Ice hockey team in Columbus, Georgia
The Columbus River Dragons are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Georgia. The team is a member of the Federal Prospects Hockey League and plays at the Columbus Civic Center.
History
In 2017, the Columbus Cottonmouths, a longtime Civic Center tenant, folded after 21 years. This left the Civic Center without a hockey tenant for the first time in its existence. Almost two years later in April 2019, the Columbus city council voted to award a five-year lease to Ignite Pro Hockey, LLC at the Civic Center.[3] On May 21, 2019, it was announced that the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) had awarded an expansion team to Columbus, Georgia, and would be called the Columbus River Dragons.[4] Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the River Dragons' inaugural season was curtailed after the team had clinched the fourth-seeded Western Division playoff position.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, a shortened 2020–21 season was delayed until starting February 19 consisting of four teams: the Carolina Thunderbirds, Columbus River Dragons, Elmira Enforcers, and Port Huron Prowlers, with Carolina playing all games on the road. The league announced an end-of-season tournament, but it would instead be called the Ignite Cup and not the Commissioner's Cup due to the unusual season format.[5] The Ignite Cup consists of a five-game series between the top two teams that had played at least 16 regular season games.[6] Columbus finished with the best regular season record, qualifying to face the second-seeded Elmira Enforcers in the Ignite Cup where they won the league championship three-games-to-none.[7]
