Battle of Backbone Mountain

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The 2011–12 Southern Professional Hockey League season was the eighth season of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The season began October 20, 2011, and ended April 14, 2012, after a 56-game regular season and an eight-team playoff. The Columbus Cottonmouths captured their second SPHL championship.

Preseason

The Mississippi RiverKings joined the SPHL after 19 seasons in the Central Hockey League.[3] With 9 teams now in the SPHL, the league adopted an 8-team playoff format, with all rounds using best-of-three game series.[4][5]

Regular season

Final standings

Team[6] GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
Augusta RiverHawks‡ 56 36 13 7 206 159 79
Columbus Cottonmouths 56 35 16 5 185 155 75
Knoxville Ice Bears 56 32 16 8 208 170 72
Pensacola Ice Flyers 56 30 22 4 187 176 64
Mississippi Surge 56 29 24 3 166 162 61
Mississippi RiverKings 56 25 28 3 167 177 53
Louisiana IceGators 56 24 27 5 177 202 53
Huntsville Havoc 56 22 28 6 163 198 50
Fayetteville FireAntz 56 19 32 5 180 240 43
‡ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
  Advanced to playoffs

Attendance

Team Total Games Average
Knoxville 100,425 28 3,586
Huntsville 94,354 28 3,369
Fayetteville 91,521 28 3,268
Pensacola 86,752 28 3,098
Mississippi RiverKings 82,068 28 2,931
Columbus 76,484 28 2,731
Mississippi Surge 63,280 28 2,260
Louisiana 56,514 28 2,018
Augusta 53,266 28 1,902
League 704,664 252 2,796

President's Cup playoffs

First Round Semifinals Final
               
1 Augusta RiverHawks 4* 3 2
8 Huntsville Havoc 3 4* 6
2 Columbus Cottonmouths 5 6 X
8 Huntsville Havoc 0 1 X
4 Pensacola Ice Flyers 4 2 X
5 Mississippi Surge 1 0 X
2 Columbus Cottonmouths 3 3 X
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
4 Pensacola Ice Flyers 2 1 X
6 Mississippi RiverKings 6 2 3
3 Knoxville Ice Bears 3 4 6
4 Pensacola Ice Flyers 4 1 X
3 Knoxville Ice Bears 1 0 X
7 Louisiana IceGators 2 2 X
2 Columbus Cottonmouths 4 3* X

* indicates overtime game.

Finals

All times are local (EDT/CDT)

April 12, 2012
7:30 PM		Pensacola2–3
(0–1, 1–0, 1–2)		ColumbusColumbus Civic Center, Columbus, GA
Attendance: 2,245
Game reference
Steve ChristieGoaliesIan VigierReferees:
Tyler Puddifant, Andrew Wilk
Andrew Gray, Joshua Greco
0 – 13:18 – Orrin Hergott (Beller, Pallardy)
Matthew Robertson (Buccella) – 1:201 – 1
1 – 21:21 – Orrin Hergott (Pallardy, Cianfrini)
Dan Buccella (Harris) – 3:132 – 2
2 – 34:30 – Sam Bowles (Krelove)
4 minPenalties8 min
33Shots27
April 14, 2012
7:05 PM		Columbus3–1
(1–1, 1–0, 1–0)		PensacolaPensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, FL
Attendance: 5,630
Game reference
Ian VigierGoaliesSteve ChristieReferees:
Jason Schulz, Andrew Wilk
Jared Gregor, Andrew Gray
Jordan Braid (Maldonado, Sullivan) – 9:381 – 0
1 – 114:50 – Ryan Salvis
Greg Beller (Pallardy, Maldonado) – 14:562 – 1
John Sullivan – en – 19:323 – 1
8 minPenalties10 min
31Shots32

Awards

The SPHL All-Rookie team was announced March 26, 2012, followed by the All-SPHL teams on March 27, Defenseman of the Year on March 28, Rookie of the Year on March 29, Goaltender of the Year on April 2, Coach of the Year on April 3, and Most Valuable Player on April 4.[7]

President's Cup: Columbus Cottonmouths
Coffey Trophy: Augusta RiverHawks
League MVP: Kevin Swider (Knoxville)[1]
Rookies of the Year: Kiefer Smiley (Mississippi Surge) and Jordan Chong (Pensacola)[8]
Defenseman of the Year: Mark Van Vliet (Knoxville)[9]
Goaltender of the Year: Ian Vigier (Columbus)[10]
Coach of the Year: Jeff Bes (Mississippi Surge)[11]
Playoff MVP: Ian Vigier (Columbus)[2]

All-SPHL selections

All-Rookie Team[14]

Canada F Jordan Chong (Pensacola)
Canada F Brayden Metz (Louisiana)
Canada F Greg Beller (Columbus)
Canada D Andrew Krelove (Columbus)
Canada D James Isaacs (Mississippi Surge)
Canada G Kiefer Smiley (Mississippi Surge)

References

  1. ^ a b Link, Dave (April 4, 2012). "Kevin Swider of Ice Bears named MVP of SPHL". Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 8, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Gierer, Kathy (16 April 2012). "Columbus Cottonmouths celebrate third title". Ledger-Enquirer. Columbus, GA. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  3. ^ Van Tuyl, Chris (June 13, 2011). "Mississippi RiverKings announce change to Southern Professional Hockey League". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  4. ^ Link, Dave (July 7, 2011). "SPHL expands to eight-team playoff". Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 15, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  5. ^ "New Playoff Format". Ledger-Enquirer. Columbus, GA. July 6, 2011. Archived from the original on August 20, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  6. ^ "SPHL Standings". Pointstreak.com. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  7. ^ "SPHL Awards Schedule Announced". Press release. March 22, 2012. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  8. ^ "Surge's Smiley, Ice Pilots' Chong Named SBK Co-Rookies of the Year". Press release. March 30, 2012. Archived from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  9. ^ "Knoxville's Mark Van Vliet Named SBK Defenseman of the Year". Press release. March 28, 2012. Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  10. ^ "Columbus' Ian Vigier Named SBK Goaltender of the Year". Press release. April 2, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  11. ^ "Surge's Jeff Bes Named SBK Coach of the Year". Press release. April 3, 2012. Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  12. ^ "Ice Bears, RiverHawks Head All-SPHL First Team". Press release. March 27, 2012. Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  13. ^ "All-SPHL Second Team Announced". Press release. March 27, 2012. Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  14. ^ "Cottonmouths, Surge Lead SPHL All-Rookie Team". Press release. March 26, 2012. Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_SPHL_season