2014–15 SPHL season
The 2014–15 SPHL season was the 11th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). The Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Mississippi RiverKings in the President's Cup final 2 games to none to win their 4th SPHL title.[1]
| 2014–15 SPHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 24, 2014–April 18, 2015 |
| Number of games | 56 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Regular season | |
| William B. Coffey Trophy | Peoria Rivermen |
| Season MVP | Matt Gingera (Columbus) |
| Top scorer | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Knoxville Ice Bears |
| Finals runners-up | Mississippi RiverKings |
| Playoffs MVP | Bryan Hince (Knoxville)[1] |
Preseason
Following the 2013-14 season, the Bloomington Thunder announced that they would cease operations as a professional franchise to field a junior team in the United States Hockey League.[2]
In May 2014, the Mississippi Surge announced that they would suspend operations for the 2014-15 season.[3]
In June 2014, the league approved the move of the Augusta Riverhawks to Macon, Georgia, with the team being rebranded the Macon Mayhem. The Mayhem will sit out the 2014-15 season, and will begin league play in the 2015-16 season.[4]
Regular season
The October 25, 2014 game between the Peoria Rivermen and the Huntsville Havoc was postponed after Huntsville player Justin Cseter fell onto Peoria's Dennis Sicard's skate, slashing his thigh early in the second period.[5] The conclusion of the game was played on February 7, prior to a regularly scheduled game between the teams. Peoria won the completion of the October 25 game 3-1, but Huntsville won the regularly scheduled game also by the score of 3-1.[6]
Standings
| Team[7] | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peoria Rivermen‡ | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 186 | 149 | 75 |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 182 | 161 | 70 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 32 | 18 | 6 | 179 | 148 | 70 |
| Mississippi RiverKings | 56 | 33 | 21 | 2 | 169 | 140 | 68 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 31 | 22 | 3 | 159 | 166 | 65 |
| Louisiana IceGators | 56 | 27 | 21 | 8 | 177 | 184 | 62 |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | 56 | 21 | 27 | 8 | 143 | 193 | 50 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 11 | 38 | 7 | 130 | 184 | 29 |
- ‡ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
- Advanced to playoffs
Attendance
| Team | Total | Games | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peoria | 113,710 | 28 | 4,061 |
| Pensacola | 110,632 | 28 | 3,951 |
| Huntsville | 100,381 | 28 | 3,585 |
| Knoxville | 98,408 | 28 | 3,514 |
| Fayetteville | 85,122 | 28 | 3,040 |
| Columbus | 82,290 | 28 | 2,938 |
| Mississippi | 71,711 | 28 | 2,561 |
| Louisiana | 65,433 | 28 | 2,336 |
| League | 727,687 | 224 | 3,248 |
President's Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Peoria Rivermen | 1 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Louisiana IceGators | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Columbus Cottonmouths | 1 | 4 | Mississippi | 0 | ||||||||
| 5 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 2 | 5 | Knoxville | 2 | 5 | Knoxville | 2 | |||||
| 6 | Louisiana | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 1 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Mississippi RiverKings | 2 | |||||||||||
Finals
The best of three series would have been played with the Riverkings as home team. However, prior contractual obligations with the Riverkings home ice forced the championship games to be played in Knoxville. All times are local (EDT)
| April 16, 2015 7:35pm | Knoxville | 3 – 2 (1–0, 1–2, 1–0) | Mississippi | Knoxville Civic Coliseum Knoxville, Tennessee Attendance: 2,412 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Hince | Goalies | Peter Di Salvo | Referees: Mike Sheehan Jeremy Tufts Linesmen: Brent Hooks Neil Campbell | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| 6 min | Penalties | 4 min | |||||||||||||||
| 17 | Shots | 33 | |||||||||||||||
| April 18, 2015 7:35pm | Mississippi | 2 – 4 (0–1, 1–2, 1–1) | Knoxville | Knoxville Civic Coliseum Knoxville, Tennessee Attendance: 4,671 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Di Salvo | Goalies | Bryan Hince | Referees: Mike Sheehan Steve Thomson Linesmen: Brent Hooks Neil Campbell | |||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 min | Penalties | 8 min | ||||||||||||||||||
| 38 | Shots | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
Awards
The SPHL All-Rookie team was announced on April 1, 2015, the All-SPHL teams on April 2, the Defensemen of the Year on April 3, the Rookie of the Year on April 6, the Goaltender of the Year on April 7, the Coach of the Year on April 8, and the Most Valuable Player on April 9.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
| Award | Recipient(s) | Finalists |
|---|---|---|
| President's Cup | Knoxville Ice Bears | Mississippi RiverKings |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | Peoria Rivermen | |
| Easton Defenseman of the Year | Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi) | Louis Belisle (Columbus) |
| Easton Rookie of the Year | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) | Kevin Murdock (Fayetteville) Trevor Hertz (Fayetteville) |
| Sher-Wood Goaltender of the Year | Kyle Rank (Peoria) | Peter Di Salvo (Mississippi) |
| Easton Coach of the Year | Jean-Guy Trudel (Peoria) | Derek Landmesser (Mississippi) |
| Easton Most Valuable Player | Matt Gingera (Columbus) | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) |
| Kevin Swider Leading Scorer Award | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) |
All-SPHL selections
| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | Kyle Rank (Peoria) | Peter Di Salvo (Mississippi) | Kevin Murdock (Knoxville) |
| D | Louis Bélisle (Columbus) | Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) | Louis Bélisle (Columbus) |
| D | Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi) | Jan Safar (Fayetteville) | Robbie Donahoe (Knoxville) |
| F | Matt Whitehead (Mississippi) | Ryan Salvis (Knoxville) | Linden Bahm (Mississippi) |
| F | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) | Corey Banfield (Pensacola) | Shawn Bates (Columbus) |
| F | Matt Gingera (Columbus) | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) |
References
- Link, Dave (April 19, 2015). "MVP Bryan Hince makes 36 saves as Ice Bears win SPHL title". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Scripps Media Inc. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "SPHL's Bloomington Thunder to suspend operations, make way for USHL junior team". pjstar.com. March 25, 2014. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
- "Mississippi Surge exiting the SPHL". pnj.com. May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
- "SPHL Approves RiverHawks' Move To Macon, GA For 2015-2016 Season". thesphl.com. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
- Corrigan, John (October 26, 2014). "Huntsville Havoc player recovering at home after suffering serious injury during Saturday's game in Peoria, IL". The Huntsville Times. Alabama Media Group. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- Eminian, Dave (February 7, 2015). "Rivermen split historic doubleheader, take sole possession of SPHL top spot; Huntsville player ejected for alleged racial slur". Journal Star. Peoria, IL: Gatehouse Media, Inc. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "SPHL Standings". Pointstreak Sports Technologies Inc. Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "Cottonmouths Lead SPHL All-Rookie Team Selections". Southern Professional Hockey League. April 1, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "All-SPHL Second Team Announced". Southern Professional Hockey League. April 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "SPHL Announces First Team Selections". Southern Professional Hockey League. April 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "RiverKings' Randazzo is SPHL's top defenseman". The Fayetteville Observer. April 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "Williamson SPHL's top rookie; FireAntz share RU in balloting". The Fayetteville Observer. April 6, 2015. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- Eminian, Dave (April 7, 2015). "Rivermen's Rank repeats as SPHL Goaltender of the Year". Journal Star. Peoria, IL: Gatehouse Media, Inc. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- Eminian, Dave (April 8, 2015). "Rivermen's Trudel is SPHL Coach of the Year". Journal Star. Peoria, IL: Gatehouse Media, Inc. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
- "Cottonmouths' Gingera chosen SPHL MVP". The Fayetteville Observer. April 9, 2015. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.