Greenville, S.C. – After 72 games played during the 2023-24 regular season in the ECHL, the Swamp Rabbits recorded records, had highs and lows, and made franchise history.
The Swamp Rabbits would start the first month of October by winning all three of their games. In November, they would see the first loss of the season to Atlanta (4-7) on November 1st at Atlanta. But the rest of the month would be action-packed in the South Division, as Greenville would win 12 games with two losses. Following December, the Rabbits would hit highs and lows but still dominate the south division by being in first place. However, they would win just seven of fifteen games in the month, mainly being shadowed by their close-division rivals. In that month, the Greenville team hosted the Cincinnati Cyclones for a one game appearance, and they would win it 4-3. In January, they sought revenge to take back the eastern conference and south division first place title, and even at one point took first place in the league for a brief period of time by winning nine of eleven games. Luke Richardson would record his first career shutout in the ECHL after winning 1-0 against the Florida Everblades (1-27-24), after backing up Ryan Bednard while Jacob Ingham was playing for the Ontario Reign of the AHL. In February, the team would face different league foes of which they haven’t before in the season, one of whom was the Newfoundland Growlers – the team that recently got its league membership revoked due to poor ownership. The Rabbits would head to Newfoundland for a three-game road stand, but before then, they had to face three of their division foes in three straight days at home. In the three-game homestand, they would win two, one against Savannah and SC (7-3/3-2).
Related Post: ECHL: Greenville Swamp Rabbits Extend Affiliation with Ontario Reign and LA Kings
In Newfoundland, the Rabbits would get beaten by the eastern conference foes in Canada, losing all three; Jacob Ingham was the goalie for all three consecutive games as Ryan Bednard was out due to injury while Luke Richardson was unable to make the trip; fatigue was there in the young 23-year-old LA Kings prospect goalie. In the first game on February 8, they would lose 2-3 in OT, and after that game, it would look rough for the Rabbits, as they would lose the next two (2-6/1-5). Returning back home, the team would lose 0-7 against SC before winning four straight games to cap off the month. Six wins out of 12 games played – February was not their month. March 2, the Rabbits would win 4-0 and shutout the Gladiators, with Ingham recording his first shutout of the season; the team would win five games afterward of eleven games; they would see their first visit at the Kia Center in Orlando, and win it 2-1; Toledo would visit Greenville for a two-game, back-to-back series, and win both of them (4-3 OT, 3-0). For the final month of the regular and post-season, the Rabbits would have a bumpy road prior to and during the playoffs. Starting off, they would visit the Solar Bears again at the Kia Center for a three consecutive game series but lose all of them.
A week later, they would host the Gladiators for the final time of the season, winning it 7-3; and would bus down to Savannah the following day to lose 0-3, and then return back to Greenville for the final Savannah appearance at home and regular season home game to win it with revenge 5-1. After the final regular season game with a win, the Rabbits clinched the South Division title and would consequently host the Solar Bears again for the playoffs. For that final home game against Savannah, Luke Richardson would be the netminder and make 35 saves against the Ghost Pirates. After 72 games, 36 at home and away, the Rabbits recorded 44-23-4-1 for 93 points. As a result, they would be fifth in the league, second in the Eastern Conference, and first in the South Division. They broke records and clinched their first south division title in franchise history, the last time they did was when they were called the Road Warriors in the 2010-11 season.
Player Stats
So many players stood out during the season, but a few had significant and bright stats to show for it. For the forwards, Carter Souch was top point maker on the team for being number one in goals and assists (72GP 26-34=60); Brannon McManus was second for points (47=13-34 71GP); Tanner Eberle was third highest for goals (64GP 17-27=44); Josh McKechney was second for most goals (72GP 21-18=39); Ben Freeman (70GP 14-20=34); Ethan Somoza (72GP 17-16=33); Anthony Beauchamp (72GP 14-17=31); Nikita Pavlychev spent majority of his time in AHL Ontario (32GP 12-18=30); Brett Kemp spent majority of his time on PTOs in AHL (36GP 10-20=30); J.D. Greenway spent majority of his time as d-man (65GP 6-18=24); Ryan Francis spent majority of his time in AHL Ontario (31GP 9-12=21); Nick Prkusic spent majority of his time on reserve but played all playoff games (45GP 4-13=17); Colton Young spent 19 games in Ontario Reign (39GP 6-10=16).
For d-men, Joe Leahy was top point maker for 27 points (69GP 9-18); Max Martin was second and spent time in AHL Ontario (46GP 5-20=25); Bobby Russell spent a fraction of time on injured reserve (39GP 5-12=17); Max Coyle spent some time on reserve (54GP 2-10=12); Tyler Inamoto spent majority of time in AHL Ontario (10GP 2-3=5); Wyatte Wylie spent majority of time in AHL Ontario (5GP 2-2=4); Jake Flynn started playing near the start of the postseason (10GP 1-2=3); Mark Louis was put on injured reserve after series in Newfoundland (29GP 1-2=3); Logan Britt started playing near the postseason start (4GP 0-1=1); Sam Jardine came back to Greenville near postseason start after a majority of time in AHL Calgary (8GP 0 points); Jacob Modry (22GP 0 points).
For the goalies, Jacob Ingham manned the team as the top netminder; he would eventually get contracted with the LA Kings before a three-game series in Orlando in March (34GP/17W 2.57GAA and 0.917SV%, 959 saves, and 81 goals against); Ryan Bednard would be second top tendie, as he would bounce between being back up to Ingham or primary to Richardson (33GP/20W 2.91GAA and 0.911 SV%, 1000 saves and 89 against); Luke Richardson spent majority of his time as backup reserve goalie as this season was his second but first full season for the Rabbits; despite seeing short playing time, he would perform extremely well (12GP/7W 2.19GAA and 0.931SV%, 320 saves and 22 against).
