By Carly Walton

When you think of sports in North Carolina, you might think of NASCAR and football. What if you were told that hockey has been one of the most consistent sports in Greensboro? Greensboro saw its first-ever professional hockey team in 1959 with the Greensboro Generals, which was later renamed to the Monarchs in 1989. Throughout the time the Monarchs played, they won 211 games. The Monarchs ended up disbanding in 1995 when they had moved up to the American Hockey League (AHL) from the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). During their two seasons in the AHL, the Carolina Monarchs played 160 games, winning 56 games.

North Carolina saw its very first major league hockey team in 1997 when the Hartford Whalers relocated to Greensboro and became the Carolina Hurricanes that we know today. The first game they played was against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the First Horizon Coliseum. The Hurricanes did not last long in Greensboro, moving to the Lenovo Center in Raleigh before the start of their 1999 season. The Generals made their return as an ECHL team but ultimately disbanded in 2004.

In January 2025, Greensboro was hinting at what looked like team colors and would post pictures of gargoyle statues. January 15 is when the city of Greensboro officially announced that Greensboro was getting a hockey team. People were reminiscing about the Monarchs and how the team should keep the name instead of renaming to the Gargoyles, and others were excited that hockey was coming back to the Piedmont.

In the Gargoyles first season, they are currently ranked 15 in the eastern half of the conference after 45 games played, winning only 13 so far. The Gargoyles are ranked 29th overall. In the Gargoyles first game of the season, there were nearly 11,400 fans packed in the Coliseum. Tickets for Gargoyle games start at $22, so consider attending. The Gargoyles have fun themed nights that they host for their games; these include Margaritaville and Star Wars. For college students, Whataburger does have a coupon for 40 dollars that includes two tickets and a coupon for two chicken biscuits and one Monterrey melt. It is exciting for hockey to finally be back in Greensboro and without a doubt, this will bring in some much-needed excitement to the city.