As the ECHL’s 37th season begins Friday evening, the league announced some big news. The ECHL Board of Governors has approved the expansion application of Greensboro, North Carolina for admittance into the League.
The team, which will be named later, will be owned and operated by Zawyer Sports & Entertainment.
“The ECHL is proud to welcome our 30th Member by returning to the Greensboro, North Carolina market,” said ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin. “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.”
The Greensboro Membership will begin play in the 2025-26 Season at the First Horizon Coliseum.
Professional hockey isn’t new to the area, which first played host to the Greensboro Generals, who played in the Eastern Hockey League from 1959-73 and the Southern Hockey League from 1973-77. ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Patrick J. Kelly played five seasons with the Generals from 1959-64.
Greensboro has had two previous entries in the ECHL with the Monarchs skating in the league from 1989-95 and a second incarnation of the Generals participating from 1999-2004. The Monarchs won the Riley Cup title in their first-season of existence in 1989-90, lost in the Finals on two other occasions and hold the ECHL record for the largest crowd in league history with 20,911 fans on Jan. 15, 1994 against Charlotte.
Greensboro was also home to the American Hockey League’s Carolina Monarchs from 1995-97, and the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes played their first two seasons in North Carolina in Greensboro from 1997-99 while awaiting completion of their arena in Raleigh
“We are very excited for the opportunity to launch an ECHL team in Greensboro,” Zawyer Sports CEO Andy Kaufmann said. “We look forward to turning Tournament Town into Hockey Town with a family-friendly atmosphere that will bring people together from all around the community.”
With the opening of the 2024-25 season, the timing of this announcement couldn’t be better, as hockey fans in the Greensboro area will soon have a team to root for once again.
