The ECHL opened its regular season last night with six
games and the league is "continuing to expand, with two
expansion teams set to open play this year and two more
scheduled to join" for the '99-2000 season, according to
Mike Herndon of the MOBILE REGISTER. New teams in
Greenville, SC, and Fort Myers, FL brings league membership
to 27 teams. Two teams relocated this season -- the Augusta
Lynx, formerly the Raleigh IceCaps, and the Miami Matadors,
formerly the Louisville Riverfrogs. The league plans to add
teams in Trenton, NJ, and Little Rock, AR, next year and one
in Columbia, SC, "sometime after 2000." ECHL Dir of
Communications Jason Rothwell said the league hopes to build
on last season's 4.7 million in attendance by exceeding 5
million. Last year's regular season average attendance was
about 5,000 per game (MOBILE REGISTER, 10/15).
EEERRR! The Grrrowl are expecting a sell-out for their
Friday night home opener against the Charlotte Checkers,
having already sold over 13,000 tickets. The team may set a
record for the largest opening-day crowd in the league's 11-
year history. ScheerSports and WHNS-Fox TV will broadcast
the game from the Bi-Lo Center (Greenville Grrrowl)....The
Matadors expect 4,800 for tonight opener at Miami Arena
against the South Carolina Stingrays (MIAMI HERALD, 10/16).
