2013–14 SPHL season explained

2013–14 SPHL season
League:Southern Professional Hockey League
Sport:Ice hockey
Duration:October 25, 2013–April 12, 2014
Season:Regular season
Season Champs:Pensacola Ice Flyers
Mvp: Shawn McNeil (Louisiana)
Top Scorer: Shawn McNeil (Louisiana)
Playoffs:Playoffs
Conf1:Finals
Conf1 Link:President's Cup (SPHL)
Conf1 Champ:Pensacola Ice Flyers
Conf1 Runner-Up:Columbus Cottonmouths
Playoffs Mvp: Brett Lutes (Pensacola)
Seasonslistnames:SPHL
Prevseason Link:2012–13 SPHL season
Prevseason Year:2012–13
Nextseason Link:2014–15 SPHL season
Nextseason Year:2014–15

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.[1]

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.[2]

On May 15, 2013, it was announced that the CHL's Bloomington Thunder (formerly known as the Blaze[3]), 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.[4]

Regular season

Standings

Team[5]
Pensacola Ice Flyers 56 38 13 5 207 139 81
56 35 18 3 198 175 73
56 30 18 8 154 144 68
56 31 21 4 175 150 66
56 31 21 4 180 158 66
56 27 26 3 183 173 57
56 25 24 7 157 163 57
56 22 28 6 140 186 50
56 21 30 5 144 183 47
56 20 33 3 125 192 43

William B. Coffey Trophy winners

Advanced to playoffs

After games of March 22, 2014

Attendance

TeamTotalGamesAverage
Pensacola114,537 28 4,090
Huntsville 103,993 28 3,714
Peoria 98,176 28 3,506
Knoxville95,556 28 3,412
Fayetteville 88,623 28 3,165
Columbus 76,618 28 2,736
MS RiverKings70,991 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.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

2013–14 SPHL awards
Award Recipient(s) Finalists
Columbus Cottonmouths
William B. Coffey Trophy
(Best regular-season record)
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
align=center G Kyle Rank (Peoria) Ross MacKinnon (Pensacola) Kevin Genoe (Huntsville)
align=center D Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi RiverKings) Kirk Byczynski (Louisiana) Mike Grace (Mississippi RiverKings)
align=center D Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) Leland Fidler (Huntsville) Jason Gray (Columbus)
align=center F Shawn McNeil (Louisiana) Garrett Vermeersch (Peoria) Garrett Vermeersch (Peoria)
align=center F Todd Hosmer (Mississippi RiverKings) Matt Gingera (Columbus) Joe Caveney (Pensacola)
align=center F Joe Caveney (Pensacola) Nick Lazorko (Huntsville) Francis Drolet (Knoxville)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ice Flyers Capture President's Cup . www.thesphl.com . 12 April 2014.
  2. Web site: Augusta RiverHawks won't be playing hockey in 2013-14. WRDW-Augusta. 21 June 2013.
  3. Web site: Bloomington hockey franchise changes name to Thunder. The SHPL. 4 August 2013.
  4. http://www.pjstar.com/news/x811437871/Vancouver-tells-Civic-Center-it-wont-operate-AHL-team-in-Peoria#axzz2WreairH6 Peoria to join SPHL under former Rivermen management team - Peoria, IL - pjstar.com
  5. Web site: SPHL Standings . Pointstreak.com . 25 March 2013.
  6. Web site: SPHL Announces All-Rookie Team . www.thesphl.com . 26 March 2014.
  7. Web site: All-SPHL Second Team Announced . www.thesphl.com . 27 March 2014.
  8. Web site: SPHL Announces First Team Selections . www.thesphl.com . 27 March 2014.
  9. Web site: Huntsville’s Stuart Stefan Named Easton Defenseman of the Year . www.thesphl.com . 28 March 2014.
  10. Web site: Pensacola’s Joe Caveney Named Easton Rookie of the Year . www.thesphl.com . 31 March 2014.
  11. Web site: Peoria’s Kyle Rank Named Sher-Wood Goaltender of the Year . www.thesphl.com . 1 April 2014.
  12. Web site: Pensacola’s Rod Aldoff Named Easton Coach of the Year . www.thesphl.com . 2 April 2014.
  13. Web site: Louisiana’s Shawn McNeil Named Easton Most Valuable Player . www.thesphl.com . 3 April 2014.