SWAMP RABBITS NAME PETER DRIKOS ASST COACH
SWAMP RABBITS NAME PETER DRIKOS ASSISTANT COACH
Fourth-year ECHL bench coach reunites with Costello for 2026-27 Season after three ECHL seasons in Rapid City.
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and AHL’s Ontario Reign, announced that Peter Drikos has been named assistant coach.
Drikos joins the Swamp Rabbits after spending the last three seasons in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush. Over those three seasons, he coached the team’s defense corps and penalty kill and contributed to the power play. Entering the 2025-26 season, Drikos was promoted to Associate Coach of the Rush under Dave Smith.
Drikos reunites with Head Coach/GM Chad Costello, teaming up previously in the 2024-25 ECHL season when Costello was tabbed as a mid-season Associate Coach. Together, they led the Rush to an ECHL franchise record 11-game winning streak and 13-game point streak from February 1st to March 1st, going 11-0-2 in that span along with a near-40% power play scoring clip. In that stretch were current Swamp Rabbits signees Chaz Smedsrud, Trevor Janicke, and Blake Bennett, with the latter leading the entire ECHL in goals and points with 27 and 52, respectively, in 37 games from January 17th, 2025, to the end of the regular season.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to be in Greenville. The support and excitement from the city surrounding the team is incredible, and the fan base is second-to-none. Being back alongside Chad is exciting. He is a great friend, a tremendous competitor, and I look forward to building off of our chemistry and competing with him again,” Drikos said of coming to the Upstate and reuniting with Costello. “As a coach, I bring intensity, commitment, support, and passion for the team and staff. Working with the defense and overseeing the penalty kill, I preach execution, accountability, and tenacity, all of which are foundations for success.
“Expectations are high for us this year. We have a great group of men on and off the ice,” Drikos concluded. “Playoffs are the initial goal, and building towards a deep playoff run is the mindset we’re instilling. With Chad and myself being very much in sync, I’m looking forward to working and building towards a Kelly Cup Championship.”
“I’m thankful I have the opportunity to have Peter on our team. I appreciated working alongside him when I first joined the Spire Hockey family in 2024 and can’t wait to battle alongside him again on the Swamp Rabbits,” Chad Costello, Swamp Rabbits Head Coach/GM, said of Drikos’ addition to the team. “Peter will work with our defense corps and assist with all facets of special teams this season. As a coach, and just as well as human being, Peter has a relentless work ethic and is a team-first guy. He has a strong background in player development, made possible by the great rapport he builds with players. He is a tremendous boost to our culture, and the final piece on our hockey operations staff as we head into the start of Training Camp and the 2026-27 ECHL Season.”
From Toronto, Ontario, Drikos, 40, turned to the ECHL ranks of coaching following eight seasons of junior hockey in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) and the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). During those eight campaigns, he spent five as a head coach with the Brampton Bombers, Toronto Patriots, and Cobourg Cougars. Before the coaching chapter of his career commenced, Drikos, a 6’2”, 205-pound defenseman, played three professional seasons, winning the 2011 FHL championship with the Akwesasne Warriors. His professional career followed one season of Canadian college hockey with Ryerson University and four seasons in what is now the OJHL, winning the 2006 championship with the St. Michael’s Buzzards.
The Swamp Rabbits officially begin the 25th season of professional hockey in the Upstate on “Opening Night”, presented by Bon Secours St. Francis Health System on October 16thber 16th. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, with a pre-game party on the Furman Plaza set to kick off the festivities with an “orange carpet” entrance of the 2026-27 Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
About the Swamp Rabbits…
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits have provided family-friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest-level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s LA Kings and the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, the premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.
