Pro hockey will help W-S Fairgrounds, official says
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex will be the home of a hockey team coming in the fall of 2017 to Winston-Salem.
During a press conference last week, the owners updated the public on information, including the team name, logo and ownership group. The team will play its games inside of the annex, which has a seating capacity of 3,500 for hockey.
According to Robert Mulhearn, venue and facilities manager of the Fairgrounds, once the ownership group checked out the Annex, they were very happy to have hockey returning to the Fairgrounds.
“I think it’s not just the Fairgrounds but the city who wants to see hockey return. We have the facility for it and we have done it before, we just needed to find the right partner and the right opportunity,” said Mulhearn. “It’s good for the overall brand of the fairgrounds and it helps us get people to continue to come to our facilities throughout the year and not just in October during the fair.”
Pro hockey was in Winston-Salem until the 1990s. The team will be named the carolina thunderbirds and they will play in the Federal hockey league (Fhl).
the team will be owned and operated by owned and operated by Barry Soskin, who has been involved with various hockey teams for the past 25 years. Soskin also owns the Port Huron Prowlers and the Danville Dashers of the FHL. The Thunderbirds will host the two teams on Friday, March 17 and 18 in 2017.
The team’s logo will feature a bird with its wings spread holding a hockey stick. Fans can vote on the team’s colors on the official team website. To vote for a color, visit the team website at www.carolinathunderbirds.com. Contest closes Oct. 7 at noon.
The team also announced there will be open tryouts for potential players in the area but no date has been set. Operations for the team will begin in October of this year and season tickets are available on the team’s website at www.carolinathunderbirds.com.
For more information about the Carolina Thunderbirds, visit the team website or follow them online at Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at Carolina T-birds.
