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North Carolina awarded professional hockey expansion franchise

Originally posted on Hockey Unplugged | By Axel Williams | Last updated Oct 18, 2024 4:15 PM ET

Greensboro, North Carolina is a city that is mostly known for housing NASCAR teams and some minor league baseball.

However, the city has actually been quite hospitable to the game of hockey. There have been a few minor league teams out that way, and it has been pretty impressive to watch the game grow in the south. Despite having an ECHL franchise taken away from Greensboro, it appears as though the league is officially going back.

In an announcement today, it was revealed that the ECHL was expanding to 30 teams, and Greensboro would be the new franchise. There is no name, but the team will go live in 2025-26.

'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.'

It will be interesting to see how this all works out. After all, Greensboro has been the home of hockey teams before. They were even the home of the Carolina Hurricanes while their arena in Raleigh was built.

Source: Blade of Steel
New Hockey Expansion City Officially Set to Join League Bringing the Total to 30 Teams

This article first appeared on Hockey Unplugged and was syndicated with permission.

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