The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team in the SPHL. They play their home games at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Alabama.

History The team began play in the 2004–05 season, following the defunct Huntsville Channel Cats of the South East Hockey League. The team finished sixth out of eight teams in the regular season in 2004–05 and lost a one-game playoff to the Jacksonville Barracudas. In 2006, Huntsville finished fifth in the league and was defeated two games to none by the Florida Seals in the second round of playoffs after knocking off the defending league champion Columbus Cottonmouths in three games in the opening round. In 2007, Huntsville's fourth-place regular season finish was for naught as they were swept out of the playoffs by the eventual league champion Fayetteville FireAntz.

In 2008, the Havoc finished last in the SPHL standings and were the only team left out of the league playoffs. Immediately following the conclusion of the season, the team announced it would not renew the contract of head coach John Gibson, who had led the Havoc through all four SPHL seasons, coached the SEHL Channel Cats to the league championship in 2004, and was an All-Star defenseman for the CHL version of the Channel Cats. Eric Soltys was named head coach of the team for the 2008–09 season with Paul Snell serving as his assistant. In the 2008–09 SPHL season the Havoc finished in fourth place. In the 2009 SPHL Playoffs the Havoc was beaten in the first round by the eventual SPHL champions (Knoxville Ice Bears) in 5 games (5 game series). With Randy Murphy taking over coaching duties in 2009–10, the Havoc finished season play in second place, earning a team-record 71 points. The Havoc entered the SPHL playoffs as the #2 seed. In round 1 Huntsville defeated the Pensacola Ice Flyers 2 games to 1. In round 2 the Havoc swept the Knoxville Ice Bears. The Havoc then went on to sweep the Mississippi Surge in the finals, winning their first SPHL President's Cup. In the 2010–11 season, the Havoc finished 3rd in the regular season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Columbus.

In the 2018 SPHL playoffs, the fourth-seeded Havoc defeated the Mississippi RiverKings in the Challenge Round 2-game-to-1, the Macon Mayhem in the semifinals 2-games-to-1, and the top-seeded Peoria Rivermen 2-games-to-1 in the finals to claim the franchise's second President's Cup. It was the first time in league history that a fourth-seeded team won the championship.

In 2019, the Huntsville Havoc repeated as SPHL President's Cup Champions by defeating the Birmingham Bulls 2-games-to-0 in the finals.

In 2026, Zawyer Sports and Entertainment purchased the controlling interest of the team.

Year-by-year record Season GP W L OTL Pts Pct GF GA PIM Coach Finish Playoffs 2004–05 56 29 27 — 58 0.518 183 181 1542 John Gibson 6th Lost in first round, 1–2 (Jacksonville) 2005–06 56 32 21 3 67 0.571 203 186 1905 John Gibson 5th Lost in second round, 1–2 (Florida) 2006–07 56 29 23 4 62 0.554 221 210 2108 John Gibson 4th Lost in first round, 0–2 (Fayetteville) 2007–08 52 23 27 2 48 0.462 195 211 1451 John Gibson 7th Did not qualify 2008–09 60 29 24 7 65 0.542 204 197 1335 Eric Soltys 4th Lost in first round, 2–3 (Knoxville) 2009–10 58 31 16 9 71 0.634 199 178 1273 Randy Murphy 2nd Won Championship, 3–0 (Mississippi) 2010–11 56 30 26 — 60 0.536 168 158 1006 Randy Murphy 3rd Lost in first round, 0–2 (Columbus) 2011–12 56 22 28 6 50 0.446 163 198 1229 Randy Murphy/Keith Jeffries/Glenn Detulleo 8th Lost in second round, 0–2 (Columbus) 2012–13 56 21 29 6 48 0.429 135 179 1379 Glenn Detulleo 8th Lost in championship, 1–2 (Pensacola) 2013–14 56 31 21 4 66 0.589 180 158 991 Glenn Detulleo 5th Lost in second round, 0–2 (Columbus) 2014–15 56 11 38 7 29 .259 130 184 1250 Glenn Detulleo 8th Did not qualify 2015–16 56 26 26 4 56 .500 151 158 1282 Glenn Detulleo 7th Lost in first round, 0–2 (Pensacola) 2016–17 56 34 16 6 74 .661 200 165 849 Glenn Detulleo 4th Lost in semifinals, 1–2 (Peoria) 2017–18 56 30 16 10 70 .625 203 180 923 Glenn Detulleo 4th Won Championship, 2–1 (Peoria) 2018–19 56 36 17 3 75 .670 209 152 632 Glenn Detulleo 3rd Won Championship, 2–0 (Birmingham) 2019–20 46 27 14 5 59 .641 144 124 675 Glenn Detulleo 3rd Season cancelled 2020–21 42 19 22 1 39 .464 123 137 392 Glenn Detulleo 4th Lost in semifinals, 0–2 (Pensacola) 2021–22 56 41 13 2 84 .750 194 124 697 Glenn Detulleo 2nd Lost in semifinals, 0–2 (Roanoke) 2022–23 56 34 19 3 71 .634 197 162 826 Glenn Detulleo 3rd Lost in semifinals, 1–2 (Birmingham)

Attendance YearTotalGamesAverageLeague average2004–05 75,978 28 2,713 2,4402005–06 87,871 28 3,138 2,7202006–07 109,615 28 3,914 2,9852007–08 99,672 26 3,833 2,9692008–09 106,848 30 3,561 2,9212009–10 98,365 28 3,513 3,0412010–11 98,327 28 3,513 2,7622011–12 94,354 28 3,369 2,7962012–13 98,383 28 3,514 2,8042013–14 103,993 28 3,714 3,0002014–15 100,381 28 3,585 3,2482015–16 117,298 28 4,187 3,0342016–17 130,166 28 4,648 2,9672017–18 133,672 28 4,774 3,2142018–19 138,106 28 4,932 3,1322019–20 110,869 23 4,820 3,1372020–21 44,136 21 2,102 1,7472021–22 134,713 28 4,811 2,8722022–23 154,362 28 5,513 3,4462023–24 166,871 28 5,960 4,1052024–25 174,927 28 6,247 4,288

Honored numbers The following numbers were retired by the Huntsville Havoc.

Name Number Tenure Chris George 17 Channel Cats 1996–2000Tornado 2001 Mike Degurse 33 Channel Cats 1996–2000, 2004Havoc 2004–07 John Gibson 23 Channel Cats 1995–2000, as coach 2003–04Havoc coach 2004–2008 Matt Carmichael 29 Channel Cats 1999-2000, 2003-2004Tornado 2000-2001Havoc 2004-2008 Stuart Stefan 7 Havoc 2011–18, as coach 2018-present Nolan Kaiser 10 Havoc 2015-2022 Tyler Piacentini 14 Havoc 2017-2023, as coach 2023-present

Records through 2022-23 season

Career Games 379 Stuart Stefan (2011–2018) Goals 115 Sy Nutkevitch (2016–2023) Assists 256 Sy Nutkevitch (2016–2023) Points 371 Sy Nutkevitch (2016–2023) Penalty minutes 994 Luke Phillips (2004–2007) Wins 92 Matt Carmichael (2004–2008) Shutouts 7 Dan McWhinney (2009–2013) Max Milosek (2018-2023)

Single-season Goals 37 Travis Kauffeldt (2008–09) Assists 52 James Patterson (2006–07) Points 78 James Patterson (2006–07) Penalty minutes 396 Luke Phillips (2005–06) GAA 1.93 Hunter Vorva (2021–22) SV% .934 Hunter Vorva (2021–22)

References

External links Huntsville Havoc Official site The Internet Hockey Database Huntsville Havoc