The Carolina Hurricanes retired Eric Staal's number 12 in a ceremony Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. Celebrity ownership is on the rise and it seems like the latest North Carolina-based hockey team is getting their own set. The ECHL announced last year that they were expanding back into North Carolina, the heart of hockey, with its 30th franchise coming to Greensboro. And news today is that Spittin' Chiclets will be co-owners of the new franchise. The team is owned and operated by Zawyer Sports & Entertainment who owns a few other teams — the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres), Savannah Ghost Pirates (ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers) and Tahoe Knight Monsters (ECHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights) and the Charlotte Checkers (AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers) — but it seems like the popular hockey podcasters are going to be big parts of the ownership group. The podcast is hosted by fomer NHLers Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney as well as Mike Grinnell and the show has hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners and is one of the top sports podcasts around. Those three along with former NHLer Keith Yandle are going to be part of the new ownership group. "We've been talking all this time about getting involved in the ECHL well it has finally happened,' Bissonnette said on a clip released on the podcast's social media platforms. "We are co-owners in an ECHL professional hockey team in Greensboro, North Carolina." The crew had a lot of jokes on how they were going to run the team from in-arena bands and top-of-the-line sleeper buses to Bissonnette joking that he was going to be a Jerry Jones/Lou Lamoriello type with his "hands on everything." "I want it to just be a party,' Whitney said. "An absolute banger every night." They also announced that the name and logo where going to be revealed today, Jan. 14, at 6:30 p.m. EST in a live press conference in Greensboro. It will be interesting to see just where the new owners take the franchise, but what's true is that hockey continues to grow in North Carolina and this new adventure should surely only help to boost its stature amongst the rest of the hockey world.
