ECHL: An Interview With Savannah Ghost Pirates Head Coach Rick Bennett

The Savannah Ghost Pirates are in their second season in the ECHL and have struggled in the standings as they’ve put up a record of 41-52-13-2 through 108 games. Behind the Ghost Pirates bench for the past two seasons in Rick Bennett, who, prior to joining the Ghost Pirates, spent 11 seasons behind the bench of the Union College Chargers, which included a trip to a Final Four in his first season as head coach in 2012 and a National Championship in 2014 but when asked about why he took the job in Savannah Bennett mentioned opportunity as big factor, “Number one was opportunity for me, any time that you get an opportunity you take it and try and make the most of it” said Bennett. Joining Bennett on the bench was former Adirondack Thunder Head Coach Alex Loh, “He was really helpful with the special teams, and he helped me in the first year put the roster together, and in the second year, he’s kinda been open in a way where he’s let me run with things which has been nice, and he’s just a terrific coach so is Nick Tuzzolino” said the Ghost Pirates Head Coach.

Despite the struggles in the standings, the city of Savannah has really shown out for the Ghost Pirates, as they sold out almost every game in their first season and had trouble keeping the merchandise on the shelves and when asked about the support of the team, Bennett credited the front office of the Ghost Pirates, “I think it’s the front office and the community, I think they kinda had the homework done before they were thinking about having a team here and going out into the community to see if it was going to be supportive or not, I really credit the front office and the Savannah fans for coming out”. It showed that fans absolutely love this team, and it showed during Fan Fest as it was a highly attended event, “It’s special, especially in your second year, says a lot about Savannah,” said Bennett when asked what it means to have the All-Star Game here in Savannah.

So far this season, Bennett is just looking to see the team grow from where they started the season, “Just seeing the improvement we’ve made since the beginning of the year and seeing guys getting better and developing and seeing guys getting called up who didn’t get called up last year” said Bennett. The relationship between all three levels of an organization is a crucial part of the ECHL, and Bennett mentioned that’s in the player’s minds when they are looking for a place to sign, and they see how Vegas has been operating this season, “I think the players see that, and that’s why it’s a destination for future players to look at and potentially sign here.”