BY: Matt Trust, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Tonight, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits kickoff the 2020-21 regular season against their in-state rival South Carolina Stingrays. Both teams are slated to meet four times in the first 10 games of the new campaign.
Greenville Swamp Rabbits (0-0-0-0) at South Carolina Stingrays (0-0-0-0)
December 11, 2020 | 7:05 PM | Game #1 | North Charleston Coliseum
Referees: Sean MacFarlane (4)
Linesmen: Shane Gustafson (87), Daniel Iulianello (65)
Broadcast Information:
WATCH LIVE: https://www.flohockey.tv/
LISTEN LIVE: https://mixlr.com/swamp-rabbits
GAME ONE:
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits begin a new 72-game schedule tonight and their 11th season in the Upstate. The first 10 games of the schedule feature four meetings with the Stingrays, two games against Florida next weekend, and a road trip to Indy on January 8-9. On Greenville’s opening night roster of 26, eight players are awaiting their professional debut. Swamp Rabbits Head Coach Andrew Lord will also be making his ECHL coaching debut after six seasons with the Cardiff Devils in the United Kingdom. Since 2014-15, Lord posted a 221-75-22 record with Cardiff and sits as the winningest coach in Devils history.
PRESEASON REMATCH:
The Swamp Rabbits and Stingrays met for a preseason dress rehearsal on December 5 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena with South Carolina claiming a 6-3 victory. Dan DeSalvo scored for the Stingrays at the 35-second mark of the opening stanza and added a shorthanded tally at 3:08 of the second period. Only 51 seconds later, Mike McNamee struck on the power play for Greenville to cut their deficit in half. The Stingrays countered with strikes from Cameron Askew at 9:43 and a 5-on-3 power play goal from Cole Ully at 18:06. Both clubs traded a pair of goals in the third period with Kamerin Nault and Matt Wedman scoring for the Swamp Rabbits to bookend strikes from Ully and Mark Cooper.
LAST SEASON-SERIES:
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits danced eight times last season with the South Carolina Stingrays and finished 2-4-1-1. In the season-series, returning Swamp Rabbits forward Kamerin Nault posted four points (one goal, three assists) in six games. Goaltender Ryan Bednard appeared in the net twice against the Rays and sported a 0-1-1 record with a 2.38 goals-against-average and a .923 save percentage. Mark Cooper led South Carolina in scoring against Greenville with eight points (three goals, five assists) in five meetings. South Carolina returning captain Andrew Cherniwchan also contributed four goals and tallied an assist in eight games.
CARLISLE FOR 300:
Tonight will mark professional game #300 for Chris Carlisle in his Swamp Rabbits debut. Carlisle posted 21 points, all assists, last season in 55 games with Budapest MAC in Slovakia. One season prior, the 25-year-old defenseman made American Hockey League stops in Belleville, Providence, and Grand Rapids, in addition to producing 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) in 44 contests with the Manchester Monarchs. Entering tonight, Carlisle has appeared in a career of 46 ECHL games and 153 at the AHL level. The former Oshawa General was an every day blueliner for the Binghamton Senators in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
OPENING NIGHT HISTORY:
Greenville enters tonight sporting a 3-6-1-0 record in their last 10 opening nights dating back to 2010-11. Last season, the Swamp Rabbits defeated the Jacksonville Icemen in their opener, 4-3 in overtime, with Nathan Perkovich scoring the sudden-death winner. Since 2016-17, the last four openers have all been decided by one goal. Tonight also marks the first time since 2016-17 the Swamp Rabbits kick off a new season on the road. On October 14, 2016, Greenville fell to the Florida Everblades by a 3-2 count.
#RABBITSRISING#
SINGLE GAME TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!
Rise With Us and pack Bon Secours Wellness Arena for the return of professional hockey in the United States! Single Game Tickets are available to purchase today here.
GEAR UP!
Get ready for the 2020–21 season by heading to our online store, the Hop Shop to purchase your brand new jerseys. On sale now!
ABOUT US
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team has been providing 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 proud affiliates of the NHL’s Florida Panthers and AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League. Since the conclusion of the 2019-20 NHL Season, 678 former ECHL players have debuted in the NHL. Nine former Greenville Road Warriors/Swamp Rabbits have later made their NHL debut
