The 2013–14 Southern Professional Hockey League season is the 10th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). The Pensacola Ice Flyers defeated the Columbus Cottonmouths in the President's Cup final 2 games to none to repeat as winners of the President's Cup.
Preseason The Augusta RiverHawks have suspended operations for the 2013-14 season due to the failure of the ice system at the James Brown Arena. Team officials, the city of Augusta, and Global Spectrum could not reach an agreement on repairing or replacing the JBA's ice system in time for the club to commit to the forthcoming season.
On May 15, 2013, it was announced that the CHL's Bloomington Thunder (formerly known as the Blaze), and the AHL's Peoria Rivermen, would move to the Southern Professional Hockey League for the 2013–14 season. The Rivermen had been notified that the Vancouver Canucks, who had purchased the team a month earlier, would not keep them in Peoria. The two teams will reportedly be owned by two former Rivermen executives, John Butler, Bart Rogers and David Holt with financial backing from former Rivermen owner Bruce Saurs.Peoria to join SPHL under former Rivermen management team - Peoria, IL - pjstar.com
Teams 2013-14 Southern Professional Hockey League Team City Arena Bloomington Thunder Bloomington, Illinois U.S. Cellular Coliseum Columbus Cottonmouths Columbus, Georgia Columbus Civic Center Fayetteville FireAntz Fayetteville, North Carolina Cumberland County Crown Coliseum Huntsville Havoc Huntsville, Alabama Von Braun Center Knoxville Ice Bears Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville Civic Coliseum Louisiana IceGators Lafayette, Louisiana Cajundome Mississippi RiverKings Southaven, Mississippi Landers Center Mississippi Surge Biloxi, Mississippi Mississippi Coast Coliseum Pensacola Ice Flyers Pensacola, Florida Pensacola Bay Center Peoria Rivermen Peoria, Illinois Carver Arena
Map of teams
Regular season
Standings Team Pensacola Ice Flyers‡ 56 38 13 5 207 139 81 Louisiana IceGators 56 35 18 3 198 175 73 Peoria Rivermen 56 30 18 8 154 144 68 Mississippi RiverKings 56 31 21 4 175 150 66 Huntsville Havoc 56 31 21 4 180 158 66 Columbus Cottonmouths 56 27 26 3 183 173 57 Knoxville Ice Bears 56 25 24 7 157 163 57 Mississippi Surge 56 22 28 6 140 186 50 Fayetteville FireAntz 56 21 30 5 144 183 47 Bloomington Thunder 56 20 33 3 125 192 43
‡ William B. Coffey Trophy winners Advanced to playoffs
After games of March 22, 2014
Attendance Team Total Games Average Pensacola 114,537 28 4,090 Huntsville 103,993 28 3,714 Peoria 98,176 28 3,506 Knoxville 95,556 28 3,412 Fayetteville 88,623 28 3,165 Columbus 76,618 28 2,736 MS RiverKings 70,991 28 2,535 Louisiana 66,438 28 2,372 Bloomington 66,025 28 2,358 MS Surge 59,277 28 2,117 League 840,234 280 3,000
After games of March 22, 2014
President's Cup playoffs
* indicates overtime period.
Finals All times are local (EDT/CDT)
Awards The SPHL All-Rookie team was announced on March 26, 2014, the All-SPHL teams on March 27, 2014, the Easton Defensemen of the Year on March 28, 2014, the Easton Rookie of the Year on March 31, 2014, the Sher-Wood Goaltender of the Year on April 1, 2014, the Easton Coach of the Year on April 2, 2014, and the Easton Most Valuable Player on April 3, 2014.
+ 2013–14 SPHL awards Award Recipient(s) Finalists President's Cup Pensacola Ice Flyers Columbus Cottonmouths William B. Coffey Trophy(Best regular-season record) Pensacola Ice Flyers Easton Defenseman of the Year Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) Kirk Byczynski (Louisiana) Easton Rookie of the Year Joe Caveney (Pensacola) Garrett Vermeersch (Peoria) Sher-Wood Goaltender of the Year Kyle Rank (Peoria) Ross MacKinnon (Pensacola) Easton Coach of the Year Rod Aldoff (Pensacola) Jean-Guy Trudel (Peoria) Easton Most Valuable Player Shawn McNeil (Louisiana) Todd Hosmer (Mississippi Riverkings)
All-SPHL selections Position First Team Second Team All-Rookie G Kyle Rank (Peoria) Ross MacKinnon (Pensacola) Kevin Genoe (Huntsville) D Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi RiverKings) Kirk Byczynski (Louisiana) Mike Grace (Mississippi RiverKings) D Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) Leland Fidler (Huntsville) Jason Gray (Columbus) F Shawn McNeil (Louisiana) Garrett Vermeersch (Peoria) Garrett Vermeersch (Peoria) F Todd Hosmer (Mississippi RiverKings) Matt Gingera (Columbus) Joe Caveney (Pensacola) F Joe Caveney (Pensacola) Nick Lazorko (Huntsville) Francis Drolet (Knoxville)
References