2014–15 SPHL season

Sports season

2014–15 SPHL season

League| Southern Professional Hockey League
Sport| Ice hockey
Duration| October 24, 2014–April 18, 2015
Number of games| 56
Number of teams| 8
Regular season
William B. Coffey Trophy| Peoria Rivermen
Season MVP| Matt Gingera (Columbus)
Top scorer| Adam Pawlick (Pensacola)
Playoffs
Finals champions| Knoxville Ice Bears
Finals runners-up| Mississippi RiverKings
Playoffs MVP| Bryan Hince (Knoxville)[1]
SPHL seasons

← 2013–14

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]

## Contents

* 1 Preseason
* 2 Regular season
* 2.1 Standings
* 2.2 Attendance
* 3 President's Cup playoffs
* 3.1 Playoff bracket
* 3.2 Finals
* 4 Awards
* 4.1 All-SPHL selections
* 5 References

## Preseason[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Team[7] | GP  | W  | L  | OTL | GF  | GA  | Pts

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Peoria Rivermen‡ | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 186 | 149 | 75
Columbus Cottonmouths | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 182 | 161 | 70
Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 32 | 18 | 6 | 179 | 148 | 70
Mississippi RiverKings | 56 | 33 | 21 | 2 | 169 | 140 | 68
Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 31 | 22 | 3 | 159 | 166 | 65
Louisiana IceGators | 56 | 27 | 21 | 8 | 177 | 184 | 62
Fayetteville FireAntz | 56 | 21 | 27 | 8 | 143 | 193 | 50
Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 11 | 38 | 7 | 130 | 184 | 29

‡ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
Advanced to playoffs

### Attendance[edit]

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[edit]

### Playoff bracket[edit]

| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Quarterfinals| | | Semifinals| | | Finals
| | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | |
| 1| Peoria Rivermen| 1| | | | |
| | | |
| 6| Louisiana IceGators| 2| | | | |
| | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | |
| 2| Columbus Cottonmouths| 1| | | | | | 4| Mississippi| 0
| | | |
| 5| Knoxville Ice Bears| 2| | | 5| Knoxville| 2| | | 5| Knoxville| 2
| | | |
| | | | 6| Louisiana| 1| | |
| | | |
| 3| Pensacola Ice Flyers| 1| | | | |
| | | |
| 4| Mississippi RiverKings| 2| | | |
| | | |

### Finals[edit]

All times are local (EDT)

April 16, 2015
7:35pm| Knoxville| 3 – 2
(1–0, 1–2, 1–0)| Mississippi| Knoxville Civic Coliseum
Knoxville, Tennessee
Attendance: 2,412

|
|
|
|

Game reference

| Bryan Hince| Goalies| Peter Di Salvo| Referees:
Mike Sheehan
Jeremy Tufts
Linesmen:
Brent Hooks
Neil Campbell
| Brett Valliquette (Nutkevitch, Paton) - 3:56| 1 – 0|

|
|

Dennis Sicard (Cousineau) - 7:35| 2 – 0|
| 2 – 1| 10:57 - pp \- Leo Thomas (Whitehead, Randazzo)
| 2 – 2| 16:48 - pp \- Bryon Paulazzo (Harrington, Sobotka)
Berkley Scott (Price, Salvis) - 4:54| 3 – 2|
6 min| Penalties| 4 min
17| Shots| 33
April 18, 2015
7:35pm| Mississippi| 2 – 4
(0–1, 1–2, 1–1)| Knoxville| Knoxville Civic Coliseum
Knoxville, Tennessee
Attendance: 4,671

|
|
|
|

Game reference

| Peter Di Salvo| Goalies| Bryan Hince| Referees:
Mike Sheehan
Steve Thomson
Linesmen:
Brent Hooks
Neil Campbell
| | 0 – 1| 2:04 - Eric Satim

|
|

| 0 – 2| 8:18 - Francis Drolet (Power, Satim)
Matt Whitehead (Sobotka) - 11:43| 1 – 2|
| 1 – 3| 15:12 - Eric Satim (Power, Drolet)
| 1 – 4| 18:39 - en \- Matthew Paton
Mike Grace (Harrington) - 19:00| 2 – 4|
4 min| Penalties| 8 min
38| Shots| 18

## Awards[edit]

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 awards  Award | Recipient(s) | Finalists

|
|

President's Cup | Knoxville Ice Bears | Mississippi RiverKings
William B. Coffey Trophy
(Best regular-season record) | Peoria Rivermen |
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[edit]

Position  | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie

|
|
|

G | Kyle Rank (Peoria)  | Peter Di Salvo (Mississippi)  | Kevin Murdock (Knoxville)
D | Louis Bélisle (Columbus)  | Stuart Stefan (Huntsville)  | Louis Bélisle (Columbus)
D  | Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi)  | Jan Safar (Fayetteville)  | Robbie Donahoe (Knoxville)
F | Matt Whitehead (Mississippi)  | Ryan Salvis (Knoxville)  | Linden Bahm (Mississippi)
F  | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola)  | Corey Banfield (Pensacola)  | Shawn Bates (Columbus)
F  | Matt Gingera (Columbus)  | Bryce Williamson (Columbus)  | Bryce Williamson (Columbus)

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Link, Dave (April 19, 2015). "MVP Bryan Hince makes 36 saves as Ice Bears win SPHL title". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Scripps Media Inc. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
2. ^ "SPHL's Bloomington Thunder to suspend operations, make way for USHL junior team". pjstar.com. March 25, 2014. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
3. ^ "Mississippi Surge exiting the SPHL". pnj.com. May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
4. ^ "SPHL Approves RiverHawks' Move To Macon, GA For 2015-2016 Season". thesphl.com. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
5. ^ Corrigan, John (October 26, 2014). "Huntsville Havoc player recovering at home after suffering serious injury during Saturday's game in Peoria, IL". The Huntsville Times. Alabama Media Group. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
6. ^ Eminian, Dave (February 7, 2015). "Rivermen split historic doubleheader, take sole possession of SPHL top spot; Huntsville player ejected for alleged racial slur". Journal Star. Peoria, IL: Gatehouse Media, Inc. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
7. ^ "SPHL Standings". Pointstreak Sports Technologies Inc. Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
8. ^ "Cottonmouths Lead SPHL All-Rookie Team Selections". Southern Professional Hockey League. April 1, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
9. ^ "All-SPHL Second Team Announced". Southern Professional Hockey League. April 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
10. ^ "SPHL Announces First Team Selections". Southern Professional Hockey League. April 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
11. ^ "RiverKings' Randazzo is SPHL's top defenseman". The Fayetteville Observer. April 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
12. ^ "Williamson SPHL's top rookie; FireAntz share RU in balloting". The Fayetteville Observer. April 6, 2015. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
13. ^ Eminian, Dave (April 7, 2015). "Rivermen's Rank repeats as SPHL Goaltender of the Year". Journal Star. Peoria, IL: Gatehouse Media, Inc. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
14. ^ Eminian, Dave (April 8, 2015). "Rivermen's Trudel is SPHL Coach of the Year". Journal Star. Peoria, IL: Gatehouse Media, Inc. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
15. ^ "Cottonmouths' Gingera chosen SPHL MVP". The Fayetteville Observer. April 9, 2015. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.

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Southern Professional Hockey League

Teams|

* Birmingham Bulls
* Evansville Thunderbolts
* Fayetteville Marksmen
* Huntsville Havoc
* Knoxville Ice Bears
* Macon Mayhem
* Pensacola Ice Flyers
* Peoria Rivermen
* Quad City Storm
* Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
* Vermilion County Bobcats

Arenas|

* Berglund Center (Rail Yard Dawgs)
* Carver Arena (Rivermen)
* Crown Coliseum (Marksmen)
* David S. Palmer Arena (Bobcats)
* Ford Center (Thunderbolts)
* Macon Coliseum (Mayhem)
* James White Civic Coliseum (Ice Bears)
* Pelham Civic Center (Bulls)
* Pensacola Bay Center (Ice Flyers)
* Vibrant Arena at The MARK (Storm)
* Von Braun Center (Havoc)

Seasons|

* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
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* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22

* President's Cup
* William B. Coffey Trophy
* Other professional hockey leagues

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