2013–14 SPHL season
Sports season
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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]
| 2013–14 SPHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 25, 2013–April 12, 2014 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Pensacola Ice Flyers |
| Season MVP |  Shawn McNeil (Louisiana) |
| Top scorer | Shawn McNeil (Louisiana) |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Pensacola Ice Flyers |
| Finals runners-up | Columbus Cottonmouths |
| Playoffs MVP | Brett Lutes (Pensacola) |
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]
Teams
Map of teams
SPHL teams
Regular season
Standings
| Team[5] | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
| First Round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 5 | 4* | X | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Mississippi Surge | 1 | 3 | X | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 0 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Mississippi RiverKings | 4 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Huntsville Havoc | 2 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 9 | 5 | X | ||||||||||||||||
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Columbus Cottonmouths | 1 | 1 | X | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Columbus Cottonmouths | 0 | 6 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Peoria Rivermen | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Huntsville Havoc | 0 | 2 | X | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Columbus Cottonmouths | 1 | 4 | X | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 3 | 3* | X | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Louisiana IceGators | 0 | 2 | X | ||||||||||||||||
* indicates overtime period.
Finals
| April 10, 2014 7:05pm | Columbus | 1 - 9 (0-3, 1-3, 0-3) | Pensacola | Pensacola Civic Center Pensacola, Florida Attendance: 4,266 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Loewen, Shannon Szabados | Goalies | Ross MacKinnon | Referees: Pete MacDougall Mike Sheehan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 min | Penalties | 10 min | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 | Shots | 33 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| April 12, 2014 7:30pm | Pensacola | 5 - 1 (2-1, 3-0, 0-0) | Columbus | Columbus Civic Center Columbus, Georgia Attendance: 4,127 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross MacKinnon | Goalies | Andrew Loewen | Referees: Ken Anderson Pete MacDougall | |||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 min | Penalties | 19 min | ||||||||||||||||||
| 30 | Shots | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||
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]
| 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) |