From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Southern Professional Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	2004
No. of teams	7
Country(ies)	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Fayetteville FireAntz
Official website	www.thesphl.com

The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a low-level professional ice hockey league with teams located in the southeastern United States.

The SPHL's history traces back to three other short-lived leagues. The Atlantic 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, the South East Hockey League and the World 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.

Contents 1 Teams 1.1 Current 1.2 Relocated teams 1.3 Defunct teams 2 Key rule differences 3 Champions 3.1 President's Cup (playoffs) 3.2 Commissioner's Cup (regular season) 4 See also 5 External links

• Columbus Cottonmouths (Columbus, Georgia) Joined SPHL 2004-05, Charter Member.
• Fayetteville FireAntz (Fayetteville, North Carolina) Joined SPHL 2004-05, Charter Member.
• Huntsville Havoc (Huntsville, Alabama) Joined SPHL 2004-05, Charter Member.
• Jacksonville Barracudas (Jacksonville, Florida) Joined SPHL 2004-05, Charter Member.
• Knoxville Ice Bears (Knoxville, Tennessee) Joined SPHL 2004-05, Charter Member.
• Twin City Cyclones (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) Joined SPHL 2005-06 as Pee Dee. Relocated to Winston-Salem 2007-08. [1][2]
• Richmond Renegades (Richmond, Virginia) Joined SPHL 2006-07.

• Pee Dee Cyclones (Florence, South Carolina 2005/06 - 2006/07) to Winston-Salem, North Carolina

• Macon Trax (Macon, Georgia) SPHL 2004/05, WHA2 2003/04, ACHL 2002/03
• Winston-Salem Polar Twins (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) 2004/05
• Asheville Aces (Asheville, North Carolina) 2004/05
• Florida Seals (Kissimmee, Florida) SPHL 2005/07, WHA2 2003/04, ACHL 2002/03. Originally Orlando Seals (ACHL/WHA2); were supposed to be a charter franchise as well. (Membership terminated in the middle of the 2006-07 SPHL season) [3])

As per minor leagues, there are some rule differences between the SPHL and the NHL (and even the ECHL and AHL, the two official developmental leagues regulated by the Professional Hockey Players Association).

• A team may dress sixteen regular players to a game. Two players dressed for the game will be goaltenders.
• There is no trapezoid restriction limiting the goaltender playing the puck and is eligible to play the puck anywhere on his side of the center redline.
• A mouthpiece is required for all players except the goaltender.
• No curvature of stick limitations as in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL.
• Shootouts are five players (as in the ECHL and AHL).
• All overtime periods in the regular season are between three skaters per team and the goaltender (3 on 3, compared to 4 on 4 in other leagues). Penalty rules differ during the overtime:
  • During the first three minutes of overtime, in case of a penalty, the non-offending team is awarded one extra skater per penalty (up to five).
  • In the final two minutes, any minor penalty results in an automatic penalty shot. [4]

2006-07	Fayetteville FireAntz
2005-06	Knoxville IceBears
2004-05	Columbus Cottonmouths

2006-07	Columbus Cottonmouths
2005-06	Knoxville Ice Bears
2004-05	Knoxville Ice Bears

• List of ice hockey leagues
• Sports league attendances

• Southern Professional Hockey League website
• intotheboards.net - SPHL
• ITB Forums - SPHL

v • d • e Southern Professional Hockey League
2007-08 teams	Columbus Cottonmouths • Fayetteville FireAntz • Huntsville Havoc • Jacksonville Barracudas • Knoxville Ice Bears • Richmond Renegades • Twin City Cyclones
Former Teams	Macon Trax • Winston-Salem Polar Twins • Asheville Aces • Florida Seals
Related articles: President's Cup  • Commissioner's Cup  • Other Professional Hockey leagues

v • d • e Current arenas in the Southern Professional Hockey League
Columbus Civic Center • Cumberland County Crown Coliseum • Lawrence Joel Coliseum Annex • Jacksonville Ice • James White Civic Coliseum • Richmond Coliseum • Von Braun Center

North American Professional Hockey
National Hockey League
Minor League Hockey
High Level: American Hockey League Mid Level: Central Hockey League | ECHL | International Hockey League Low Level: Mid-Atlantic Hockey League | Southern Professional Hockey League | Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey  Semi-Professional: North Eastern Hockey League
view • talk • edit