2016–17 SPHL season explained

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.^{[1] [2]}
• The Evansville Thunderbolts from Evansville, Indiana, join the SPHL as an expansion team replacing the former Evansville IceMen of the ECHL.^[3]
• The Louisiana IceGators suspended operations because renovations to the Cajundome were not going to be complete in time for the regular season.^[4]

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^[5]

Team
Macon Mayhem‡	56	37	13	6	178	146	80
	56	36	17	3	174	130	75
	56	32	13	11	182	145	75
	56	34	16	6	200	165	74
	56	32	21	3	172	162	67
	56	29	20	7	175	178	65
	56	27	21	8	171	154	62
	56	22	30	4	153	199	48
	56	17	30	9	158	216	43
	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

Finals

Home team is listed first.

Awards

2016–17 SPHL awards! Award !! Recipient(s) !! Finalists

	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
align=center	G	Sean Bonar (Fayetteville)	Jordan Ruby (Macon)	Storm Phaneuf (Peoria)
align=center	D	Louis Belisle (Pensacola)	Nick Schneider (Roanoke)	Nathan Bruyere (Pensacola)
align=center	D	Nolan Kaiser (Huntsville)	Stuart Stefan (Huntsville)	Daniel Echeverri (Macon)
align=center	F	Mike Moran (Mississippi)	Keegan Bruce (Columbus)	Keegan Bruce (Columbus)
align=center	F	Sy Nutkevitch (Huntsville)	Bobby Chaumont (Fayetteville)	Mike Moran (Mississippi)
align=center	F	Tayler Thompson (Fayetteville)	Jake Hauswirth (Fayetteville)	John Siemer (Macon)

External links

• Southern Professional Hockey League website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Roanoke, hockey are 'a good match,' mayor says . . Roanoke.com . October 20, 2015 . November 19, 2015 . Berman, Mark.
2. Web site: SPHL expanding to Roanoke, VA for 2016-2017 season . Southern Professional Hockey League. . October 20, 2015 . November 19, 2015.
3. Web site: Evansville will be home to Southern Professional Hockey League franchise . Evansville Courier & Press . February 8, 2016.
4. Web site: Louisiana IceGators suspend operations for 2016-2017 season . SPHL . May 16, 2016.
5. Web site: 2016–17 SPHL Standings . Pointstreak . April 9, 2017.