South Carolina Stingrays
The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston Coliseum. The Carolina Ice Palace, also located in North Charleston, serves as a practice facility and backup arena. Established in 1993, the team has been owned by a group of local businesses since 1995. The team was affiliated with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League from 2004 to July 2012, when the Capitals announced their affiliation with the ECHL's Reading Royals. On June 26, 2014, after two seasons of affiliation with the Boston Bruins and the Providence Bruins, the Washington Capitals announced a new affiliation agreement with the Stingrays beginning with the 2014–15 season. The Stingrays also returned to their affiliation with the Hershey Bears at this time.
The Stingrays are the first professional ice hockey team in South Carolina. With the relocation of the Johnstown Chiefs to Greenville, South Carolina in 2010, the Stingrays became the oldest continuously operational ECHL franchise to remain in its founding city.
The Stingrays have finished with the best record in the ECHL twice, and qualified for the playoffs in all but three seasons. With Kelly Cup championships in 1997, 2001 and 2009, the Stingrays are tied with the Hampton Roads Admirals and the Alaska Aces for most league championships. Over forty former Stingrays have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, with six playing for Stanley Cup-winning teams; Rich Peverley with the Boston Bruins in 2011, and Braden Holtby, Nathan Walker, Philipp Grubauer, and Pheonix Copley with the Washington Capitals in 2018, and Logan Thompson with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023.
The team had initial success at the box office; during its first season the team averaged 9,151 fans a game — one of the largest attendances in minor league hockey. Despite ongoing success on the ice, that level was not sustained; average attendance since 2003 has been less than half that number.
Team history
Birth of the franchise
The South Carolina Stingrays were founded in 1993 as an expansion team in the East Coast Hockey League. Its management team included Joseph Scanlon as president/CEO and retired National Hockey League player Rick Vaive as head coach. The team was originally to be designated the South Carolina Sharks, but eventually settled on the Stingrays name to avoid a copyright dispute with the NHL's San Jose Sharks. In late 1993, Scanlon filed a lawsuit in a Canadian court in an attempt to wrest control of the team from its ownership group. He was replaced as president and CEO by retired NHL Hall of Fame member Marcel Dionne in December of that year. Dionne was accused of assault in February 1994 by Lynn Bernstein, an ally of Scanlon, over a dispute regarding the removal of advertising signs at the North Charleston Coliseum, but was later acquitted. Following dismissal of Scanlon's lawsuit, the ECHL board of governors ended the power struggle when it approved the sale of the franchise from its Canadian ownership group to a local investment group led by Edwin Pearlstine, owner of Pearlstine Distribution, the local Budweiser distributor. The group also included Jerry and Anita Zucker, Harvey Nathan and Lynn Bernstein, and the Greenwald family of Seabrook Island. Dionne remained the franchise's president and CEO.In early 1995, along with Charlotte, Greensboro, and Hampton Roads, the team was offered an expansion spot by the American Hockey League, the intermediate level between the ECHL and the NHL. However, team management decided to remain in the ECHL, citing a desire to retain the level of affordability for the team's fans. The other three franchises have since accepted AHL offers, becoming the Charlotte Checkers, Carolina Monarchs, and Norfolk Admirals, respectively. Later that year, Dionne left the Stingrays organization. Vaive succeeded Dionne as director of hockey operations while retaining his head coaching position, thus giving him more control over personnel decisions.
Rick Vaive era (1993–98)
The Stingrays finished sixth in the East Division in their inaugural season and were eliminated in the first round of the 1993–94 playoffs by the Hampton Roads Admirals. Despite their early playoff exit, the team had several significant achievements during their inaugural season. Center Sylvain Fleury finished tenth among league skaters for total points with 95 points in 68 games played and scored a league season-high five goals in an 11–6 victory over the Greensboro Monarchs on December 26. Left winger Andy Bezeau was second in the league in penalty minutes, accumulating 352 minutes in 36 games. From January 19–28, the Stingrays went on a six-game winning streak wherein they totaled 43 goals for and only 13 goals against, including two games in which they scored 11 goals each against their opponents. The team led the league in attendance with an average of 9,151 fans per game.In 1994–95, the team took the top spot in the Southern Division but were knocked out in the second round by the Nashville Knights. They set the current league record for the longest home winning streak that season with 18 victories at home between December 23, 1994, and March 19, 1995. Goaltender Steve Shields finished second in the league with a 2.68 goals against average, a 0.912 save percentage and 11 wins in 17 games, while Jason Fitzsimmons finished sixth in the league with a 2.97 GAA, a 0.901 save percentage and 24 wins in 37 games played. The Stingrays drew the highest attendance in the league, averaging 8,589 fans per game.
The Stingrays returned to the East Division in 1995–96 and finished third in the regular season, falling in the second round of the playoffs to the Charlotte Checkers. They posted an 8-game road winning streak that season, lasting from December 15 until January 13, in which they accumulated 48 goals and surrendered 27 goals against. Defenseman Scott Boston finished sixth among top-scoring defensemen in the league with 58 total points in 67 games. The Stingrays fell to second place in league attendance with an average 7,447 fans per game.
In 1996–97, the Stingrays won both the ECHL championship Kelly Cup and the Brabham Cup, becoming the first ECHL team and one of three overall to win both a regular season and postseason championship in the same year. The Alaska Aces and the Cincinnati Cyclones later accomplished this feat. Forwards Ed Courtenay and Mike Ross tied for the highest total points in the league, each with 110 points in combined goals and assists. Forward Dave Seitz finished seventh with 97 total points. Ross was also named the league's Most Valuable Player, the only member of the Stingrays to receive this distinction through the 2010–11 season. Goaltender Jason Fitzsimmons was selected as the Kelly Cup playoffs MVP. Fitzsimmons totaled 13 wins in 17 playoff games and achieved a 3.38 GAA with a 0.903 save percentage.
Following their Kelly Cup victory, ECHL management accused the franchise of circumventing the league's salary cap by colluding with the city of North Charleston to funnel money through a city-run youth hockey program to provide payouts to players. After two months of investigation by the league, the Stingrays were assessed a US$50,000 fine, and Vaive was suspended for the first six games of the 1997–98 season. The Internal Revenue Service determined that no state or federal tax laws were broken, but the incident sparked a re-evaluation by the ECHL of the teams' salary caps.
Early in the 1997–98 season, the Stingrays won a league-high 12 consecutive home games from October 24 to January 2 in which they accumulated 52 goals and allowed 24 goals against. Defenseman Chris Hynnes finished the regular season first in goals and fourth in total points among league defensemen. Goaltender Cory Cadden finished seventh in the league with a 2.85 GAA, a 0.907 save percentage and 30 wins in 45 games. The team finished at the top of the Southeast Division, but fell in a first round playoff series against their new in-state rival, the Pee Dee Pride. The Pride advanced after coming back from a three-goal deficit to win the fifth game of a best of five series in overtime. Vaive reported after the fact that replays indicated that the game-tying goal was invalid but the referee missed the call, resulting in the overtime period and the Stingrays' eventual defeat.
Rick Adduono era (1998–2002)
For the 1998–99 season, Vaive accepted the head coaching position with the AHL's Saint John Flames. His assistant coach, Rick Adduono, was tapped to take over as Vaive's replacement as head coach and general manager. Former Stingrays goaltender Jason Fitzsimmons was named assistant coach in Adduono's place. The Stingrays finished third in the Southeast Division, with defenseman Brad Dexter third in the league for top-scoring defensemen with 55 points in 19 goals and 26 assists. Forward Dave Seitz led the league in game-winning goals with 11, while goaltender Jody Lehman finished seventh among league netminders with a 2.72 GAA and a 0.916 save percentage. After receiving a first-round bye for the playoffs, the Stingrays fell in a second-round 3-game shutout to the Mississippi Sea Wolves. The final game was decided in overtime and ran to 110 minutes and 37 seconds, making it the fifth-longest overtime playoff game in league history as of the 2010–11 season.The team finished fourth in the Southeast Division in 1999–2000. Brad Dexter again finished third in total points among league defensemen with 66. He placed first among defensemen and fifth among all skaters for assists with 59. The Stingrays set the league postseason record for most goals by one team in a two-game series with 11 goals in their two-game shutout of the Baton Rouge Kingfish in the preliminary round of the playoffs. The team eliminated in-state rivals Pee Dee Pride three games to two to advance to the second round, where they were shut out in three games by the Louisiana IceGators.
The Stingrays finished the 2000–01 season first in both the Southeast Division and the Southern Conference. Ryan Brindley finished third among league defensemen with an average 10 points per game. The team accrued a season-record 141 penalty minutes in one game against the Greensboro Monarchs on October 13, 2000. They finished second in the league that season with a 9-game overall winning streak and had a league-record 10-game road winning streak. The Stingrays defeated the Arkansas RiverBlades three games to one in the first round and the Mobile Mysticks three games to two in the second round before sweeping the Louisiana IceGators four games to none to win the Southern Conference championship. They faced and defeated the Trenton Titans in five games to win their second Kelly Cup championship. Forward Dave Seitz, who scored 13 goals and 15 assists during the playoffs, was named playoff MVP.