Current season, competition or edition: 2024–25 SPHL season | |
 | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Commissioner | Doug Price[1] |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champions | Evansville Thunderbolts (2025) |
| Most titles | Knoxville Ice Bears andPensacola Ice Flyers (4 each) |
| Broadcaster | FloSports |
| Official website | thesphl.com |
TheSPHL (formerly theSouthern Professional Hockey League) is aprofessional ice hockey independentminor league based inHuntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in thesoutheastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in themidwestern United States.
Following the2024–25 season, theEvansville Thunderbolts are the reigning President's Cup champions. As of 2024[update], theKnoxville Ice Bears are the most successful team in SPHL history, having won five William B. Coffey Trophies as the regular season champions and four President's Cup playoff championships. The Peoria Rivermen have also won five William B. Coffey Trophies, while Pensacola has also won four President's Cups.
The SPHL's history traces back to three other short-lived leagues. TheAtlantic Coast Hockey League started play in the 2002–03 season. After its only season, the ACHL dissolved with member teams forming the nucleus for two rival leagues, theSouth East Hockey League and theWorld Hockey Association 2. After one season, the SEHL and WHA2 disbanded, with their surviving teams rejoining with two expansion teams to form the SPHL, commencing with the 2004–05 season.
In 2009, the SPHL saw a large expansion with three new franchises, inBiloxi, Mississippi,[2][3][4]Lafayette, Louisiana[5] andPensacola, Florida.[6][7] In 2010, the league added an expansion team inAugusta, Georgia, another former long time ECHL market.[8] For the 2011–12 season, the league added two-timeCentral Hockey League champions, theMississippi RiverKings.[9][10] For the 2013–14 season, the league lost theAugusta RiverHawks but also expanded northward with two franchises inIllinois: theBloomington Thunder, a team also moving from the CHL, where they were known as theBloomington Blaze, and thePeoria Rivermen, who were replacing anAmerican Hockey Leagueteam of the same name in their market.[11] In 2015, the Augusta franchise returned and relocated toMacon, Georgia as theMacon Mayhem.
In November 2014,Shannon Szabados became the first female goaltender to win an SPHL game, when the Columbus Cottonmouths defeated the Fayetteville FireAntz 5–4 in overtime.[12] In that same game Erin Blair and Katie Guay became the first female officials to referee an SPHL game.[12]
At the end of the 2015–16 season, theLouisiana IceGators announced a one-year leave of absence for renovations to their arena but never returned. The IceGators' franchise was sold and reactivated as theQuad City Storm in 2018. Then in 2016, the dormantMississippi Surge franchise was relocated toSouthwest Virginia to become theRoanoke Rail Yard Dawgs. One of the inaugural SPHL teams, theColumbus Cottonmouths, suspended operations in 2017 after failing to find a buyer while an expansion team called theBirmingham Bulls were accepted into the league as the tenth team. Following the 2017–18 season, theMississippi RiverKings suspended operations while the league searched for new owners.[13] With the acceptance of theQuad City Storm, the league was able to remain at ten teams for the 2018–19 season.
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the2019–20 season was curtailed and no champion was named. The following season, the league announced it would only play with five of the ten member teams due to pandemic-related capacity restrictions barring fans from attending games.[14] During the season, the league approved of theVermilion County Bobcats as a 2021–22 expansion team based inDanville, Illinois.[15] The Bobcats folded after only a year and a half.[16]
In 2023, the league rebranded to theorphaned initialism "SPHL" to reflect the fact that the league's footprint had expanded beyond the southern United States.[17]
On September 17, 2025, it was announced that Mobile will be joining the league for the 2027–28 season.[18]
Current teams
Future teams| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined | Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham Bulls[19][20] | Pelham, Alabama | Pelham Civic Center | 4,100 | 2017 | Craig Simchuk | |
| Evansville Thunderbolts | Evansville, Indiana | Ford Center | 9,000 | 2016 | Jeff Bes | |
| Fayetteville Marksmen | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Crown Coliseum | 9,500 | 2002 | 2004 | Kyle Sharkey |
| Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville, Alabama | Von Braun Center | 6,050 | 2004 | Stuart Stefan | |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | Knoxville, Tennessee | Knoxville Civic Coliseum | 5,109 | 2002 | 2004 | John Gurskis |
| Macon Mayhem | Macon, Georgia | Macon Coliseum | 6,550 | 2010[a] | Dave Pszenyczny | |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | Pensacola, Florida | Pensacola Bay Center | 8,150 | 2009 | Jeremy Gates | |
| Peoria Rivermen | Peoria, Illinois | Carver Arena | 9,815 | 2013 | Jean-Guy Trudel | |
| Quad City Storm | Moline, Illinois | Vibrant Arena at The MARK | 9,200 | 2009[a] | Shayne Toporowski | |
| Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | Roanoke, Virginia | Berglund Center | 8,672 | 2009[a] | Dan Bremner | |
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined | Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Pro Hockey Club | Mobile, Alabama | New Mobile Arena | 10,275 | 2025 | 2027 | TBD |
Notes
As per minor leagues, there are some rule differences between the SPHL and the NHL (and even the ECHL and the AHL, the two official developmental leagues regulated by theProfessional Hockey Players' Association).
Awarded to the league playoff champion.
| Season | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Columbus Cottonmouths | Macon Trax |
| 2006 | Knoxville Ice Bears | Orlando Seals |
| 2007 | Fayetteville FireAntz | Jacksonville Barracudas |
| 2008 | Knoxville Ice Bears | Jacksonville Barracudas |
| 2009 | Knoxville Ice Bears | Fayetteville FireAntz |
| 2010 | Huntsville Havoc | Mississippi Surge |
| 2011 | Mississippi Surge | Augusta Riverhawks |
| 2012 | Columbus Cottonmouths | Pensacola Ice Flyers |
| 2013 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | Huntsville Havoc |
| 2014 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | Columbus Cottonmouths |
| 2015 | Knoxville Ice Bears | Mississippi RiverKings |
| 2016 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | Peoria Rivermen |
| 2017 | Macon Mayhem | Peoria Rivermen |
| 2018 | Huntsville Havoc | Peoria Rivermen |
| 2019 | Huntsville Havoc | Birmingham Bulls |
| 2020 | Not awarded due to theCOVID-19 pandemic | |
| 2021 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | Macon Mayhem |
| 2022 | Peoria Rivermen | Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs |
| 2023 | Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | Birmingham Bulls |
| 2024 | Peoria Rivermen | Huntsville Havoc |
| 2025 | Evansville Thunderbolts | Knoxville Ice Bears |
| Team | Titles |
|---|---|
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 4 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 4 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 3 |
| Peoria Rivermen | 2 |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | 2 |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | 1 |
| Macon Mayhem | 1 |
| Mississippi Surge | 1 |
| Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 1 |
| Evansville Thunderbolts | 1 |
Originally known as the Commissioner's Cup, the regular season championship trophy was renamed in honor of league co-founderBill Coffey during the 2007–08 season.[30]
| Season | Winner | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 1 |
| 2005–06 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 2 |
| 2006–07 | Columbus Cottonmouths | 1 |
| 2007–08 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 3 |
| 2008–09 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 4 |
| 2009–10 | Mississippi Surge | 1 |
| 2010–11 | Mississippi Surge | 2 |
| 2011–12 | Augusta RiverHawks | 1 |
| 2012–13 | Fayetteville FireAntz | 1 |
| 2013–14 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 1 |
| 2014–15 | Peoria Rivermen | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Peoria Rivermen | 2 |
| 2016–17 | Macon Mayhem | 1 |
| 2017–18 | Peoria Rivermen | 3 |
| 2018–19 | Peoria Rivermen | 4 |
| 2019–20 | Not awarded due to season cancellation | |
| 2020–21 | Macon Mayhem[31] | 2 |
| 2021–22 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 5 |
| 2022–23 | Peoria Rivermen | 5 |
| 2023–24 | Birmingham Bulls | 1 |
| 2024–25 | Peoria Rivermen | 6 |
| Team | Titles |
|---|---|
| Peoria Rivermen | 6 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 5 |
| Macon Mayhem | 2 |
| Mississippi Surge | 2 |
| Augusta Riverhawks | 1 |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | 1 |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | 1 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 1 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 1 |
Media related toSPHL at Wikimedia Commons
