The Pee Dee Pride, known as the Florence Pride for the 2003–04 ECHL season, was a professional minor-league hockey team that was based in Florence, South Carolina, where they played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) from 1997 until 2005. The team came to Florence as a relocation of the Knoxville Cherokees, 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, which seats 7,426 fans. The name of the organization came from the Pee Dee 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 Greenville Grrrowl, and the Columbia Inferno. After the 2004–05 season, the team moved to Myrtle Beach as the Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz. However, construction on a planned 7,000-seat arena on the campus of Coastal Carolina University stalled. Finally, at the ECHL league meetings in June 2009, the franchise was returned to the league,Annual ECHL Board Of Governors Meeting Concludes
'' ECHL''. 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