The Pee Dee Pride, known as the Florence Pride for the

2003–04 ECHL season The 2003–04 ECHL season was the 16th season of the ECHL. This was the first season that the league would be known as only the ECHL instead of East Coast Hockey League after the absorption of the former West Coast Hockey League teams. The Brab ...

, was a professional minor-league hockey team that was based in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropol ...

, where they played in the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

(ECHL) from 1997 until 2005. The team came to Florence as a relocation of the

Knoxville Cherokees The Knoxville Cherokees were an East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. History The franchise was formed in 1988 along with the ECHL. The team moved to Florence, South Carolina in 1997 and was renamed the Pee Dee Pr ...

, one of the five charter members of the ECHL which was originally housed in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. The Pride played at the

Florence Civic Center The Florence Center is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Florence, South Carolina. The arena was known as the Florence Civic Center until it rebranded in November 2017. It hosted the infamous eighth WWE In Your House pay-per-view in 1996, dur ...

, which seats 7,426 fans. The name of the organization came from the

Pee Dee The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, an Indigenous tribe historically inhabiting the region. History The ...

region of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in which Florence is located. The team's mascot was Paws the Lion. The organization never won the Kelly Cup, the ECHL championship trophy. However, the Pride were previous winners of the Palmetto Cup for best team in South Carolina, and the Brabham Cup for best regular season record. In-state rivals of the Pride included the

South Carolina Stingrays The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston ...

, the

Greenville Grrrowl The Greenville Grrrowl was 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. The Grrrowl's initial season was 1998–99, with former Ch ...

, and the

Columbia Inferno The Columbia Inferno were an ECHL team based in Columbia, South Carolina. Beginning in 2008, the team went on voluntary suspension awaiting construction of a new arena in suburban Lexington County, South Carolina. However, the ECHL dropped Colum ...

. After the 2004–05 season, the team moved to

Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the " Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. It ...

as the Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz. However, construction on a planned 7,000-seat arena on the campus of

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

stalled. Finally, at the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

league meetings in June 2009, the franchise was returned to the league,Annual ECHL Board Of Governors Meeting Concludes
''

''. June 29, 2009. ending its lineage.

Playoffs

*1997–98: Defeated

3–2 in first round; lost to

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

3–0 in quarterfinals. *1998–99: Defeated

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

3–1 in first round; defeated

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

3–1 in quarterfinals; lost to

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

4–1 in semifinals. *1999–00: Lost to

3–2 in first round. *2000–01: Defeated

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

3–2 in first round; lost to

3–2 in quarterfinals. *2001–02: Defeated Columbia 3–2 in first round; lost to Greenville 3–1 in quarterfinals. *2002–03: Defeated

3–1 in first round; lost to Columbia 3–0 in quarterfinals. *2003–04: Did not qualify. *2004–05: Did not qualify.

References

{{ECHLdefunct Defunct ECHL teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Defunct ice hockey teams in South Carolina Ice hockey clubs established in 1997 1997 establishments in South Carolina Florence, South Carolina 2005 disestablishments in South Carolina Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2005