# 2014–15 SPHL season

The 2014–15 SPHL season was the 11th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). The Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Mississippi RiverKings in the President's Cup final 2 games to none to win their 4th SPHL title.

## Preseason

Following the 2013-14 season, the Bloomington Thunder announced that they would cease operations as a professional franchise to field a junior team in the United States Hockey League.
In May 2014, the Mississippi Surge announced that they would suspend operations for the 2014-15 season.
In June 2014, the league approved the move of the Augusta Riverhawks to Macon, Georgia, with the team being rebranded the Macon Mayhem. The Mayhem will sit out the 2014-15 season, and will begin league play in the 2015-16 season.

## Teams

2014-15 Southern Professional Hockey League :
| Team | City | Arena |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | Columbus, Georgia | Columbus Civic Center |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Crown Complex |
| Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville, Alabama | Von Braun Center |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | Knoxville, Tennessee | Knoxville Civic Coliseum |
| Louisiana IceGators | Lafayette, Louisiana | Cajundome |
| Mississippi RiverKings | Southaven, Mississippi | Landers Center |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | Pensacola, Florida | Pensacola Bay Center |
| Peoria Rivermen | Peoria, Illinois | Carver Arena |

## Regular season

The October 25, 2014 game between the Peoria Rivermen and the Huntsville Havoc was postponed after Huntsville player Justin Cseter fell onto Peoria's Dennis Sicard's skate, slashing his thigh early in the second period. The conclusion of the game was played on February 7, prior to a regularly scheduled game between the teams. Peoria won the completion of the October 25 game 3-1, but Huntsville won the regularly scheduled game also by the score of 3-1.

### Standings

| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| Peoria Rivermen$^‡$ | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 186 | 149 | 75 |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 182 | 161 | 70 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 32 | 18 | 6 | 179 | 148 | 70 |
| Mississippi RiverKings | 56 | 33 | 21 | 2 | 169 | 140 | 68 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 31 | 22 | 3 | 159 | 166 | 65 |
| Louisiana IceGators | 56 | 27 | 21 | 8 | 177 | 184 | 62 |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | 56 | 21 | 27 | 8 | 143 | 193 | 50 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 11 | 38 | 7 | 130 | 184 | 29 |
    $^‡$ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
    Advanced to playoffs

### Attendance

| Team | Total | Games | Average |
| Peoria | 113,710 | 28 | 4,061 |
| Pensacola | 110,632 | 28 | 3,951 |
| Huntsville | 100,381 | 28 | 3,585 |
| Knoxville | 98,408 | 28 | 3,514 |
| Fayetteville | 85,122 | 28 | 3,040 |
| Columbus | 82,290 | 28 | 2,938 |
| Mississippi | 71,711 | 28 | 2,561 |
| Louisiana | 65,433 | 28 | 2,336 |
| League | 727,687 | 224 | 3,248 |

## President's Cup playoffs
### Playoff bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Peoria Rivermen | 1 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Louisiana IceGators | 2 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Columbus Cottonmouths | 1 | | | | 4 | Mississippi | 0 |
| 5 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 2 | 5 | Knoxville | 2 | 5 | Knoxville | 2 |
| | | | 6 | Louisiana | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 1 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Mississippi RiverKings | 2 | | | | | | |

### Finals

The best of three series would have been played with the Riverkings as home team. However, prior contractual obligations with the Riverkings home ice forced the championship games to be played in Knoxville. All times are local (EDT)

## Awards

The SPHL All-Rookie team was announced on April 1, 2015, the All-SPHL teams on April 2, the Defensemen of the Year on April 3, the Rookie of the Year on April 6, the Goaltender of the Year on April 7, the Coach of the Year on April 8, and the Most Valuable Player on April 9.
2014–15 SPHL awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) | Finalists |
| President's Cup | Knoxville Ice Bears | Mississippi RiverKings |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | Peoria Rivermen | |
| Easton Defenseman of the Year | Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi) | Louis Belisle (Columbus) |
| Easton Rookie of the Year | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) | Kevin Murdock (Fayetteville) Trevor Hertz (Fayetteville) |
| Sher-Wood Goaltender of the Year | Kyle Rank (Peoria) | Peter Di Salvo (Mississippi) |
| Easton Coach of the Year | Jean-Guy Trudel (Peoria) | Derek Landmesser (Mississippi) |
| Easton Most Valuable Player | Matt Gingera (Columbus) | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) |
| Kevin Swider Leading Scorer Award | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) | |

### All-SPHL selections

| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
| G | Kyle Rank (Peoria) | Peter Di Salvo (Mississippi) | Kevin Murdock (Knoxville) |
| D | Louis Bélisle (Columbus) | Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) | Louis Bélisle (Columbus) |
| D | Andrew Randazzo (Mississippi) | Jan Safar (Fayetteville) | Robbie Donahoe (Knoxville) |
| F | Matt Whitehead (Mississippi) | Ryan Salvis (Knoxville) | Linden Bahm (Mississippi) |
| F | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) | Corey Banfield (Pensacola) | Shawn Bates (Columbus) |
| F | Matt Gingera (Columbus) | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) | Bryce Williamson (Columbus) |