Knights will get new ECHL affiliate soon with Ghost Pirates leaving
The Golden Knights will have a new ECHL affiliate soon.
The Savannah Ghost Pirates will partner with the Florida Panthers next season, the team announced Monday.
The Ghost Pirates, who began play in the 2022-23 season, were the Knights’ affiliate the past two years. The ECHL is one step below the American Hockey League.
“We look forward to bringing Florida Panthers’ style hockey to the Savannah area as we develop our prospects in pursuit of the Kelly Cup,” Panthers assistant general manager Brett Peterson said in a statement.
The move makes sense for the Ghost Pirates.
The Panthers and their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, are much closer to Georgia than the Golden Knights and Silver Knights are.
It is not immediately clear who the Ghost Pirates’ replacement will be. There is one possible partner that makes sense for the Golden Knights, however.
The Tahoe Knight Monsters, the ECHL’s newest franchise owned by former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, will begin play next season at the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline. That could put all three teams under the Knights’ umbrella in one state.
Knights win Emmy
The Knights received an Emmy Award on Saturday for their coverage of the team’s Stanley Cup championship banner ceremony.
“Raise the Banner” was one of six Emmy nominations for the Knights and Scripps Sports. They won the Special Events Program category from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Pacific Southwest Chapter.
The package highlighted the Knights’ run to their first championship last season and culminated in captain Mark Stone pulling the lever of a giant slot machine to unveil the banner.
You can watch the presentation here.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.