# 2015–16 SPHL season

The 2015–16 SPHL season was the 12th season of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). The Pensacola Ice Flyers defeated the Peoria Rivermen in the President's Cup final 3 games to none to win their 3rd SPHL title in 4 years.

## Preseason

On May 4, 2015, the SPHL held an expansion draft in preparation for the Macon Mayhem to begin play as the league's 9th team.

## Teams

2015-16 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 |
| Macon Mayhem | Macon, Georgia | Macon Coliseum |
| Mississippi RiverKings | Southaven, Mississippi | Landers Center |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | Pensacola, Florida | Pensacola Bay Center |
| Peoria Rivermen | Peoria, Illinois | Carver Arena |

## Regular season
### Standings

Final standings
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| Peoria Rivermen‡ | 56 | 39 | 12 | 5 | 196 | 125 | 83 |
| Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 31 | 20 | 5 | 175 | 157 | 67 |
| Mississippi RiverKings | 56 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 151 | 161 | 66 |
| Fayetteville FireAntz | 56 | 30 | 21 | 5 | 167 | 145 | 65 |
| Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 29 | 21 | 6 | 163 | 165 | 64 |
| Louisiana IceGators | 56 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 151 | 162 | 56 |
| Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 151 | 158 | 56 |
| Macon Mayhem | 56 | 24 | 27 | 5 | 138 | 157 | 53 |
| Columbus Cottonmouths | 56 | 19 | 29 | 8 | 124 | 186 | 46 |
    $^‡$ William B. Coffey Trophy winners
    Advanced to playoffs

### Attendance

| Team | Total | Games | Average |
| Huntsville | 117,298 | 28 | 4,187 |
| Peoria | 109,466 | 28 | 3,909 |
| Pensacola | 107,521 | 28 | 3,840 |
| Knoxville | 91,902 | 28 | 3,282 |
| Fayetteville | 78,460 | 28 | 2,802 |
| Columbus | 77,043 | 28 | 2,751 |
| Mississippi | 65,232 | 28 | 2,329 |
| Louisiana | 59,063 | 28 | 2,109 |
| Macon | 58,653 | 28 | 2,094 |
| League | 764,638 | 252 | 3,034 |

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

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championships | Championships | Championships |
| 1 | Peoria Rivermen | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Macon Mayhem | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Macon Mayhem | 1 | | | 1 | Peoria | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | Fayetteville | 0 | | | |
| 2 | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 2 | | | 4 | Fayetteville | 0 | | | |
| 7 | Huntsville Havoc | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Huntsville Havoc | 0 | | | | | | 1 | Peoria | 0 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 1 | Peoria | 0 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 2 | Pensacola | 3 |
| 3 | Mississippi RiverKings | 2 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Pensacola | 3 |
| 6 | Louisiana IceGators | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Louisiana IceGators | 0 | | | 2 | Pensacola | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 3 | Mississippi | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Fayetteville FireAntz | 2 | | | 3 | Mississippi | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Knoxville Ice Bears | 1 | | | | | | | | |

### Finals

    Home team is listed first.
* Pensacola wins series 3–0

## Awards

2015–16 SPHL awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) | Finalists |
| President's Cup | Pensacola Ice Flyers | Peoria Rivermen |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | Peoria Rivermen | |
| Easton Defenseman of the Year | Brandon Greenside (Peoria) | Jason Price (Knoxville) |
| Easton Rookie of the Year | John Lidgett (Huntsville) | Joseph Manno (Fayetteville) |
| Goaltender of the Year | Garrett Bartus (Macon) | Kyle Rank (Peoria) |
| Easton Coach of the Year | Jean-Guy Trudel (Peoria) | Jeff Bes (Fayetteville) Rod Aldoff (Pensacola) |
| Easton Most Valuable Player | Garrett Bartus (Macon) | Corey Banfield (Pensacola) |
| Kevin Swider Leading Scorer Award | Corey Banfield (Pensacola) | |

### All-SPHL selections

| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
| G | Garrett Bartus (Macon) | Kyle Rank (Peoria) | Brandon Jaeger (Columbus) |
| D | Brandon Greenside (Peoria) | Dave Pszenyczny (Peoria) | Corey Hale (Knoxville) |
| D | Jason Price (Knoxville) | Stuart Stefan (Huntsville) | Mike Krieg (Pensacola) |
| F | Corey Banfield (Pensacola) | Jake Hauswirth (Louisiana) | Zac Frischmon (Louisiana) |
| F | Kyle Gibbons (Fayetteville) | Josh McQuade (Fayetteville) | John Lidgett (Huntsville) |
| F | Adam Pawlick (Pensacola) | Shawn Skelly (Macon) | Joseph Manno (Fayetteville) |