# 2006–07 SPHL season

The 2006–07 Southern Professional Hockey League season was the third season of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The regular season began October 27, 2006, and ended April 18, 2007, after a 56-game regular season and a six-team playoff. The Fayetteville FireAntz won their first SPHL championship.

## Preseason

The Richmond Renegades joined the league as an expansion franchise, succeeding the United Hockey League's Richmond RiverDogs.

## Teams

2006-07 Southern Professional Hockey League :
| Team | City | Arena |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | Columbus, Georgia | Columbus Civic Center |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Cumberland County Crown Coliseum |
| Florida Seals | Kissimmee, Florida | Silver Spurs Arena |
| Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville, Alabama | Von Braun Center |
| Jacksonville Barracudas | Jacksonville, Florida | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | Knoxville, Tennessee | Knoxville Civic Coliseum |
| Pee Dee Cyclones | Florence, South Carolina | Florence Civic Center |
| Richmond Renegades | Richmond, Virginia | Richmond Coliseum |

## Regular season
### Final standings

| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| Columbus Cottonmouths$^‡$ | 56 | 36 | 18 | 2 | 217 | 181 | 74 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 219 | 185 | 70 |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | 56 | 32 | 18 | 6 | 246 | 205 | 70 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 29 | 23 | 4 | 221 | 210 | 62 |
| Richmond Renegades | 56 | 27 | 25 | 4 | 187 | 219 | 58 |
| Jacksonville Barracudas | 56 | 25 | 24 | 7 | 198 | 238 | 57 |
| Pee Dee Cyclones | 56 | 16 | 32 | 8 | 225 | 280 | 40 |
| Florida Seals* | 26 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 110 | 105 | 23 |
    $^‡$ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
    Advanced to playoffs
The Florida Seals folded mid-season after not meeting contractual obligations to their arena. A one-round dispersal draft was held January 5, with each team choosing one player from the Seals' roster. The picks were as follows: Pee Dee - Justin Keller, Jacksonville - Lawne Snyder, Fayetteville - Rob Sich, Richmond - Matt Balser, Columbus - Chad Haacke, Knoxville - Craig Geerlinks, Huntsville - Craig Miller.

### Attendance

| Team | Total | Games | Average |
| Huntsville | 109,615 | 28 | 3,914 |
| Richmond | 95,756 | 28 | 3,419 |
| Fayetteville | 93,301 | 28 | 3,332 |
| Columbus | 92,534 | 28 | 3,304 |
| Knoxville | 90,640 | 28 | 3,237 |
| Jacksonville | 70,773 | 26 | 2,722 |
| Florida | 34,470 | 17 | 2,027 |
| Pee Dee | 36,928 | 26 | 1,420 |

## President's Cup playoffs

| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Columbus Cottonmouths | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | x | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Jacksonville Barracudas | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | x | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | Jacksonville Barracudas | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | x |
| 3 | Fayetteville FireAntz | Fayetteville FireAntz | Fayetteville FireAntz | 3 | 5 | x | | | | | | 6 | Jacksonville Barracudas | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | x |
| 3 | Fayetteville FireAntz | Fayetteville FireAntz | Fayetteville FireAntz | 3 | 5 | x | | | | | | 3 | Fayetteville FireAntz | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | x |
| 4 | Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville Havoc | 2 | 4 | x | | | | | | 3 | Fayetteville FireAntz | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | x |
| 4 | Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville Havoc | 2 | 4 | x | 3 | Fayetteville FireAntz | 4 | 5 | x | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | 2 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 1 | 2 | x | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Richmond Renegades | Richmond Renegades | Richmond Renegades | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 1 | 2 | x | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Knoxville Ice Bears | Knoxville Ice Bears | Knoxville Ice Bears | 3 | 8 | 6 | | | | | | | | | |

### (1) Columbus Cottonmouths vs. (6) Jacksonville Barracudas

The Columbus Cottonmouths and the Jacksonville Barracudas play at best of 5 round that will take the place of the first two playoff rounds. The other four teams will play a best of 3 game Quarter-final and Semi-final round.
| Game-by-Game | Game-by-Game | Score | Score | Columbus goals | Jacksonville goals | Winning goalie |
| 1 | March 29 | at Columbus 1, Jacksonville 2 | 2OT 5:06 | Mark Prentice | Steve Zoryk, Greg LeColst | Ryan Person |
| 2 | March 30 | at Columbus 3, Jacksonville 4 | OT 1:15 | Ryan Haggarty, Mark Prentice, Daryl Moor | Steve Zoryk 2, Tyrone Garner 2 | Ryan Person |
| 3 | April 1 | at Jacksonville 2, Columbus 4 | | Galloway Carroll 3, Ryan Rutz | Tyrone Garner, Jim Murphy | Chad Rycroft |
| 4 | April 3 | at Jacksonville 4, Columbus 3 | | Craig Stahl 2, Jason Price | Steve Zoryk, Jim Murphy, Tyrone Garner 2 | Ryan Person |
| Jacksonville win series 3-1 | Jacksonville win series 3-1 | Jacksonville win series 3-1 | Jacksonville win series 3-1 | Prentice 2 | Zoryk 4, Garner 4, Murphy 2 |

### Quarter-finals

    Note: game-winning goal scorer indicated in italics

#### (2) Knoxville Ice Bears vs. (5) Richmond Renegades

| Game-by-Game | Game-by-Game | Score | Score | Knoxville goals | Richmond goals | Winning goalie |
| 1 | March 30 | at Knoxville 3, Richmond 4 | 2OT 4:17 | Rob Flynn, Tim Vitek, Matt Kohansky | Dean Jackson, Tyler Schremp, Danny White, Donald Melnyk | Doug Groenestege |
| 2 | March 31 | at Richmond 2, Knoxville 8 | | Mike Tuomi 3, Matt Kohansky, Robbie Rangus, Curtis Menzul, Nick Fouts, Mike Craigen | JJ Wrobel, Joe Pace | Terry Dunbar |
| 3 | April 3 | at Knoxville 6, Richmond 2 | | Curtis Menzul, Robbie Rangus 2, David Segal, Doug Searle, Mike Tuomi | Tyler Schremp, Brian Goudie | Terry Dunbar |
| Knoxville win series 2-1 | Knoxville win series 2-1 | Knoxville win series 2-1 | Knoxville win series 2-1 | Tuomi 4, Rangus 3,Kohansky 2 | Schremp 2 |

#### (3) Fayetteville FireAntz vs. (4) Huntsville Havoc

| Game-by-Game | Game-by-Game | Score | Score | Fayetteville goals | Huntsville goals | Winning goalie |
| 1 | March 30 | at Fayetteville 3, Huntsville 2 | | Jarrett Robertson, Robert Sich 2 | Bill Monkman, Tristan Senior | Chad Collins |
| 2 | March 31 | at Huntsville 4, Fayetteville 5 | OT 5:41 | Tim Velemirovich 2, Mike Clarke 2, Jarrett Robertson | Bill Monkman, Dan Buccella 2, Craig Bushey | Chad Collins |
| Fayetteville win series 2-0 | Fayetteville win series 2-0 | Fayetteville win series 2-0 | Fayetteville win series 2-0 | Robertson 2, Sich 2, Velemirovich 2, Clarke 2 | Monkman 2, Buccella 2 |

### Semi-finals

    Note: game-winning goal scorer indicated in italics

#### (2) Knoxville Ice Bears vs. (3) Fayetteville FireAntz

| Game-by-Game | Game-by-Game | Score | Score | Knoxville goals | Fayetteville goals | Winning goalie |
| 1 | April 6 | at Knoxville 1, Fayetteville 4 | | Mike Tuomi | Tim Velemirovich, Josh Welter, BJ Stephens, Jarrett Robertson | Chad Collins |
| 2 | April 7 | at Fayetteville 5, Knoxville 2 | | Kevin Swider, Matt Kohansky | Tim Velemirovich, Marc Norrington, Josh Tataryn, Robert Sich, Bryan Dobek | Chad Collins |
| Fayetteville win series 2-0 | Fayetteville win series 2-0 | Fayetteville win series 2-0 | Fayetteville win series 2-0 | | Velemirovich 2 |

### Finals
## Awards

SPHL award winners were announced March 28, 2007.
| President's Cup: | Fayetteville FireAntz |
| Commissioner's Cup: | Columbus Cottonmouths |
| League MVP: | Rob Sich (Fayetteville) |
| Rookie of the Year: | Tim Velemirovich (Fayetteville) |
| Defenseman of the Year: | Brian Goudie (Richmond) |
| Goalie of the Year: | Chad Rycroft (Columbus) |
| Coach of the Year: | John Marks (Fayetteville) |
| Franchise of the Year: | Huntsville Havoc |
| Playoff MVP: | Chad Collins (Fayetteville) |

### All-Star selections

* 1st Team All-Stars
* F Rob Sich (Fayetteville)
* F Allan Sirois (Pee Dee)
* F Kevin Swider (Knoxville)
* D Brian Goudie (Richmond)
* D Jonathan Lounsbury (Huntsville)
* G Chad Rycroft (Columbus)
* 2nd Team All-Stars
* F Tim Green (Columbus)
* F James Patterson (Huntsville)
* F Tim Velemirovich (Fayetteville)
* D Steve Howard (Columbus)
* D Doug Searle (Knoxville)
* G Matt Carmichael (Huntsville)
* Rookie All-Stars
* F Daryl Moore (Pee Dee)
* F Mike Tuomi (Knoxville)
* F Tim Velemirovich (Fayetteville)
* D Dylan Row (Fayetteville)
* D Phillip Youngclaus (Richmond)
* G Doug Groenestege (Richmond)