7th round, 2016) and goalie Ryan Bednard (7th round, 2015).
Manning Greenville's crease in 2019-20, Bednard, 23, went 10-12-1 with a .908 save percentage.
Following a 272-day hiatus, the Swamp Rabbits returned to the ice on Dec. 5 for their lone tune-up of the preseason. During a 6-3 loss to South Carolina, Bednard split time in net with Los Angeles Kings prospect Jacob Ingham, while Wedman, 21, scored with 37 seconds left on the clock in the third period.
Founded in 1987 as the Johnstown Chiefs, the Swamp Rabbits relocated to South Carolina in 2010 as the Greenville Road Warriors before rebranding to their current -- and let's be honest, awesome -- name in 2015. As a bonus, the team is also located just two hours from Florida's new AHL affiliate in Charlotte.
"Greenville provides the Florida Panthers and Charlotte Checkers an ideal situation to develop our prospects,"
Swamp Rabbits Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Derek Wilkinson said in a release
. "This relationship also allows us to continue our collective focus to grow the game of hockey in the Carolinas in the coming years."
Over the past 10 seasons, the Swamp Rabbits have qualified for the postseason five times, including a run all the way to the Eastern Conference Final in 2014-15. Prior to the season being paused and then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019-20, they were sitting at 29-30-4-1 in the standings.
In addition to a wealth of new faces on the ice, Greenville will also have a new bench boss calling the shots this season after Andrew Lord was named the team's new head coach on June 19. Spending the last six seasons across the pond, the 35-year-old coached the EIHL's Cardiff Devils from 2014-2020.
"I know that Greenville is a great city, the facilities are great, and there is huge potential for this organization,"
Lord said after being hired
. "I've been looking for the chance to get back to North America and I think this is a heck of an opportunity here. I'm really looking forward to working with players who want to get to the next level and that is a big motivating factor for me in taking this position."
Owning a 221-75-22 record with Cardiff, he guided the Devils to a pair of championships during his tenure.
"Andrew Lord has built a culture of winning here in Cardiff and has accomplished everything possible in the EIHL," Devils Managing Director Todd Kelman said. "As great of a coach that he is, he is a better person and someone fans in Greenville are going to love leading their team."
With single-game tickets on sale now (you can purchase them
HERE
if you are in the Greenville area), the Swamp Rabbits have gone above and beyond to make Bon Secours Wellness Arena a place that fans can feel save during these difficult times. With new policies and procedures in place, the organization has placed added emphasis on the safety and well-being of their guests, employees and players.
In addition to socially-distant seating arrangements, all fans must wear masks throughout the duration of their time at the arena unless they are eating or drinking. On the concourse, vendors will be utilizing personal protection equipment such as shield and masks to ensure safety for themselves and patrons.
For Panthers fans, there's also plenty of reasons to keep an eye on the action this season as there have been more than 650 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL.
