When the Columbus Cottonmouths left the Fountain City, there was a void that needed to be filled. The longest running professional franchise in Columbus left in 2017 when owner Wanda Amos sold the team. For two seasons, there was no professional hockey in Columbus.

In comes Ignite Sports Entertainment and in 2019, the Columbus River Dragons were born. Columbus River Dragons General Manager Scott Brand came to Columbus from the Carolina Thunderbirds. Hockey returned to the Civic Center for the 2019-2020 season; however the season was completely cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The River Dragons returned for the 2021 condensed season in the Federal Prospect Hockey League, despite playing with limited fans, they were able to win the Ignite Cup in 2021

Expectations for the 2021-2022 season were high, Head Coach Jerome “Boom Boom” Bechard had a mixture of key Veterans like Jay Croop who won a FPHL Title with Carolina in 2019 and young players like Jagger Williamson. The River Dragons were able to push the Water Town Wolves to the brink, but lost in double overtime 3-2. With Columbus coming so close to winning their first Federal Prospects Commissioner’s Cup Trophy, it is no surprise that The Dragons came into the 2022-2023 Season as one of the favorites to hoist the trophy.

Currently the River Dragons are 33-8-4 with 96 points. They are in first place in the Continental Division and trail the Danbury Hat tricks by 3 points for the best overall record in the FPHL.

The Columbus Hockey Franchise has had some great moments this season to include the team’s first ever sellout at the Columbus Civic Center with over 7,000 fans in attendance. The team knows that it is how you play going into the playoffs, after getting off to a hot start, they have lost 2 out of 3 against the Motor City Rockers on March 10-12. The goal is home ice and they look to get back to the win column when they host the Mississippi Sea Wolves for a three-game series at the Civic Center on March 17-19.

The team has gelled together nicely with the biggest offseason addition of Jacob Kelly, who leads the team with 34 goals scored. Rookie Goaltender Breandan Colgan is performing nicely behind the net only giving up 2.25 goals per game and has a 17-5-2 record. Jay Croop currently is 5 goals shy of 100 career goals for his career that started back in 2015 when he played in the original Federal Hockey League, he is also one point away from 200 career points.

Despite the teams success, the game day experience is memorable. The Public Address Announcer Dana Barker always gets the crowd excited and listening to River Dragons Play-by-play Announcer Tom Callahan, you get a better understanding of the game has he brings his NHL experience to the Minor League Level of Hockey. Hockey is back in Columbus and hopefully this is the year that the Dragons and bring a championship to the Fountain City.