From muck to puck with the Charleston Stingrays

It was 1993, when, lo, out of the Lowcountry mud and muck, there appeared … a puck.

And, faster than you can spell Zamboni, the people said, verily, it is good.

The history of Lowcountry ice hockey and recreational skating can be traced directly to the first night the South Carolina Stingrays glided onto the North Charleston Coliseum ice before a throng of fans, according to team president R. Taylor Lee.

The Stingrays introduced an exciting, lightning-fast, Northern game to the Deep South and spawned a growing interest in all things icy, from youth and adult hockey leagues to recreational skating that can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Lee is in his fourth season in charge of the Stingrays, who play in the ECHL, which includes 25 teams across the continent. ECHL originally stood for East Coast Hockey League. But when it expanded to include teams on the West Coast and in Alaska and Canada, it simply became an acronym, similar to how Kentucky Fried Chicken morphed into KFC.

"I like to say it stands for ‘Each Coast or Every Coast Hockey League’" Lee said. "It had developed a good following and reputation on the East Coast and we wanted to keep that brand name."

He said the ECHL is a "yellow brick road" to the American Hockey League (AHL) and the premier National Hockey League (NHL). However, it is not like baseball’s farm system, which has direct ownership ties to major-league teams. Although the Stingrays are affiliated with the NHL’s Washington Capitals and AHL Hershey Bears, Stingrays players can be called up to any other professional team if they are not under direct contract with affiliate teams.

The Stingrays have a distinctly Canadian flavor, according to Lee. About 60 to 70 percent of players hail from places like Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Cornwall, Ontario and Millett, Alberta. And they welcome the chance to live and play in the Lowcountry.

***image2***"Charleston is a great destination for players," Lee said. "It’s a beach and college town with warm weather and lots to do. They love it here."

Since its inception, the Stingrays have built a rich history of winning. Perennially in the playoffs, the team has won two Kelly cups, the ECHL equivalent of the NHL Stanley Cup. And they are the only team to win the Kelly Cup and the Brabham Cup, given for total points scored, in the same season. This has helped the team maintain financial stability for more than a decade.

"There’s definitely a solid core group of fans and as more people from the north move here, that grows," Lee said. "People are also bringing their businesses here from the north and we are getting more corporate sponsors."

The Stingrays have been winners off the ice, too, with strong commitment to community involvement.

For example, it has a "Blades for Grades" school outreach program that provides incentives for students who improve their grades or behavior. In addition, the team is sponsoring Education Day on Jan. 10 for local students where they can sharpen their geography skills by locating players’ hometowns, get a dose of science by learning how rink ice and pucks are made and how much a player sweats during a game. Local organizations that also benefit from the team’s activities include MUSC Children’s Hospital, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity and other non-profits.

Perhaps the most visible public symbol is Cool Ray, the Stingrays’ popular mascot.

"Cool Ray goes everywhere and he gets mobbed," Lee said. "Involvement in the community is very important to us and that poor mascot uniform gets abused it’s used so much."

***image4***The game aside, entertainment value is a crucial component for a minor-league professional team, Lee said, noting that baseball’s Charleston Riverdogs’ wacky game time antics are a tough act to follow.

"I hope I’m not offending anyone, but baseball is a slow sport," he said. "There’s a lot of down time between action where they can do all that entertainment. We don’t have as much time for that. Hockey is different. It’s fast and wild, with bright lights, nonstop action and loud music during stops in play."

Lee said that a recent poll revealed that 80 percent of people attending a minor-league baseball game could not remember the final score. Conversely, 80 percent of hockey fans could recite the game’s final outcome.

"We perform in very different environments," he said. "With the Riverdogs, you can go sit in a beautiful stadium on a summer night by the Ashley River. We, on the other hand, play inside during our brutal Charleston winters. They are two totally different kinds of sports. The Riverdogs and the Stingrays are the two 1,200-pound gorillas in town and, thank goodness, we have different seasons."

Hockey’s perceived violence is an obstacle when marketing hockey to families, according to Lee.

"There’s that old misconception that you went to a fight and a hockey game broke out," he said. "People automatically associate fighting with hockey, but it happens in football and baseball, too. It’s part of the game and always will be. Think about it, there’s constant contact and bumping between players during a game. It causes an incredible level of frustration that builds up because it’s constant, constant contact. But many times the players will be friendly with each other in the penalty box, chitchatting with each other. It’s unbelievable."

Lowcountry native Lee hails originally from Summerville. The former marketer and assistant director of the Cooper River Run said he loves ice hockey. But how is his skating?

"You can’t really can’t call it skating," he laughed. "I can recreationally skate in a big circle with my 7-year old and she is quickly surpassing my skill level. But, because of my position, I feel obliged to try."