Sports season
| 2016–17 SPHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 21, 2016–April 8, 2017 |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Regular Season | |
| William B. Coffey Trophy | Macon Mayhem |
| Season MVP | Sean Bonar (Fayetteville) |
| Top scorer | Tayler Thompson (Fayetteville) |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Macon Mayhem |
| Finals runners-up | Peoria Rivermen |
| Playoffs MVP | Jordan Ruby (Macon) |
| SPHL seasons | |
| ← 2015–162017–18 → | |
The 2016–17 SPHL season was the 13th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).
League business
Team changes
- The dormant Mississippi Surge franchise was purchased and relocated to Roanoke, Virginia, and became the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs.
- The Evansville Thunderbolts from Evansville, Indiana, join the SPHL as an expansion team replacing the former Evansville IceMen of the ECHL.
- The Louisiana IceGators suspended operations because renovations to the Cajundome were not going to be complete in time for the regular season.
Teams
Map of teams
ColumbusEvansvilleFayettevilleHuntsvilleKnoxvilleMaconMississippiPensacolaPeoriaRoanoke
SPHL teams
Regular season
Standings
Final standings
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macon Mayhem | 56 | 37 | 13 | 6 | 178 | 146 | 80 |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 174 | 130 | 75 |
| Peoria Rivermen | 56 | 32 | 13 | 11 | 182 | 145 | 75 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 34 | 16 | 6 | 200 | 165 | 74 |
| Mississippi RiverKings | 56 | 32 | 21 | 3 | 172 | 162 | 67 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 29 | 20 | 7 | 175 | 178 | 65 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 27 | 21 | 8 | 171 | 154 | 62 |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | 56 | 22 | 30 | 4 | 153 | 199 | 48 |
| Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 56 | 17 | 30 | 9 | 158 | 216 | 43 |
| Evansville Thunderbolts | 56 | 14 | 32 | 10 | 138 | 206 | 38 |
- William B. Coffey Trophy winners
- Advanced to playoffs
Attendance
| Team | Total | Games | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville | 130,166 | 28 | 4,648 |
| Peoria | 112,713 | 28 | 4,025 |
| Pensacola | 104,631 | 28 | 3,736 |
| Knoxville | 101,123 | 28 | 3,611 |
| Roanoke | 87,831 | 28 | 3,136 |
| Evansville | 63,854 | 28 | 2,280 |
| Mississippi | 63,276 | 28 | 2,259 |
| Columbus | 63,220 | 28 | 2,257 |
| Macon | 52,052 | 28 | 1,859 |
| Fayetteville | 52,013 | 28 | 1,857 |
| League | 830,879 | 280 | 2,967 |
President's Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Macon | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Columbus | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Macon | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Pensacola | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Fayetteville | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Pensacola | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Macon | 2 | ||||||||||||
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Peoria | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Peoria | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Knoxville | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Peoria | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Huntsville | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Huntsville | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Mississippi | 1 | ||||||||||||
Finals
- Home team is listed first.
| April 28 | Peoria Rivermen | 1–2 | Macon Mayhem | Carver Arena | Recap | |||
| Michael Colantone – 1:35 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 6:27 – John Siemer 10:49 – PP – Stephen Pierog | ||||||
| Storm Phaneuf 23 shots / 21 saves | Goalie stats | Jordan Ruby 26 shots / 25 saves | ||||||
| April 30 | Macon Mayhem | 2–1 | Peoria Rivermen | Macon Coliseum | Recap | |||
| Dennis Sicard – 16:12 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jake Trask – 16:11 | Second period | 1:52 – Cody Dion | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jordan Ruby 40 shots / 39 saves | Goalie stats | Storm Phaneuf 34 shots / 32 saves | ||||||
| Macon wins series 2–0 | |
Awards
| Award | Recipient(s) | Finalists |
|---|---|---|
| President's Cup | Macon Mayhem | Peoria Rivermen |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) |
Macon Mayhem | |
| Defenseman of the Year | Louis Belisle (Pensacola) | Nolan Kaiser (Huntsville) Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) |
| Rookie of the Year | Mike Moran (Mississippi) | Keegan Bruce (Columbus) |
| Goaltender of the Year | Sean Bonar (Fayetteville) | Jordan Ruby (Macon) |
| Coach of the Year | Kevin Kerr (Macon) | Jeff Bes (Fayetteville) |
| Most Valuable Player | Sean Bonar (Fayetteville) | Tayler Thompson (Fayetteville) |
| Kevin Swider Leading Scorer Award | Tayler Thompson (Fayetteville) |
All-SPHL selections
| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | Sean Bonar (Fayetteville) | Jordan Ruby (Macon) | Storm Phaneuf (Peoria) |
| D | Louis Belisle (Pensacola) | Nick Schneider (Roanoke) | Nathan Bruyere (Pensacola) |
| D | Nolan Kaiser (Huntsville) | Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) | Daniel Echeverri (Macon) |
| F | Mike Moran (Mississippi) | Keegan Bruce (Columbus) | Keegan Bruce (Columbus) |
| F | Sy Nutkevitch (Huntsville) | Bobby Chaumont (Fayetteville) | Mike Moran (Mississippi) |
| F | Tayler Thompson (Fayetteville) | Jake Hauswirth (Fayetteville) | John Siemer (Macon) |
References
- Berman, Mark (October 20, 2015). "Roanoke, hockey are 'a good match,' mayor says". Roanoke.com. The Roanoke Times. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- "SPHL expanding to Roanoke, VA for 2016-2017 season". Southern Professional Hockey League. October 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- "Evansville will be home to Southern Professional Hockey League franchise". Evansville Courier & Press. February 8, 2016.
- "Louisiana IceGators suspend operations for 2016-2017 season". SPHL. May 16, 2016.
- "2016–17 SPHL Standings". Pointstreak. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
External links
| SPHL | |
|---|---|
| Teams | |
| Arenas |
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| Seasons | |