Английская Википедия:Ice hockey in South Carolina

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South Carolina has a passing relationship with ice hockey. With professional hockey not being introduced until 1993 and very little junior system framework to speak of, South Carolina is an example of the overall dearth of ice hockey in the deep south.

History

Due to South Carolina location in the American sun belt as well as its low overall population and the lack of any major media market (Charleston is the largest city with approximately 150,000 people in 2022), South Carolina was largely ignored by the ice hockey community for decades. The state's first professional team arrived in 1993 when the South Carolina Stingrays franchise was founded in North Charleston. The team was an instant success with the fans, drawing more than 9,000 fans on average for its inaugural season. While the team did not sustain those numbers the franchise was given the opportunity to jump from the ECHL (AA hockey) to the AHL (AAA hockey) in 1995. Management eventually declined the offer, believing it better to keep its operating costs and ticket prices low so that their fan base could still attend games.

In the succeeding years, the Stingrays win three Kelly Cups and have been one of the ECHL's most success full teams. As the flagship franchise for the state, the Stingrays have inspired several other attempts at professional hockey in the state but few have succeeded. The Pee Dee Pride (1997), Greenville Grrrowl (1998) and Columbia Inferno (2001) all attempted to expand the reach of ice hockey in the state but none were able to reach their 10-year anniversary. Greenville received its second franchise when the Johnstown Chiefs relocated in 2010 and became the Road Warriors. Though the team underwent a second name change to become the 'Swamp Rabbits', the franchise established itself and signed an affiliation deam with the Los Angeles Kings in 2022.

No college in South Carolina has ever fielded a varsity ice hockey team, nor does the state have any official junior program. Youth ice hockey is conducted at local levels within the bounds of the Southeastern District of USA Hockey.

Teams

Professional

Active

Team	City	League	Arena	Founded
style="color:white; background:#003466; Шаблон:Box-shadow border"|South Carolina Stingrays	North Charleston	ECHL	North Charleston Coliseum	1993
style="color:white; background:#c16123; Шаблон:Box-shadow border"|Greenville Swamp Rabbits	Greenville	ECHL	Bon Secours Wellness Arena	2010*

* relocated

Inactive

Team	City	League	Years Active	Fate
style="color:white; background:#231f20; Шаблон:Box-shadow border"|Pee Dee Pride	Florence	ECHL	1997–2005	Defunct
style="color:white; background:#231f20; Шаблон:Box-shadow border"|Greenville Grrrowl	Greenville	ECHL	1998–2006	Defunct
style="color:white; background:#e2373f; Шаблон:Box-shadow border"|Columbia Inferno	Columbia	ECHL	2001–2008	Defunct

Timeline

<timeline> DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1500 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:01/01/1985 till:07/01/2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

Colors =

 id:act      value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5)   legend:active
 id:out      value:rgb(0.8,0.5,0.5)   legend:out
 id:inact    value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.8)   legend:inactive
 id:line     value:black
 id:bg       value:white

PlotData=

 width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1  color:act    from:07/01/1993 till:end text:South Carolina Stingrays (1993–Present)
bar:2  color:act    from:07/01/1997 till:06/01/2005 text:Pee Dee Pride (1997–2005)
bar:3  color:act    from:07/01/1998 till:06/01/2006 text:Greenville Grrrowl (1998–2006)
bar:4  color:act    from:07/01/2001 till:06/01/2008 text:Columbia Inferno (2001–2008)
bar:5  color:out    from:07/01/1987 till:06/01/2010 text:
bar:5  color:act    from:07/01/2010 till:end text:Greenville Road Warriors / Swamp Rabbits (2010–Present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1995

</timeline>

Players

No ice hockey player raised in South Carolina has yet to distinguish themselves. Only one player born in the state, Ryan Hartman, has achieved a level of notability but he was raised in Illinois. Only 3,008 players were registered with USA Hockey in 2023, accounting for just 0.053% of the state's population. By percentage, South Carolina ranks 42nd in the nation terms of engagement, well in line with many other southern states.