# 2023–24 SPHL season

The 2023–24 SPHL season is the 20th season of the SPHL. The regular season began on October 20, 2023, and will end on April 6, 2024.

## League business

The same 10 teams from the 2023–24 season returned after Vermillion County folded midseason last year.

## Teams

2023-24 Southern Professional Hockey League :
| Team | City | Arena |
| Birmingham Bulls | Pelham, Alabama | Pelham Civic Center |
| Evansville Thunderbolts | Evansville, Indiana | Ford Center |
| Fayetteville Marksmen | Fayetteville, North Carolina | Crown Complex |
| 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 |
| Peoria Rivermen | Peoria, Illinois | Carver Arena |
| Quad City Storm | Moline, Illinois | Vibrant Arena at The MARK |
| Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | Roanoke, Virginia | Berglund Center |

## Regular season
### Standings

As of April 6, 2024.
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA |
| z– Birmingham Bulls | 56 | 38 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 85 | 198 | 132 |
| x–Peoria Rivermen | 56 | 37 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 79 | 192 | 139 |
| x–Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 56 | 33 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 74 | 207 | 164 |
| x–Fayetteville Marksmen | 56 | 31 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 68 | 191 | 165 |
| x–Huntsville Havoc | 56 | 30 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 67 | 184 | 166 |
| x–Quad City Storm | 56 | 32 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 65 | 193 | 176 |
| x–Pensacola Ice Flyers | 56 | 25 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 54 | 170 | 178 |
| x–Evansville Thunderbolts | 56 | 23 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 149 | 177 |
| e–Macon Mayhem | 56 | 15 | 34 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 141 | 225 |
| e–Knoxville Ice Bears | 56 | 16 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 128 | 231 |
z– indicates team has clinched William B. Coffey Trophy (regular season champion) and a playoff spot  x– indicates team has clinched a playoff spot  e– indicates team has been eliminated from playoff contention

### Attendance

| Team | Total | Games | Average |
| Huntsville | 166,871 | 28 | 5,960 |
| Roanoke | 148,597 | 28 | 5,307 |
| Pensacola | 148,588 | 28 | 5,307 |
| Fayetteville | 113,402 | 28 | 4,050 |
| Knoxville | 112,562 | 28 | 4,020 |
| Peoria | 111,224 | 28 | 3,972 |
| Quad City | 103,672 | 28 | 3,703 |
| Birmingham | 93,610 | 28 | 3,343 |
| Evansville | 91,471 | 28 | 3,267 |
| Macon | 59,413 | 28 | 2,122 |
| League | 1,149,410 | 280 | 4,105 |

### Statistical leaders
#### Leading skaters

The following players are sorted by points, then goals. Updated as of April 6, 2024.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Carson Rose | Birmingham Bulls | 49 | 30 | 35 | 65 | +26 | 44 |
| Drake Glover | Birmingham Bulls | 55 | 33 | 27 | 60 | +33 | 44 |
| Leif Mattson | Quad City Storm | 45 | 28 | 31 | 59 | +7 | 11 |
| Nikita Kozyrev | Birmingham Bulls | 53 | 18 | 41 | 59 | +31 | 33 |
| Simon Boyko | Fayetteville Marksmen | 39 | 27 | 29 | 56 | +20 | 9 |
| Joe Widmar | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 49 | 16 | 39 | 55 | -1 | 18 |
| Cole Golka | Quad City Storm | 55 | 32 | 21 | 53 | +15 | 55 |
| Matt Ustaski | Quad City Storm | 35 | 27 | 26 | 53 | +12 | 16 |
| Alec Baer | Peoria Rivermen | 52 | 21 | 31 | 52 | +3 | 78 |
| Ivan Bondarenko | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 53 | 15 | 36 | 51 | −2 | 12 |

#### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders with a minimum 1,320 minutes played lead the league in goals against average. Updated as of April 6, 2024.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout loss
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | SA | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | W | L | OT |
| Nick Latinovich | Peoria Rivermen | 39 | 2211 | 848 | 71 | 7 | 1.93 | .916 | 27 | 7 | 3 |
| Hayden Stewart | Birmingham Bulls | 39 | 2324 | 1,111 | 71 | 4 | 2.14 | .925 | 26 | 7 | 6 |
| Ryan Kenny | Fayetteville Marksmen | 32 | 1918 | 1,067 | 76 | 2 | 2.38 | .929 | 18 | 10 | 4 |
| Stephen Mundinger | Pensacola Ice Flyers | 37 | 2,051 | 957 | 87 | 3 | 2.55 | .909 | 16 | 15 | 2 |
| Brian Wilson | Huntsville Havoc | 32 | 1940 | 918 | 85 | 2 | 2.63 | .907 | 16 | 10 | 6 |

## Postseason

For 2024, the format was the same as 2023.

### Playoff bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | President's Cup Final | President's Cup Final | President's Cup Final |
| 1 | Birmingham | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Evansville | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Evansville | 2 | | | 2 | Peoria | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 8 | Evansville | 0 | | | |
| 2 | Peoria | 2 | | | 8 | Evansville | 0 | | | |
| 7 | Pensacola | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Pensacola | 0 | | | | | | 2 | Peoria | 2 |
| (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 | Peoria | 2 |
| (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) | 5 | Huntsville | 1 |
| 3 | Roanoke | 2 | | | | | | | | | 5 | Huntsville | 1 |
| 6 | Quad City | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Quad City | 1 | | | 3 | Roanoke | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | 5 | Huntsville | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Fayetteville | 0 | | | 5 | Huntsville | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Huntsville | 2 | | | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals
#### (1) Birmingham Bulls vs. (8) Evansville Thunderbolts

* Evansville won series 2-1

#### (2) Peoria Rivermen vs. (7) Pensacola Ice Flyers

* Peoria won series 2–0

#### (3) Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs vs. (6) Quad City Storm

* Roanoke won series 2-1

#### (4) Fayetteville Marksmen vs. (5) Huntsville Havoc

* Huntsville won series 2–0

### Semifinals
#### (2) Peoria Rivermen vs. (8) Evansville Thunderbolts

* Peoria won series 2–0

#### (3) Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs vs. (5) Huntsville Havoc

* Roanoke won series 2-1

### President's Cup Final
#### (2) Peoria Rivermen vs. (5) Huntsville Havoc

* Peoria won series 2-1

### Statistical leaders
#### Skaters

The following players are sorted by points, then goals. Updated as of April 28, 2024.
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Alec Baer | Peoria Rivermen | 7 | 3 | 14 | 17 | +7 | 4 |
| Alec Hagaman | Peoria Rivermen | 7 | 8 | 6 | 14 | +10 | 18 |
| Buster Larson | Huntsville Havoc | 8 | 7 | 3 | 10 | +6 | 2 |
| Robbie Fisher | Huntsville Havoc | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | +1 | 0 |
| Scott Kirton | Evansville Thunderbolts | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 6 |

#### Goaltenders

The following goaltenders with a minimum 350 minutes played lead the playoffs in goals against average. Updated as of April 28, 2024.
GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout loss
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | SA | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | W | L | OT |
| Nick Latinovich | Peoria Rivermen | 7 | 438 | 183 | 15 | 9 | 2.06 | .918 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Austyn Roudebush | Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 9 | 552 | 266 | 20 | 1 | 2.18 | .925 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Austyn Roudebush | Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs | 6 | 353 | 193 | 17 | 1 | 2.89 | .912 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

## Awards

| Award | Recipient(s) |
| President's Cup | Peoria Rivermen |
| William B. Coffey Trophy (Best regular-season record) | Birmingham Bulls |
| Defenseman of the Year | Brendan Pepe (Roanoke) |
| Rookie of the Year | Simon Boyko (Fayetteville) |
| Goaltender of the Year | Hayden Stewart (Birmingham) |
| Coach of the Year | Craig Simchuk (Birmingham) |
| Most Valuable Player | Carson Rose (Birmingham) |
| Leading Scorer Award | Carson Rose (Birmingham) |

### All-SPHL selections

| Position | First Team | Second Team | All-Rookie |
| G | Hayden Stewart (Birmingham) | Nick Latinovich (Peoria) | Ryan Kenny (Fayetteville) |
| D | Brendan Pepe (Roanoke) Zach Wilkie (Peoria) | Matt O’Dea (Roanoke) Dillion Fournier (Quad City) | Matthew Araujo (Fayetteville) Matt Doran (Huntsville) |
| F | Carson Rose (Birmingham) Drake Glover (Birmingham) Leif Mattson (Quad City) | Matt Ustaski (Quad City) Simon Boyko (Fayetteville) Nikita Kozyrev (Birmingham) | Simon Boyko (Fayetteville) Nikita Kozyrev (Birmingham) Alex Laplante (Macon) |