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SPHL
SPHL logo.png
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 2004
Commissioner Doug Price
No. of teams 10
Country United States
Most recent
champion(s)
Peoria Rivermen
(2024)
Most titles Knoxville Ice Bears and Pensacola Ice Flyers (4 each)
Official website thesphl.com

The SPHL (formerly the Southern Professional Hockey League) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the midwestern United States.

Following the 2023–24 season, the Peoria Rivermen are the reigning President's Cup champions. As of 2023, the Knoxville Ice Bears are the most successful team in SPHL history, having won five William B. Coffey Trophies as the regular season champions and four President's Cup playoff championships. The Peoria Rivermen have also won five William B. Coffey Trophies, while Pensacola has also won four President's Cups.

History

The SPHL's history traces back to three other short-lived leagues. The Atlantic Coast Hockey League started play in the 2002–03 season. After its only season, the ACHL dissolved with member teams forming the nucleus for two rival leagues, the South East Hockey League and the World Hockey Association 2. After one season, the SEHL and WHA2 disbanded, with their surviving teams rejoining with two expansion teams to form the SPHL, commencing with the 2004–05 season.

In 2009, the SPHL saw a large expansion with three new franchises, in Biloxi, Mississippi, Lafayette, Louisiana and Pensacola, Florida. In 2010, the league added an expansion team in Augusta, Georgia, another former long time ECHL market. For the 2011–12 season, the league added two-time Central Hockey League champions, the Mississippi RiverKings. For the 2013–14 season, the league lost the Augusta RiverHawks but also expanded northward with two franchises in Illinois: the Bloomington Thunder, a team also moving from the CHL, where they were known as the Bloomington Blaze, and the Peoria Rivermen, who were replacing an American Hockey League team of the same name in their market. In 2015, the Augusta franchise returned and relocated to Macon, Georgia as the Macon Mayhem.

In November 2014, Shannon Szabados became the first female goaltender to win an SPHL game, when the Columbus Cottonmouths defeated the Fayetteville FireAntz 5–4 in overtime. In that same game Erin Blair and Katie Guay became the first female officials to referee an SPHL game.

At the end of the 2015–16 season, the Louisiana IceGators announced a one-year leave of absence for renovations to their arena but never returned. The IceGators' franchise was sold and reactivated as the Quad City Storm in 2018. Then in 2016, the dormant Mississippi Surge franchise was relocated to Southwest Virginia to become the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs. One of the inaugural SPHL teams, the Columbus Cottonmouths, suspended operations in 2017 after failing to find a buyer while an expansion team called the Birmingham Bulls were accepted into the league as the tenth team. Following the 2017–18 season, the Mississippi RiverKings suspended operations while the league searched for new owners. With the acceptance of the Quad City Storm, the league was able to remain at ten teams for the 2018–19 season.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season was curtailed and no champion was named. The following season, the league announced it would only play with five of the ten member teams due to pandemic-related capacity restrictions barring fans from attending games. During the season, the league approved of the Vermilion County Bobcats as a 2021–22 expansion team based in Danville, Illinois. The Bobcats folded after only a year and a half.

In 2023, the league rebranded to the orphaned initialism SPHL to reflect the fact that the league's footprint had expanded beyond the southern United States.

Teams


2023-24 members

Overview of SPHL teams
Team City Arena Capacity Founded Joined Head coach
Birmingham Bulls Pelham, Alabama Pelham Civic Center 4,100 2017 Craig Simchuk
Evansville Thunderbolts Evansville, Indiana Ford Center 9,000 2016 Jeff Bes
Fayetteville Marksmen Fayetteville, North Carolina Crown Coliseum 9,500 2002 2004 Ryan Cruthers
Huntsville Havoc Huntsville, Alabama Von Braun Center 6,050 2004 Stuart Stefan
Knoxville Ice Bears Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville Civic Coliseum 5,109 2002 2004 Andrew Harrison
Macon Mayhem Macon, Georgia Macon Coliseum 6,550 2010 Nick Niedert
Pensacola Ice Flyers Pensacola, Florida Pensacola Bay Center 8,150 2009 Gary Graham
Peoria Rivermen Peoria, Illinois Carver Arena 9,815 2013 Jean-Guy Trudel
Quad City Storm Moline, Illinois Vibrant Arena at The MARK 9,200 2009 Dave Pszenyczny
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs Roanoke, Virginia Berglund Center 8,672 2009 Dan Bremner

Notes

Timeline

Vermilion County Bobcats Birmingham Bulls (SPHL) Evansville Thunderbolts Peoria Rivermen (SPHL) Bloomington Thunder (SPHL) Mississippi RiverKings Macon Mayhem Augusta RiverHawks Pensacola Ice Flyers Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs Mississippi Surge Quad City Storm Louisiana IceGators (SPHL) Richmond Renegades (SPHL) Twin City Cyclones Pee Dee Cyclones Florida Seals Winston-Salem Polar Twins Macon Trax Knoxville Ice Bears Jacksonville Barracudas Huntsville Havoc Fayetteville Marksmen Fayetteville FireAntz Columbus Cottonmouths Asheville Aces

Defunct and relocated teams

  • Asheville Aces (2004–05)
  • Augusta RiverHawks (2010–13) Moved to Macon, Georgia, as the Mayhem for the 2015–16 season.
  • Bloomington Thunder (2013–14) Membership terminated to make way for a team in the United States Hockey League.
  • Columbus Cottonmouths (2004–17) Inaugural member of the SPHL, suspended operations when ownership could no longer fund the team.
  • Florida Seals (2005–07) Membership terminated in the middle of the 2006–07 SPHL season.
  • Jacksonville Barracudas (2004–08) Suspended for the 2008–09 season and dissolved.
  • Louisiana IceGators (2009–16) Suspended operations for the 2016–17 season claiming the arena needed the year for renovations but later dissolved. In 2018, the franchise was sold and became the Quad City Storm.
  • Macon Trax (2004–05)
  • Mississippi RiverKings (2011–18) Joined from the Central Hockey League in 2011, ownership suspended operations in 2018.
  • Mississippi Surge (2009–14) Moved to Roanoke, Virginia, as the Rail Yard Dawgs for the 2016–17 season.
  • Pee Dee Cyclones (2005–07) Moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
  • Richmond Renegades (2006–09)
  • Twin City Cyclones (2007–09)
  • Vermilion County Bobcats (2021-23) Ceased operations on February 9, 2023 after 88 games played.
  • Winston-Salem Polar Twins (2004–05)

Key rule differences

As per minor leagues, there are some rule differences between the SPHL and the NHL (and even the ECHL and the AHL, the two official developmental leagues regulated by the Professional Hockey Players' Association).

  • A team may dress eighteen regular players to a game. Two players dressed for the game will be goaltenders.
  • A mouthpiece is required for all players except the goaltender.
  • No curvature of stick limitations as in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL.
  • Shootouts are five players. After five different players have made an attempt, teams may reuse anyone including those who have previously attempted in later rounds, even using the same player in consecutive rounds if desired.

Champions

President's Cup

Awarded to the league playoff champion.

Season Winner Runner-up
2005 Columbus Cottonmouths Macon Trax
2006 Knoxville Ice Bears Orlando Seals
2007 Fayetteville FireAntz Jacksonville Barracudas
2008 Knoxville Ice Bears Jacksonville Barracudas
2009 Knoxville Ice Bears Fayetteville FireAntz
2010 Huntsville Havoc Mississippi Surge
2011 Mississippi Surge Augusta Riverhawks
2012 Columbus Cottonmouths Pensacola Ice Flyers
2013 Pensacola Ice Flyers Huntsville Havoc
2014 Pensacola Ice Flyers Columbus Cottonmouths
2015 Knoxville Ice Bears Mississippi RiverKings
2016 Pensacola Ice Flyers Peoria Rivermen
2017 Macon Mayhem Peoria Rivermen
2018 Huntsville Havoc Peoria Rivermen
2019 Huntsville Havoc Birmingham Bulls
2020 Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Pensacola Ice Flyers Macon Mayhem
2022 Peoria Rivermen Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
2023 Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs Birmingham Bulls
2024 Peoria Riverman Huntsville Havoc
Team Titles
Knoxville Ice Bears 4
Pensacola Ice Flyers 4
Huntsville Havoc 3
Peoria Rivermen 2
Columbus Cottonmouths 2
Fayetteville FireAntz 1
Macon Mayhem 1
Mississippi Surge 1
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs 1

William B. Coffey Trophy

Originally known as the Commissioner's Cup, the regular season championship trophy was renamed in honor of league co-founder Bill Coffey during the 2007–08 season.

Season Winner Title
2004–05 Knoxville Ice Bears 1
2005–06 Knoxville Ice Bears 2
2006–07 Columbus Cottonmouths 1
2007–08 Knoxville Ice Bears 3
2008–09 Knoxville Ice Bears 4
2009–10 Mississippi Surge 1
2010–11 Mississippi Surge 2
2011–12 Augusta RiverHawks 1
2012–13 Fayetteville FireAntz 1
2013–14 Pensacola Ice Flyers 1
2014–15 Peoria Rivermen 1
2015–16 Peoria Rivermen 2
2016–17 Macon Mayhem 1
2017–18 Peoria Rivermen 3
2018–19 Peoria Rivermen 4
2019–20 Not awarded due to season cancellation
2020–21 Macon Mayhem 2
2021–22 Knoxville Ice Bears 5
2022–23 Peoria Rivermen 5
2023-24 Birmingham Bulls 1
Team Titles
Knoxville Ice Bears 5
Peoria Rivermen 5
Macon Mayhem 2
Mississippi Surge 2
Augusta Riverhawks 1
Columbus Cottonmouths 1
Fayetteville FireAntz 1
Pensacola Ice Flyers 1
Birmingham Bulls 1

See also

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