FLORENCE, S.C. (WMBF) – The pucks will be dropping again in the Pee Dee.
Officials announced that a hockey team will return to Florence during a Wednesday news conference at the Florence Center.
“I am excited to get this thing to the finish line,” said Rex Berman, Florence Center General Manager. “A year and a half ago, when I first started, it was bring hockey back, bring hockey back, and I am like okay.”
This new team will play in the Federal Prospects Hockey League, an independent league.
“The fact that so many people wanted it back not only does that generation that grew up as kids coming out, now you have their kids that want to come see a hockey game like their parents did with theirs,” said Parker Moskal, team owner.
Florence hasn’t had a professional hockey team since the Pee Dee Pride, which played from 1997-2005 in the ECHL, but the new one has signed its first player.
“There is a lot of excitement around this first season and making an impact with the younger generation,” said Kevin Sazbad, who is the first player to sign to the new team.
There were dozens of fans attending the announcement, many with Pride jerseys on.
“I have been coming to the Pride games since I moved here in 1995, and I am ecstatic,” said Aaron Elmquist, Pride hockey fan. “We have not been going to other hockey teams since 2018.”
“The memories from childhood, it was the late 1990s,” said Samuel Fryer, a Pride hockey fan. “It was a big part of our local culture, and it was unique.
As for the team name, that’ll be up to the fans.
Information on how to submit name ideas is coming soon.
The team is expected to start playing in October for the league’s next season.
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