| 2005–06 SPHL season | |
| League: | Southern Professional Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | October 21, 2005–April 12, 2006 |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champs: | Knoxville Ice Bears |
| Mvp: | Matt Carmichael (Huntsville)[1] |
| Top Scorer: | Kevin Swider (Knoxville) |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Conf1: | Finals |
| Conf1 Link: | President's Cup (SPHL) |
| Conf1 Champ: | Knoxville Ice Bears |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Florida Seals |
| Seasonslistnames: | SPHL |
| Prevseason Link: | 2004–05 Southern Professional Hockey League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2004–05 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2006–07 Southern Professional Hockey League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2006–07 |
The 2005–06 Southern Professional Hockey League season was the second season of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The regular season began October 21, 2005, and ended April 12, 2006, after a 56-game regular season and a six-team playoff. The Knoxville Ice Bears won their first SPHL championship.
The Asheville Aces,[2] Macon Trax,[3] and Winston-Salem Polar Twins[4] all folded following the 2004–05 season. Replacing them were the Florida Seals[5] and Pee Dee Cyclones.[6]
A new playoff structure was announced, with the top seed and sixth seed playing each other in a best-of-5-game series, with the winner advancing to the championship. The second and fifth, and third and fourth seeds each play a best-of-3-game series, with the winners meeting in another 3-game series to determine the second finalist.[7]
| Team[8] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knoxville Ice Bears‡ | 56 | 36 | 14 | 6 | 262 | 192 | 78 | |
| 56 | 34 | 16 | 6 | 247 | 182 | 74 | ||
| 56 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 211 | 174 | 71 | ||
| 56 | 31 | 19 | 6 | 224 | 175 | 68 | ||
| 56 | 32 | 21 | 3 | 203 | 186 | 67 | ||
| 56 | 16 | 33 | 7 | 201 | 307 | 39 | ||
| 56 | 15 | 39 | 2 | 183 | 315 | 32 |
‡ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
Advanced to playoffs
| Team | Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville | 103,179 | 28 | 3,684 | |
| Knoxville | 96,428 | 28 | 3,443 | |
| Columbus | 90,518 | 28 | 3,232 | |
| Huntsville | 87,871 | 28 | 3,183 | |
| Florida | 57,538 | 28 | 2,054 | |
| Jacksonville | 57,028 | 28 | 2,036 | |
| Pee Dee | 40,626 | 28 | 1,450 |
The Knoxville Ice Bears and the Macon trax play at best of 5 round that will take the place of the first two playoff rounds. The other four teams will play a best of 3 game Quarter Final and Simi Final round.
| width=10% colspan=2 | Game-by-Game | width=25% colspan=2 | Score | width=25% | Knoxville goals | width=25% | Pee Dee goals | width=12% | Winning goalie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 24 | at Pee Dee 5, Knoxville 4 | OT 3:50 | Jason Bermingham 2, K.J. Voorhees, Robbie Rangus | Justin Siebold, Brett Roat 2, Geoff Rollins, Edan Welch | Kelly Shields | |||
| 2 | March 25 | at Pee Dee 1, Knoxville 7 | Kevin Swider 2, Robbie Rangus, Jason Bermingham, Curtis Menzul, Rob Miller, K.J. Voorhees | Steve Birch | James Ronayne | ||||
| 3 | March 31 | at Knoxville 3, Pee Dee 1 | K.C. Caudill, Jason Bermingham, Kevin Swider | Joel Petkoff | James Ronayne | ||||
| 4 | March 31 | at Knoxville 6, Pee Dee 3 | Jason Bermingham 5, Nathan Daly | Geoff Rollins, Justin Siebold 2 | James Ronayne | ||||
| Knoxville win series 3–1 | Bermingham 9, Swider 3, Voorhees 2, Rangus 2 | Siebold 3, Roat 2, Rollins 2 |
Note: game-winning goal scorer indicated in italics
| width=10% colspan=2 | Game-by-Game | width=25% colspan=2 | Score | width=25% | Columbus goals | width=25% | Huntsville goals | width=12% | Winning goalie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 23 | at Columbus 1, Huntsville 4 | Tim Green | Don Patrick, Mark Cole, Doug Merrell, Jesse Baraniuk | Matt Carmichael | ||||
| 2 | March 25 | at Huntsville 3, Columbus 4 | 2OT 7:32 | Lorne Misita, Tom McMonagle, Mat Ponto,Ryan Haggarty | Jeff Dams, Chris Peach, Don Patrick | Chad Rycroft | |||
| 3 | March 28 | at Columbus 2, Huntsville 3 | Craig Stahl, Tom McMonagle | Ryan Brown, James Patterson, Mike O'Sullivan | Matt Carmichael | ||||
| Huntsville win series 2–1 | McMonagle 2 | Patrick 2 |
| width=10% colspan=2 | Game-by-Game | width=25% colspan=2 | Score | width=25% | Florida goals | width=25% | Fayetteville goals | width=12% | Winning goalie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 24 | at Florida 2, Fayetteville 1 | John Gurskis, Robert Sich | Kory Baker | Terry Denike | ||||
| 2 | March 25 | at Fayetteville 8, Florida 1 | Justin Keller | Rob Meanchoff, George Nistas 4, Nick Kormanyos, Dean Jackson, Scott Corbett | Chad Collins | ||||
| 3 | March 28 | at Florida 1, Fayetteville 0 | Robert Sich | Terry Denike | |||||
| Florida win series 2–1 | Sich 2 |
Note: game-winning goal scorer indicated in italics
| width=10% colspan=2 | Game-by-Game | width=25% colspan=2 | Score | width=25% | Florida goals | width=25% | Huntsville goals | width=12% | Winning goalie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 31 | at Florida 4, Huntsville 2 | Steve Zoryk, Robert Sich 2, Nick Cammarata | Chris Peach, Jeff Dams | Terry Denike | ||||
| 2 | April 2 | at Huntsville 3, Florida 5 | Craig Miller, Nick Cammarata, Justin Keller, John Gurskis 2 | Luke Phillips, Jeff Dams, Jason DeGuehery | Terry Denike | ||||
| Florida win series 2–0 | Sich 2, Cammarata 2, Gurskis 2 | Dams 2 |
The All-SPHL teams were announced March 21, 2006, followed by the MVP on March 22, Defenseman of the Year on March 23, Coach of the Year on March 24, Rookie of the Year on March 27, and Goalie of the Year on Match 28.[9]
| President's Cup | Knoxville Ice Bears | |
| Commissioner's Cup | Knoxville Ice Bears | |
| League MVP: | Matt Carmichael (Huntsville) | |
| Rookie of the Year: | Rob Sich (Florida)[10] | |
| Defenseman of the Year: | Mike Clarke (Fayetteville)[11] | |
| Goalie of the Year: | Terry Denike (Florida)[12] | |
| Coach of the Year: | Jerome Bechard (Columbus)[13] |