Savannah’s first pro-hockey team unveiled their name and logo on Wednesday afternoon, as ownership formally introduced to the community the Savannah Ghost Pirates. Almost a year ago to the date, the City of Savannah announced that the ECHL would be bringing to them their first pro hockey team. Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson captured the occasion with callouts of the team’s future rivals, such as Jacksonville, Charleston and Atlanta.
With that, the wait to learn of team branding is officially over, and the name is a fitting one for a city that sits right on the Atlantic Ocean. Ghost Pirates is a name centered around the early days of Savannah when pirates sailed the seas in the Caribbean and the southern states of the United States. “I want the rest of the league to know that Savannah is on the map and they should be very, very afraid,” said Mayor Johnson.
Ghost Pirates’ President Bob Ohrablo, who opened the Wednesday announcement, confirmed his position in not only being a hockey team for the community, but also helping out with the non-profits. Despite certain details such as team colours still being kept under wraps, based on the logo, the primary colour appears to be black or grey. What can be confirmed is the secondary colour, which is highlighted in a bright lime green.
The team will be incepted next year for the start of the 2022-23 campaign. They will be playing out of a newly constructed Enmarket Arena, which will open its doors in January of 2022. Savannah has never hosted a hockey team before, although they’ve been a destination for college club hockey tournaments for southern colleges. The Ghost Pirates mark the 28th hockey club in the ECHL, meaning that they only have four spots left to fill for the league’s blueprint to match the number of teams in the AHL and NHL.