2017–18 SPHL season
The 2017–18 SPHL season was the 14th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).
| 2017–18 SPHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 20, 2017–April 9, 2018 |
| Number of games | 56 |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Regular Season | |
| William B. Coffey Trophy | Peoria Rivermen |
| Season MVP | Berkley Scott (Knoxville) |
| Top scorer | Berkley Scott (Knoxville) |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Huntsville Havoc |
| Finals runners-up | Peoria Rivermen |
| Playoffs MVP | Sy Nutkevitch (Huntsville) |
League business
Team changes
- The Birmingham Bulls from Pelham, Alabama, join the SPHL as an expansion team on April 26, 2017.[1]
- The Columbus Cottonmouths suspended operations on May 3, 2017, because the franchise was unable to find a new owner in time for scheduling the 2017–18 season.[2]
- The Fayetteville FireAntz were sold and rebranded as the Fayetteville Marksmen.[3]
Regular season
Standings
Final standings.[4]
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peoria Rivermen‡ | 56 | 38 | 13 | 5 | 211 | 154 | 81 |
| Macon Mayhem | 56 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 214 | 174 | 73 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 189 | 156 | 73 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 30 | 16 | 10 | 203 | 180 | 70 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 30 | 20 | 6 | 205 | 182 | 66 |
| Evansville Thunderbolts | 56 | 27 | 20 | 9 | 186 | 191 | 63 |
| Mississippi RiverKings | 56 | 29 | 25 | 2 | 193 | 181 | 60 |
| Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 56 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 170 | 195 | 56 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 56 | 22 | 28 | 6 | 159 | 199 | 50 |
| Fayetteville Marksmen | 56 | 12 | 38 | 6 | 144 | 262 | 30 |
- ‡ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
- Advanced to playoffs
President's Cup playoffs
For 2018, the top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualified for the playoffs. The league implemented a new format so that the top three seeds chose their opponent from the bottom four qualifiers, calling it the "challenge round". The second round still had the highest versus lowest remaining seed format.[5]
Playoff bracket
| Challenge Round | Second Round | Championships | |||||||||||
| 1 | Peoria | 2 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Roanoke | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Peoria | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Knoxville | 0 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Macon | 2 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Evansville | 1 | |||||||||||
| (Pairings are re-seeded after the first round) | 1 | Peoria | 1 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Huntsville | 2 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Pensacola | 0 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Knoxville | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Macon | 1 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Huntsville | 2 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Huntsville | 2 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Mississippi | 1 | |||||||||||
Finals
- Home team is listed first.
| April 25 | Peoria Rivermen | 5 – 6 | Huntsville Havoc | Carver Arena | Recap |
| April 27 | Huntsville Havoc | 2 – 3 | Peoria Rivermen | Von Braun Center | Recap |
| April 29 | Peoria Rivermen | 2 – 4 | Huntsville Havoc | Carver Arena | Recap |
| Huntsville won series 2–1 | |
Awards
| Award | Recipient(s) | Finalists |
|---|---|---|
| President's Cup | Huntsville Havoc | Peoria Rivermen |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | Peoria Rivermen | |
| Defenseman of the Year | Dave Pszenyczny (Peoria) | Daniel Gentzler (Macon) Stuart Stefan (Hunstville) |
| Rookie of the Year | Jacob Barber (Birmingham) | Eliot Grauer (Knoxville) Tomas Sholl (Evansville) |
| Goaltender of the Year | Brad Barone (Roanoke) | Tomas Sholl (Evansville) |
| Coach of the Year[6] | Jean-Guy Trudel (Peoria) | Jeff Bes (Pensacola) Kevin Kerr (Macon) |
| Most Valuable Player | Berkley Scott (Knoxville) | Jake Trask (Macon) |
| Kevin Swider Leading Scorer Award | Berkley Scott (Knoxville) | Jake Trask (Macon) |
All-SPHL selections
| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | Brad Barone (Roanoke) | Tomas Sholl (Evansville) | Tomas Sholl (Evansville) |
| D | Dave Pszenyczny (Peoria) Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) |
David Brancik (Knoxville) Daniel Gentzler (Macon) |
Anthony Calabrese (Huntsville) (tie) Michael Chen (Knoxville) Derek Perl (Huntsville) (tie) |
| F | Alec Hagaman (Peoria) Berkley Scott (Knoxville) Jake Trask (Macon) |
Jake Hauswirth (Fayetteville) Steve Mele (Roanoke) Garrett Milan (Pensacola) |
Jacob Barber (Birmingham) Eliot Grauer (Knoxville) Joseph Widmar (Peoria) |
References
- "Birmingham Bulls to Join SPHL for 2017–18". Arena Digest. April 27, 2017.
- "Cottonmouths to suspend operations for next season". Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. May 3, 2017.
- "FIREANTZ REBRAND, BECOME THE FAYETTEVILLE MARKSMEN". Fayetteville Marksmen. May 12, 2017.
- "2017–18 SPHL Standings". Pointstreak. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
- "SPHL announces new 2017-2018 playoff format". SPHL. October 16, 2017.
- "Peoria's Jean-Guy Trudel named SPHL Coach of the Year". SPHL. April 19, 2018.
External links
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