Greenville Grrrowl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greenville Grrrowl

Founded	1998
Home ice	BI-LO Center
Based in	Greenville, South Carolina
Colors	Black, Gold, Purple, Silver
League	ECHL
Head coach	John Marks

The Greenville Grrrowl were an ECHL hockey team located in Greenville, South Carolina. They played their home games at the BI-LO Center. In the 2001-02 season, they won the Kelly Cup.^[1]

The Grrrowl's initial season was 1998-99, with former Chicago Blackhawks defensive star John Marks as their coach. He remained their only coach from 1998 to 2006^[2]. They were an affiliate of the AHL Norfolk Admirals, ^[3] and an affiliate of the NHL Chicago Blackhawks and the Edmonton Oilers.^[1]

The team announced that they were folding on June 2, 2006, after running a US$1,000,000 deficit during 2005 that left the team unable to attract new investors.^[4] They began losing money after attendance slid from 7,000 per game in their first season to just 2,100 in 2004-05.^[1] On June 15 the BI-LO Center announced they were willing to pay $350,000 to keep the team afloat, hoping to entice developers to save the team.^[5] Despite the offer, the Greenville Grrrowl ceased operation on July 10, 2006 when the team failed to find new sources of financing.^[1] According to Grrrowl President Ed Rubinstein, the team only plans to refund "some percentage" of money already paid by season ticket holders.^[1]

[edit] Retired Numbers

#36 – When Nick Vitucci retired in 2004. Nick played in 14 ECHL Seasons, his last 3 with the Greenville Grrrowl. He is now a head coach for the Toledo Storm^[6].