2022-23 SPHL Season Thread

[JMCx4]

And now, for the overlooked 2023 SPHL playoff picture. I've filled in first round results to date, with play continuing this weekend ...

SPHL announces President’s Cup first round schedule

April 8, 2023

HUNTERSVILLE, NC (April 8, 2023) – The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) on Saturday announced the schedule for the first round, best-of-three series in the 2023 President’s Cup Playoffs:

#1 Peoria Rivermen vs. #8 Pensacola Ice Flyers
Game 1 – Thursday, April 13 at Pensacola ... Rivermen 3 - Ice Flyers 2
Game 2 – Saturday, April 15 at Peoria ... Rivermen 2 - Ice Flyers 1
Game 3 – Sunday, April 16 at Peoria – 4:15 pm (if necessary)

#2 Birmingham Bulls vs. #7 Fayetteville Marksmen
Game 1 – Thursday, April 13 at Fayetteville ... Marksmen 3 - Bulls 2 (1OT)
Game 2 – Saturday, April 15 at Birmingham ... Bulls 4 - Marksmen 2
Game 3 – Sunday, April 16 at Birmingham ... Bulls 2 - Marksmen 0

#3 Huntsville Havoc vs. #6 Knoxville Ice Bears
Game 1 – Thursday, April 13 at Huntsville (at Huntsville Ice Sports Center) ... Havoc 5 - Ice Bears 1
Game 2 – Friday, April 14 at Knoxville ... Havoc 3 - Ice Bears 2
Game 3 – Sunday, April 16 at Huntsville (at Huntsville Ice Sports Center) – 7:00 pm (if necessary)

#4 Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs vs. #5 Evansville Thunderbolts
Game 1 – Thursday, April 13 at Evansville ... Rail Yard Dawgs 4 - Thunderbolts 2
Game 2 – Saturday, April 15 at Roanoke ... Rail Yard Dawgs 4 - Thunderbolts 0
Game 3 – Sunday, April 16 at Roanoke – 3:05 pm (if necessary)

 

[JMCx4]

Roanoke sweeps Evansville, joining Huntsville with a semifinals berth.

 

[JMCx4]

Birmingham ties their first round series against Fayetteville. Game #3 will be Sunday evening in Pelham.

 

[JMCx4]

Make that 3 sweeps out of 4 first round series, as regular season champs Peoria eliminate Pensacola.

 

[GindyDraws]

The good news for Evansville is that attendance has gone up, although nobody bothered to show up for the playoff game. For a market struggling to stay afloat after years of bad hockey and bad press, anything above a 3K average should be considered a win.

 

[JMCx4]

Well, officially, the single E'ville playoff home game had an Attendance = 1763. But I get your point.

 

[JMCx4]

Oopsy ...

 

[SemireliableSource]

Before I catch up on first round action in the SPHL Presidents Cup playoffs, stick taps are due to the League's COY... Birmingham’s Craig Simchuk Named SPHL Coach of the Year

Congrats, Kevin.

 

[JMCx4]

First round results captured in this post above. So moving on in like manner ...

SPHL announces President’s Cup second round schedule
April 16, 2023

HUNTERSVILLE, NC (April 16, 2023) – The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) on Sunday announced the schedule for the second round, best-of-three series in the 2023 President’s Cup Playoffs:

#1 Peoria Rivermen vs. #4 Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
Game 1 – Wednesday, April 19 at Roanoke ... Roanoke 3 - Peoria 2
Game 2 – Friday, April 21 at Peoria. .. Peoria 5 - Roanoke 3
Game 3 – Sunday, April 23 at Peoria ... Roanoke 5 - Peoria 3 ...

#2 Birmingham Bulls vs. #3 Huntsville Havoc
Game 1 – Friday, April 21 at Birmingham ,,, Birmingham 3 - Huntsville 2 (1OT)
Game 2 – Saturday, April 22 at Huntsville ... Huntsville 3 - Birmingham 2 (1OT)
Game 3 – Sunday, April 23 at Birmingham ... Birmingham 5 - Huntsville 2 ...

 

[JMCx4]

DAWGS OUTLAST RIVERMEN IN 3-2 GAME ONE WIN

APRIL 19, 2023

ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (3-0) survived a late charge by the Peoria Rivermen (2-1), and prevailed in a 3-2 win at Berglund Center on Wednesday night. Nick Ford, Jason Lavallée, and Josh Nenadal notched goals, and Austyn Roudebush made 32 saves on 34 shots faced for Roanoke. ..

Read more at: DAWGS OUTLAST RIVERMEN IN 3-2 GAME ONE WIN

 

[JMCx4]

On Friday night semifinals play, #1 Peoria dodged elimination with a 5-3 victory at home over Roanoke. Meanwhile, south of Huntsville, #2 Birmingham took a 1-0 series lead over the Havoc with an overtime win, Series results are being tracked in this post above.

 

[JMCx4]

Hu'ville paid back the Bulls for Friday night's loss, using the same score in extra time on Satruday just to rub it in.

Both semifinal series will need a Game 3 on Sunday to decide the championship opponents. More ticket sales, more concessions revenue.

 

[JMCx4]

No OT needed in either Game 3 on Sunday. #4 Roanoke will meet #2 Birmingham for the 2023 President's Cup championship.

 

[Candyman]

The good news for Evansville is that attendance has gone up, although nobody bothered to show up for the playoff game. For a market struggling to stay afloat after years of bad hockey and bad press, anything above a 3K average should be considered a win.

Doesn't help the game was on a random Thursday night... but even for that the attendance was poor. Wish the local media would cover anything about the Thunderbolts at all instead of nothing but crime and police reports.

 

[JMCx4]

Doesn't help the game was on a random Thursday night... but even for that the attendance was poor. Wish the local media would cover anything about the Thunderbolts at all instead of nothing but crime and police reports.

Giving the readers what they crave. Maybe if the T'bolts call up a few FPHL players next season, the "crime and police reports" could be pouring out of Ford Center every game night.

 

[JMCx4]

Yeah, yeah, I know ... the President's Cup Finals schedule was posted ...

SPHL announces President’s Cup Finals schedule

April 23, 2023


HUNTERSVILLE, NC (April 23, 2023) – The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) will crown a first-time champion as the Birmingham Bulls and Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs clinched their spots Sunday for the 2023 President’s Cup Finals.

The best-of-five series is as follows:

#2 Birmingham Bulls vs. #4 Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (Roanoke wins championship series 3-1)
Game 1 – ROANOKE 4 at Birmingham 2
Game 2 – Roanoke 0 at BIRMINGHAM 2
Game 3 – Birmingham 4 at ROANOKE 5 (1OT)
Game 4 – Birmingham 1 at ROANOKE 2
Game 5 – Thursday, May 4 at Birmingham – 7:00 (if necessary)

 

[JMCx4]

Rail Yard Dawgs right winger Nick Ford has a 3-point night (or is that a 3-Dawg Night?), including the GWG to take Game 1 of the President's Cup Finals over the host Birmingham Bulls. Final score was 4-2. The championship series continues Friday night in Pelham.

 

[JMCx4]

Birmingham goalie Austin Lotz recorded a shutout against Roanoke on Friday night, 33 saves in the 2-0 game to lead the Bulls on home ice to a Finals series tie. The championships now shift to Roanoke for games on Monday & Tuesday, with Game 5 if necessary back in Pelham on Thursday 5/4.

 

[JMCx4]

RYD took a 2-1 series lead Monday night with a 5-4 overtime win on Roanoke ice. Game Center summary linked In this post above.

 

[JMCx4]

The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs hoisted their first President's Cup playoff championship trophy on Tuesday night, after defeating the Birmingham Bulls 2-1 in overtime. RYD right winger & team captain Mac Jansen scored the championship winning goal @ 2:41 of the extra period to send Roanoke fans into a frenzy they deserved.

 

[JMCx4]

Post-post-season news ...

SPHL establishes league attendance records

May 24, 2023

HUNTERSVILLE, NC (May 24, 2023) – In its just completed 19th season, the Southern Professional Hockey League recorded its first-ever regular season with over one million fans in attendance. With an increase of 142,162 fans from 2021-22 to the 2022-23 season, the SPHL recorded the largest single-season attendance increase in league history.

An all-time high of 1,026,831 fans attended SPHL games during the regular season – an average of 3,445 fans per game. The total number of fans surpassed the previous record set during the 2017-18 season while the season average broke the previous record set in 2014-15.

Four of the SPHL’s 10 teams saw average attendances of more than 4,250 fans per game, with the Huntsville Havoc (5,513) leading the league for the eighth consecutive season. Attendance league-wide was up 16.1 percent from last year as Birmingham (80,812), Evansville (87,052), Huntsville (154,362), Knoxville (119,522), Pensacola (130,024), and Roanoke (124,569) all set franchise records for attendance. The Fayetteville Marksmen (96,603) saw their highest total since the 2005-06 season when they were known as the FireAntz. ...

Read more at: SPHL establishes league attendance records

 

[GindyDraws]

Not even the dearth (and death) that was the Boob-Cats slowed the league down.

But... Let's get down to brass tactics; Macon is still in rough shape. Attendance is bad, the team has struggled on the ice the past few seasons and they're bleeding money. Do they hold on for one more season?

The abject failure of Vermilion County will likely scare off the league from sudden expansion, although they still would like that scalene triangle of Quad City, Peoria, and Evansville to have someone else to travel with, and markets that could work either are oversaturated, don't have viable venues, or are Bloomington, Illinois. Meanwhile, the rest of the south is being fought over in a rather stupid turf war with the FPHL with that league claiming Baton Rouge and a transient town in eastern Virginia as it's own for their next silly season.

So... Who knows what happens next.