Huntsville Havoc

The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team in the SPHL.  They play their home games at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Alabama.

History
The team began play in the 2004–05 season, following the defunct Huntsville Channel Cats of the South East Hockey League. The team finished sixth out of eight teams in the regular season in 2004–05 and lost a one-game playoff to the Jacksonville Barracudas. In 2006, Huntsville finished fifth in the league and was defeated two games to none by the Florida Seals in the second round of playoffs after knocking off the defending league champion Columbus Cottonmouths in three games in the opening round. In 2007, Huntsville's fourth-place regular season finish was for naught as they were swept out of the playoffs by the eventual league champion Fayetteville FireAntz.

In 2008, the Havoc finished last in the SPHL standings and were the only team left out of the league playoffs. Immediately following the conclusion of the season, the team announced it would not renew the contract of head coach John Gibson, who had led the Havoc through all four SPHL seasons, coached the SEHL Channel Cats to the league championship in 2004, and was an All-Star defenseman for the CHL version of the Channel Cats. Eric Soltys was named head coach of the team for the 2008–09 season with Paul Snell serving as his assistant. In the 2008–09 SPHL season the Havoc finished in fourth place. In the 2009 SPHL Playoffs the Havoc was beaten in the first round by the eventual SPHL champions (Knoxville Ice Bears) in 5 games (5 game series). With Randy Murphy taking over coaching duties in 2009–10, the Havoc finished season play in second place, earning a team-record 71 points. The Havoc entered the SPHL playoffs as the #2 seed. In round 1 Huntsville defeated the Pensacola Ice Flyers 2 games to 1. In round 2 the Havoc swept the Knoxville Ice Bears. The Havoc then went on to sweep the Mississippi Surge in the finals, winning their first SPHL President's Cup.  In the 2010–11 season, the Havoc finished 3rd in the regular season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Columbus.

In the 2018 SPHL playoffs, the fourth-seeded Havoc defeated the Mississippi RiverKings in the Challenge Round 2-game-to-1, the Macon Mayhem in the semifinals 2-games-to-1, and the top-seeded Peoria Rivermen 2-games-to-1 in the finals to claim the franchise's second President's Cup. It was the first time in league history that a fourth-seeded team won the championship.

In 2019, the Huntsville Havoc repeated as SPHL President's Cup Champions by defeating the Birmingham Bulls 2-games-to-0 in the finals.

Year-by-year record
Season  GP  W  L  OTL  Pts  Pct  GF  GA  PIM  Coach  Finish  Playoffs 2004–05  56  29  27  —  58  0.518  183  181  1542  John Gibson  6th  Lost in first round, 1–2 (Jacksonville) 2005–06  56  32  21  3  67  0.571  203  186  1905  John Gibson  5th  Lost in second round, 1–2 (Florida) 2006–07  56  29  23  4  62  0.554  221  210  2108  John Gibson  4th  Lost in first round, 0–2 (Fayetteville) 2007–08  52  23  27  2  48  0.462  195  211  1451  John Gibson  7th  Did not qualify 2008–09  60  29  24  7  65  0.542  204  197  1335  Eric Soltys  4th  Lost in first round, 2–3 (Knoxville) 2009–10  58  31  16  9  71  0.634  199  178  1273  Randy Murphy  2nd  Won Championship, 3–0 (Mississippi) 2010–11  56  30  26  —  60  0.536  168  158  1006  Randy Murphy  3rd  Lost in first round, 0–2 (Columbus) 2011–12  56  22  28  6  50  0.446  163  198  1229  Randy Murphy/Keith Jeffries/Glenn Detulleo  8th  Lost in second round, 0–2 (Columbus) 2012–13  56  21  29  6  48  0.429  135  179  1379  Glenn Detulleo  8th  Lost in championship, 1–2 (Pensacola) 2013–14   56  31  21  4  66  0.589  180  158  991  Glenn Detulleo  5th  Lost in second round, 0–2 (Columbus) 2014–15  56  11  38  7  29  .259  130  184  1250  Glenn Detulleo  8th  Did not qualify 2015–16  56  26  26  4  56  .500  151  158  1282  Glenn Detulleo  7th  Lost in first round, 0–2 (Pensacola) 2016–17  56  34  16  6  74  .661  200  165  849  Glenn Detulleo  4th  Lost in semifinals, 1–2 (Peoria) 2017–18  56  30  16  10  70  .625  203  180  923  Glenn Detulleo  4th  Won Championship, 2–1 (Peoria) 2018–19  56  36  17  3  75  .670  209  152  632  Glenn Detulleo  3rd  Won Championship, 2–0 (Birmingham) 2019–20  46  27  14  5  59  .641  144  124  675  Glenn Detulleo  3rd Season cancelled 2020–21  42  19  22  1  39  .464  123  137  392  Glenn Detulleo  4th  Lost in semifinals, 0–2 (Pensacola) 2021–22  56  41  13  2  84  .750  194  124  697  Glenn Detulleo  2nd  Lost in semifinals, 0–2 (Roanoke) 2022–23  56  34  19  3  71  .634  197  162  826  Glenn Detulleo  3rd  Lost in semifinals, 1–2 (Birmingham)

Attendance
YearTotalGamesAverageLeague Average2004–05  75,978  28  2,713  2,4402005–06  87,871  28  3,138  2,7202006–07  109,615  28  3,914  2,9852007–08  99,672  26  3,833  2,9692008–09  106,848  30  3,561  2,9212009–10  98,365  28  3,513  3,0412010–11  98,327  28  3,513  2,7622011–12  94,354  28  3,369  2,7962012–13  98,383  28  3,514  2,8042013–14  103,993  28  3,714  3,0002014–15  100,381  28  3,585  3,2482015–16  117,298  28  4,187  3,0342016–17  130,166  28  4,648  2,9672017–18  133,672  28  4,774  3,2142018–19  138,106  28  4,932  3,1322019–20  110,869  23  4,820  3,1372020–21  44,136  21  2,102  1,7472021–22  134,713  28  4,811  2,8722022–23  154,362  28  5,513  3,4462023–24  166,871  28  5,960  4,1052023–25  174,927  28  6,247  4,288

Honored numbers
The following numbers were retired by the Huntsville Havoc.

 Name  Number  Tenure Chris George  17  Channel Cats 1996–2000Tornado 2001 Mike Degurse  33  Channel Cats 1996–2000, 2004Havoc 2004–07 John Gibson  23  Channel Cats 1995–2000, as coach 2003–04Havoc coach 2004–2008 Matt Carmichael  29  Channel Cats 1999-2000, 2003-2004Tornado 2000-2001Havoc 2004-2008 Stuart Stefan  7  Havoc 2011–18, as coach 2018-present Nolan Kaiser  10  Havoc 2015-2022 Tyler Piacentini  14  Havoc 2017-2023, as coach 2023-present

Records
through 2022-23 season

Career
 Games  379  Stuart Stefan (2011–2018) Goals  115  Sy Nutkevitch (2016–2023) Assists  256  Sy Nutkevitch (2016–2023) Points  371  Sy Nutkevitch (2016–2023) Penalty Minutes  994  Luke Phillips (2004–2007) Wins  92  Matt Carmichael (2004–2008) Shutouts  7  Dan McWhinney (2009–2013)
Max Milosek (2018-2023)

Single-season
 Goals  37  Travis Kauffeldt (2008–09) Assists  52  James Patterson (2006–07) Points  78  James Patterson (2006–07) Penalty Minutes  396  Luke Phillips (2005–06) GAA  1.93  Hunter Vorva (2021–22) SV%  .934  Hunter Vorva (2021–22)

References

 External links 
Huntsville Havoc  Official site
The Internet Hockey Database Huntsville Havoc


Category:Ice hockey clubs established in 2004
Category:2004 establishments in Alabama
Category:Sports clubs and teams in Huntsville, Alabama
Category:SPHL teams
Category:Ice hockey teams in Alabama