Failure marks Savannah's history with minor leagues teams, but the Ghost Pirates will succeed

This is a column by Sports Content Editor Nathan Dominitz.

Savannah has an opportunity to form a new sports community, one not based on where you live or where you went to school.

Everyone is welcome to support Savannah's first professional ice hockey team, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, who opened their inaugural season Oct. 22 in the ECHL.

It says here that Savannah will root for the Ghost Pirates like it has for few other pro minor league teams, despite hockey's lack of roots in the region.

Why? Because of the qualities intrinsic to ice hockey, which feeds on the energy and intensity at the rink. And because the experienced organizations running the new franchise and new arena will cater to the fan experience, which win or lose on the ice, keeps people coming back long after the novelty has worn off.

Watching hockey in person a 'completely different game'

It matters not if you've never played hockey or watched a game or single highlight. Don't understand the icing rule? Well, you might not have heard about ghost pirates before, but you figured that out quickly enough with Savannah's cultural history/infatuation with ghosts and pirates.

Rick Bennett invited novice hockey fans to learn more about the sport during his introductory news conference in May as the head coach of the expansion franchise.

"I think just coming out to a couple of practices, I think that's how you integrate yourself," said Bennett, a former NHL player and longtime coach. "Ask as many questions as you possibly can. I think through practices, if you're fortunate enough to do that, that's great. If not, come to the games."

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Seeing a game in person is all it takes to become a fan, hockey people say. The experience at the rink is "a completely different game" from the one restricted to the parameters of the small screen, said ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin.

Ghost Pirates team president Bob Ohrablo said if people have only watched it on TV, "then they haven't seen hockey."

Ice hockey is a sensory treat, from the sights and sounds of players crashing into each other and the boards; to the speed, power and fearlessness; to the skating, stick and glove skills; to scoring chances keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Look away from the ice when the puck is in play — if you dare. All wins feel hard-earned and exhausting. Sudden-death overtime can feel exactly that, like a death, if you're on the short end.

It's a cool sport, pun intended.

Bennett thinks the excitement will appeal to football fans, of which there is no shortage in southeast Georgia.

"They like the hard hitting," Bennett said. "To me, it's the fastest game. When you have the speed and physicality, that's just a set-up for success."

Minor-league sports town

Will people come in droves to games? That's been the question at the top of the order in Savannah's history of minor league team sports, and the answer has rarely been in the affirmative.

We understand that the Greater Savannah area is not large enough to be a major league market, but is it a minor-league sports town? A parade of pro teams in basketball, football, soccer and baseball have called the Hostess City home. With the exception of baseball, they have come and gone in short order. That's not unique to Savannah or the minors for many reasons.

Grayson Stadium's home ballclubs competed the majority of the time in the Single-A South Atlantic League under numerous nicknames, affiliations and team owners. One general consistency was Savannah ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance, regardless of its success on the field.

The most recent pro team, the Sand Gnats, was a New York Mets affiliate whose ownership group sought a new stadium, preferably in the Historic District. When that didn't fly with local politicians, the team left town after the 2015 SAL season for a new identity, the Fireflies, and a new stadium on the grounds of a former mental hospital in Columbia, S.C.

Savannah's checkered history with pro sports — including the exit of mainstream events such as the PGA Tour Champions' Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf (2003-13) — had taken another hit.

Making good on second chances

But in place of the senior tour, Savannah now has a Korn Ferry Tour event, the Club Car Championship at The Landings Club, that develops the PGA Tour's next stars.

And after the Sand Gnats, the Savannah Bananas in 2016 became the next summer tenants of Grayson Stadium. Owners Jesse and Emily Cole knew a collegiate wood-bat league team couldn't match the product on the field of an MLB-affiliated pro team.

But then, the standard of developing players and inside-the-box game promotions had not built more than a small, hardcore fanbase. Working from the other direction, the Bananas took the mindset of entertaining fans first, delivering on customer service, competitive baseball and the overall experience of a night at the ballpark.

Winning came quickly with a Coastal Plain League title in 2016 (and then in 2021 and '22). But the Bananas became a phenomenon by packing the stadium and attracting fans from across the country and internationally with their brand of wacky, fan-interactive antics before, during and after games; and trending video posts in the millions on social media.

They developed a relationship with their fanbase, both in person and online, to form a community of Bananas fanatics. Spectators at Bananas games feel a connection rooted in having fun — no matter the score inside the ballpark or in the world outside.

The Bananas spun off a second team of traveling pros whose popularity led the organization to phase out the collegiate squad and go all-in for 2023 with their uptempo, unorthodox and unique Banana Ball games in Savannah and touring on the road.

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Which brings us back to the Ghost Pirates, who have witnessed the Bananas' success in becoming the hottest ticket in town. But in a different, less-familiar sport, playing within league rules, does the new game in town need to be unconventional to draw crowds?

Team officials believe the Ghost Pirates have a lot going for them. They will play in a sparkling new, multiuse but hockey-tailored building in Enmarket Arena, which is operated by an industry leader in Oak View Group. The game experience, from the unobstructed sightlines to the food and beverage items, will appeal to families, friends and couples seeking a night out.

The ECHL, akin to Double-A in baseball, has grown from being regional with five teams in four states in 1988-89 to a national league with 28 clubs in 20 states and two Canadian provinces for the 2022-23 season. It's a bona fide developer of talent with, by its count, 727 players promoted to the National Hockey League.

Among the 28 NHL teams (of 32) affiliated with ECHL teams are the Vegas Golden Knights, who through their AHL affiliate, the Henderson (Nevada) Silver Knights, are providing players for the Savannah roster.

Success in a Southern market

The Savannah front office is well-versed in operating winning, popular minor-league hockey organizations. Owner Andy Kaufmann, president Bob Ohrablo and executive vice president/chief revenue officer Scott Einhorn are the most prominent of team officials who hold the same duties with the Jacksonville (Florida) Icemen of the ECHL.

The model here will be similar to the strategy in Jacksonville. Grow the game and grow fans through community involvement such as charity initiatives and fostering youth and adult leagues at ancillary rinks.

Ohrablo described the levels of fans the Ghost Pirates will attact: hardcore hockey fans who were quick to sign up for season tickets even before there was a seating chart; corporate sales of season tickets and sponsorships; group sales which could account for one-third of the crowd; and casual fans, perhaps familiar with the annual college club hockey tournament, curious to check out pro hockey in Savannah.

The numbers already are strong with more than 5,000 season-ticket sales (both half- and full-season, 36-game packages) for the 7,000-seat Enmarket Arena.

"The first year we're introducing people. There's a honeymoon period, no doubt about it," Ohrablo said in a 2021 interview. "It's our job to make sure they constantly come back year after year. In Jacksonville, we've increased our attendance every year since we've been there."

The Icemen's average attendance, according to hockeydb.com, went from 5,728 in 2017-18, to 5,993 in 2018-19, to 5,904 in 2019-20. When capacity was limited during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, the team averaged 3,165. When full capacity was restored, the Icemen averaged 6,405 last season, third-best in the ECHL.

"This is a marathon," he said. "We signed a 10-year lease with OVG here (in Savannah), so we're going to be here for a long time."

It's a professional approach to building a long-term connection and making Savannah a hockey town as well as the home of Bananaland.

Contact Dominitz at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Ghost Pirates open ECHL season as city's first pro hockey team