2014–15 SPHL season explained
2014–15 SPHL season |
League: | Southern Professional Hockey League |
Sport: | Ice hockey |
Duration: | October 24, 2014–April 18, 2015 |
No Of Games: | 56 |
No Of Teams: | 8 |
Season: | Regular season |
Season Champ Name: | William B. Coffey Trophy |
Season Champs: | Peoria Rivermen |
Mvp: | Matt Gingera (Columbus) |
Top Scorer: | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) |
Playoffs: | Playoffs |
Conf1: | Finals |
Conf1 Link: | President's Cup (SPHL) |
Conf1 Champ: | Knoxville Ice Bears |
Conf1 Runner-Up: | Mississippi RiverKings |
Playoffs Mvp: | Bryan Hince (Knoxville)[1] |
Seasonslistnames: | SPHL |
Prevseason Link: | 2013–14 SPHL season |
Prevseason Year: | 2013–14 |
Nextseason Link: | 2015–16 SPHL season |
Nextseason Year: | 2015–16 |
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]
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] | | | | | | | |
---|
Peoria Rivermen‡ | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 186 | 149 | 75 |
| 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 182 | 161 | 70 |
| 56 | 32 | 18 | 6 | 179 | 148 | 70 |
| 56 | 33 | 21 | 2 | 169 | 140 | 68 |
| 56 | 31 | 22 | 3 | 159 | 166 | 65 |
| 56 | 27 | 21 | 8 | 177 | 184 | 62 |
| 56 | 21 | 27 | 8 | 143 | 193 | 50 |
| 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
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)
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]
2014–15 SPHL awardsAward | Recipient(s) | Finalists |
---|
| | Mississippi RiverKings |
William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | | |
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 |
---|
align=center | G | Kyle Rank (Peoria) | Peter Di Salvo (Mississippi) | Kevin Murdock (Knoxville) |
align=center | D | Louis Bélisle (Columbus) | Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) | Louis Bélisle (Columbus) |
align=center | D | Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi) | Jan Safar (Fayetteville) | Robbie Donahoe (Knoxville) |
align=center | F | Matt Whitehead (Mississippi) | Ryan Salvis (Knoxville) | Linden Bahm (Mississippi) |
align=center | F | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) | Corey Banfield (Pensacola) | Shawn Bates (Columbus) |
align=center | F | Matt Gingera (Columbus) | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) | |
Notes and References
- News: Link . Dave . MVP Bryan Hince makes 36 saves as Ice Bears win SPHL title . April 19, 2015 . Knoxville News-Sentinel . Scripps Media Inc. . April 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150420022021/http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/mvp-bryan-hince-makes-36-saves-as-ice-bears-win-sphl-title_55051040 . April 20, 2015 . live .
- Web site: SPHL's Bloomington Thunder to suspend operations, make way for USHL junior team . pjstar.com . March 25, 2014 . October 27, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150504122430/http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140325/Sports/140329407 . May 4, 2015 . live .
- Web site: Mississippi Surge exiting the SPHL . pnj.com . May 2, 2014 . October 27, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141028042710/http://www.pnj.com/story/sports/2014/05/03/mississippi-surge-exiting-sphl/8643193/ . October 28, 2014 . live .
- Web site: SPHL Approves RiverHawks’ Move To Macon, GA For 2015-2016 Season . thesphl.com . June 25, 2014 . October 27, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090823/http://www.thesphl.com/view/thesphl/news/news_158472 . April 2, 2015 . live .
- News: Corrigan . John . Huntsville Havoc player recovering at home after suffering serious injury during Saturday's game in Peoria, IL . April 19, 2015 . . Alabama Media Group . October 26, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427111305/http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2014/10/huntsville_havoc_player_recove_1.html . April 27, 2015 . live .
- News: Eminian . Dave . Rivermen split historic doubleheader, take sole possession of SPHL top spot; Huntsville player ejected for alleged racial slur . April 19, 2015 . . Gatehouse Media, Inc. . February 7, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150414080931/http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150207/SPORTS/150209267/11130/SPORTS . April 14, 2015 . live . .
- Web site: SPHL Standings . Pointstreak Sports Technologies Inc. . April 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150418122553/http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/standings.html?leagueid=215&seasonid=13090 . April 18, 2015 . live .
- Web site: Cottonmouths Lead SPHL All-Rookie Team Selections . Southern Professional Hockey League . April 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427111329/http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4945340 . April 27, 2015 . live . April 1, 2015 .
- Web site: All-SPHL Second Team Announced . Southern Professional Hockey League . April 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427143418/http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4945836 . April 27, 2015 . live . April 2, 2015 .
- Web site: SPHL Announces First Team Selections . Southern Professional Hockey League . April 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427111327/http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4945842 . April 27, 2015 . live . April 2, 2015 .
- News: RiverKings' Randazzo is SPHL's top defenseman . April 19, 2015 . . April 3, 2015 . https://archive.today/20150420000451/http://www.fayobserver.com/sports/hockey/riverkings-randazzo-is-sphl-s-top-defenseman/article_c60e60a6-da1d-11e4-a0c6-df46e6c26668.html . April 20, 2015 . live .
- News: Williamson SPHL's top rookie; FireAntz share RU in balloting . April 19, 2015 . . April 6, 2015 . https://archive.today/20150420000452/http://www.fayobserver.com/sports/hockey/williamson-sphl-s-top-rookie-fireantz-share-ru-in-balloting/article_7073b086-dc86-11e4-813a-7b37cd74f689.html . April 20, 2015 . live .
- News: Eminian . Dave . Rivermen's Rank repeats as SPHL Goaltender of the Year . April 19, 2015 . . Gatehouse Media, Inc. . April 7, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427142848/http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150407/SPORTS/150409399/11130/SPORTS . April 27, 2015 . live . .
- News: Eminian . Dave . Rivermen's Trudel is SPHL Coach of the Year . April 19, 2015 . . Gatehouse Media, Inc. . April 8, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427143017/http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150408/SPORTS/150409228/11130/SPORTS . April 27, 2015 . live . .
- News: Cottonmouths' Gingera chosen SPHL MVP . April 19, 2015 . . April 9, 2015 . https://archive.today/20150420000455/http://www.fayobserver.com/sports/hockey/cottonmouths-gingera-chosen-sphl-mvp/article_c69e6b98-deea-11e4-8f7e-970a0ae76516.html . April 20, 2015 . live .