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 2016-17 Southern Professional Hockey League Team City Arena Columbus Cottonmouths Columbus, Georgia Columbus Civic Center Evansville Thunderbolts Evansville, Indiana Ford Center Fayetteville FireAntz Fayetteville, North Carolina Crown Complex Huntsville Havoc Huntsville, Alabama Von Braun Center Knoxville Ice Bears Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville Civic Coliseum Macon Mayhem Macon, Georgia Macon Coliseum Mississippi RiverKings Southaven, Mississippi Landers Center Pensacola Ice Flyers Pensacola, Florida Pensacola Bay Center Peoria Rivermen Peoria, Illinois Carver Arena Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs Roanoke, Virginia Berglund Center
Map of teams
Regular season
Standings Final standings Team 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
Finals Home team is listed first.
Awards + 2016–17 SPHL 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
External links Southern Professional Hockey League website