This Week in Greensboro Hockey History

By: Bruce Bullington, GreensboroSports.com staff writer

This week brought some bad news for area hockey fans. The News & Record reported that a deal to bring hockey back to Greensboro has hit some snags and that there is a chance that a deal will not be reached in time for the start of next season.

Gate City hockey hopefuls should keep in mind that these things take time. With all the hoops that Tim Kerr had to jump through (the Coliseum, the ECHL, the owners of the team that would be relocating) it was inevitable that a snag would surface. It will only be a matter of when, not if, hockey returns to town.

With that in mind, we take another look back at the glory days.

January 16, 1999 – Adam Burt turned the puck over on a clearing attempt and Kelly Miller scored the game-winner just nine seconds into overtime as the Washington Capitals stunned a sellout crowd with a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

January 18th, 1997 – Gilbert Dionne scored two goals, including the game winner, as the Monarchs defeated the Kentucky Thoroughblades in front of 20,672 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

January 18th, 1999 – Gary Roberts scored two goals, including a backbreaker with just nine seconds remaining in the 2nd period, to give the Hurricanes a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

January 19th, 1996 – Andrew Brunette had a goal and two assists as the Carolina Monarchs fell 4-1 to the Portland Pirates.

January 20th, 1996 – 16,624 packed the Coliseum as the Monarchs rallied from a 2-0 deficit but the Pirates’ Rob Pearson scored in overtime to defeat the Monarchs 3-2.

January 20th, 2001 – Curtis Huppe had four goals and an assist in the Generals 7-1 route of the Richmond Renegades.

January 21st, 1997 – David Sacco scored two goals as the Baltimore Bandits scored four goals in the 2nd period to defeat the Carolina Monarchs 5-4.

January 21st, 2000 – James Desmarais had two goals and two assists as the Peoria Rivermen held off a late rally to defeat the Greensboro Generals 7-5.

January 21st, 2001 – Paul Giblin scored a hat trick as the Charlotte Checkers routed the Greensboro Generals 7-2.