# 2020–21 SPHL season

The 2020–21 SPHL season is the 17th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Due to the ongoing restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the season was delayed to December 26, 2020, and only half of the member teams participated in the shortened season.

## League business

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season was curtailed and no champion was named. For the 2020–21 season, the league announced the Evansville Thunderbolts, Fayetteville Marksmen, Peoria Rivermen, Quad City Storm, and Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs had withdrawn from participating in the season due to pandemic-related capacity restrictions barring fans from attending games.

## Teams

2020-201Southern Professional Hockey League :
| Team | City | Arena |
| Birmingham Bulls | Pelham, Alabama | Pelham Civic Center |
| Huntsville Havoc | Huntsville, Alabama | Von Braun Center |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | Knoxville, Tennessee | Knoxville Civic Coliseum |
| Macon Mayhem | Macon, Georgia | Macon Coliseum |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | Pensacola, Florida | Pensacola Bay Center |

## Regular season
### Standings

Final standings:
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | GF | GA | Pts |
| Macon Mayhem‡ | 42 | 32 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 134 | 84 | 68 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 42 | 24 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 128 | 103 | 52 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 42 | 18 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 117 | 120 | 42 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 42 | 19 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 123 | 137 | 39 |
| Birmingham Bulls | 42 | 12 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 103 | 161 | 31 |
    $^‡$ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
    Qualified for playoffs

### Attendance

| Team | Total | Games | Average |
| Pensacola | 45,615 | 21 | 2,172 |
| Huntsville | 44,136 | 21 | 2,102 |
| Birmingham | 35,301 | 21 | 1,681 |
| Knoxville | 33,331 | 21 | 1,587 |
| Macon | 25,066 | 21 | 1,194 |
| League | 183,449 | 105 | 1,747 |

## President's Cup playoffs

For 2021, the top four teams at the end of the regular season qualified for the playoffs.

### Playoff bracket

| Semifinals Best-of-3 | Semifinals Best-of-3 | Semifinals Best-of-3 | Championship Best-of-3 | Championship Best-of-3 | Championship Best-of-3 |
| 1 | Macon | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Huntsville | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Huntsville | 0 | 1 | Macon | 0 |
| | | | 3 | Pensacola | 2 |
| 2 | Knoxville | 0 | 3 | Pensacola | 2 |
| 3 | Pensacola | 2 | | | |

## Awards

| Award | Recipient(s) |
| President's Cup | Pensacola Ice Flyers |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | Macon Mayhem |
| Defenseman of the Year | Kenton Helgesen (Knoxville) |
| Rookie of the Year | Jake Wahlin (Pensacola) |
| Goaltender of the Year | Jake Theut (Macon) |
| Coach of the Year | Kevin Kerr (Macon) |
| Most Valuable Player | Mason Baptista (Macon) |
| Leading Scorer Award | Logan Nelson (Birmingham) |

### All-SPHL selections

| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
| G | Jake Theut (Macon) | Austyn Roudebush (Knoxville) | Ryan Ruck (Macon) |
| D | Kenton Helgesen (Knoxville) Nolan Kaiser (Huntsville) tie Nick Minerva (Macon) tie | Casey Johnson (Macon) Nick Neville (Pensacola) | Casey Johnson (Macon) Andrew McLean (Knoxville) |
| F | Mason Baptista (Macon) Jacob Benson (Knoxville) Jake Wahlin (Pensacola) | Rob Darrar (Huntsville) Eddie Matsushima (Pensacola) Logan Nelson (Birmingham) | Nick Master (Knoxville) Ryan Smith (Macon) Jake Wahlin (Pensacola) |